Symbols In The Minister's Black Veil
In the romantic short story, “ The Minister's Black Veil,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne Mr. Hooper, the minister, transforms from a well-loved minister to a man nobody wants to be around. People and even children who used to look up to the man are now afraid of the minister because of one simple factor. He begins to wear a black veil that is mysterious and creepy he gains a negative reputation. People start to stay away from him and are scared to even have a conversation with Mr.Hooper, and because of this he is very lonely for the rest of his life. However there is more than to Mr.Hooper being a veiled minister.
THE SEXTON stood in the porch of Milford meeting-house, pulling busily at the bell-rope. The old people of the village came stooping …show more content…
along the street. Children, with bright faces, tripped merrily beside their parents, or mimicked a graver gait, in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes. Spruce bachelor's looked sidelong at the pretty maidens, and fancied that the Sabbath sunshine made them prettier than on weekdays. When the throng had mostly streamed into the porch, the sexton began to toll the bell, keeping his eye on the Reverend Mr. Hooper's door. The first glimpse of the clergyman's figure was the signal for the bell to cease its summons.
In the story some noticeable american romanticism characteristics in the setting are is the gothic style of living in villages. As well as the ringing of bells by a sexton to “cease its summons” Mr. Hooper wears the veil for the rest of his life just to symbolize the meaning of it. The exaggeration of wearing it for the rest of his life shows how he is a romantic character. The suspensefulness of trying to figure out why he is wearing the black veil makes this even a more romantic story. Including the twisted character Mr. Hooper has become too from a minister to a frightening person to everyone that knows him. At last his death being exaggerated to get the point across of Mr. Hooper trying to break free from his secret inquinty. The black veil symbolizes the secret sin that Mr. Hooper carried, but not just him the secret inquinty that we all humans may carry with us. It symbolizes the darkness in humanity. One parable is that God knows all our sins, even our secret ones and there is no way of hiding them from him. Secondly, the minister is to carry the sins of others like Jesus did for our sins. Lastly, the sins of humanity, such as starvation and homelessness are the greatest sin which society chooses to ignore. On the website Enote, in an article about “The Minister’s Black Veil” it explains the most common theme.
On its most straightforward reading, it seems that the central theme of “The Minister's Black Veil” is made explicit in Mr.
Hooper's dying words: everyone has a secret sin that is hidden from all others. The veil, he says, is but a symbol of the masks of deceit and sin that separate all individuals from truly facing themselves, their loved ones, and the divine spirit. All individuals wear such a mask, and Mr. Hooper's veil has been only a symbolic reminder of a truth that most are unwilling to admit. Mr. Hooper pays a high price for this lesson: he is feared, misunderstood, and left to live a lonely, solitary life …show more content…
(Enote).
The veil is to remind us of how we all have a secret sin that we try to hide from even our loved ones and God.
Mr. Hooper’s veil was just a reminder of the sin we so deeply keep a secret because we cannot force ourselves to admit it.
Another theme found in an article online on the website ebsco has another theme that comes out of The Minister’s Black Veil,
Most commentators, however, perceive far greater complexity behind the seemingly simple “parable,” as Hawthorne himself called it. Some view the major theme as the psychological power of guilt, and the minister as a mentally and emotionally unstable man who is driven to make visible his guilt for reasons that may or may not be revealed in the story (Alexander, Amy)
That the veil was really just to hide the guilt for an action that Mr. Hooper had committed. Not to be symbolic or anything, but just that the minister has committed a sin that the author does not
reveal.
THE SEXTON stood in the porch of Milford meeting-house, pulling busily at the bell-rope. The old people of the village came stooping …show more content…
along the street. Children, with bright faces, tripped merrily beside their parents, or mimicked a graver gait, in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes. Spruce bachelor's looked sidelong at the pretty maidens, and fancied that the Sabbath sunshine made them prettier than on weekdays. When the throng had mostly streamed into the porch, the sexton began to toll the bell, keeping his eye on the Reverend Mr. Hooper's door. The first glimpse of the clergyman's figure was the signal for the bell to cease its summons.
In the story some noticeable american romanticism characteristics in the setting are is the gothic style of living in villages. As well as the ringing of bells by a sexton to “cease its summons” Mr. Hooper wears the veil for the rest of his life just to symbolize the meaning of it. The exaggeration of wearing it for the rest of his life shows how he is a romantic character. The suspensefulness of trying to figure out why he is wearing the black veil makes this even a more romantic story. Including the twisted character Mr. Hooper has become too from a minister to a frightening person to everyone that knows him. At last his death being exaggerated to get the point across of Mr. Hooper trying to break free from his secret inquinty. The black veil symbolizes the secret sin that Mr. Hooper carried, but not just him the secret inquinty that we all humans may carry with us. It symbolizes the darkness in humanity. One parable is that God knows all our sins, even our secret ones and there is no way of hiding them from him. Secondly, the minister is to carry the sins of others like Jesus did for our sins. Lastly, the sins of humanity, such as starvation and homelessness are the greatest sin which society chooses to ignore. On the website Enote, in an article about “The Minister’s Black Veil” it explains the most common theme.
On its most straightforward reading, it seems that the central theme of “The Minister's Black Veil” is made explicit in Mr.
Hooper's dying words: everyone has a secret sin that is hidden from all others. The veil, he says, is but a symbol of the masks of deceit and sin that separate all individuals from truly facing themselves, their loved ones, and the divine spirit. All individuals wear such a mask, and Mr. Hooper's veil has been only a symbolic reminder of a truth that most are unwilling to admit. Mr. Hooper pays a high price for this lesson: he is feared, misunderstood, and left to live a lonely, solitary life …show more content…
(Enote).
The veil is to remind us of how we all have a secret sin that we try to hide from even our loved ones and God.
Mr. Hooper’s veil was just a reminder of the sin we so deeply keep a secret because we cannot force ourselves to admit it.
Another theme found in an article online on the website ebsco has another theme that comes out of The Minister’s Black Veil,
Most commentators, however, perceive far greater complexity behind the seemingly simple “parable,” as Hawthorne himself called it. Some view the major theme as the psychological power of guilt, and the minister as a mentally and emotionally unstable man who is driven to make visible his guilt for reasons that may or may not be revealed in the story (Alexander, Amy)
That the veil was really just to hide the guilt for an action that Mr. Hooper had committed. Not to be symbolic or anything, but just that the minister has committed a sin that the author does not
reveal.