Preview

'The Minister's Black Veil' By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
405 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
'The Minister's Black Veil' By Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Minister's Black Veil In this essay, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne indicates several characteristics of American Romanticism. For example,"Hooper continues to wear the black veil through the rest of the day's duties,including a funeral,(14). It was ok if he would wear the black veil for the funeral but to wear it all day,it mad him look really bad.He describes the sinful black veil that contributes sins to people's minds."The veil makes Hooper appears so other-worldly that after the funeral members of the congregation believe they see him and the departed maiden's spirit walking hand in hand"(15).So many things happen when he was around other people. One of the things that happen was that ghost appeared when

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil there are many thematic connections between both protagonists and antagonists. Some of the protagonistic similarities in these tales embrace that both of the characters become complacent about the community that they have come to know and love. In the case of The Minister’s Black Veil Parson Hooper undergoes a transformation as an energetic preacher, revered by all, to a social pariah when he dawned the black veil. Doing so caused uneasy feelings in the community around him, which led to the building of contempt against him. Similarly, in the case of Young Goodman Brown his journey into the ‘forest’ left him world-weary of the place and peoples he grew to love from childhood including his father and grandfather. Which in turn caused Brown to have an exponentially…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The way Hawthorne chooses to tell the story is very important. He tells it in third person limited, through the eyes of the parishioners. In doing so we never find out the truth about the veil and it becomes a mystery to everyone around him. The main symbol in the story is the veil, which represents death and darkness. Also the veil symbolizes the secret of sin. At one point he even says, "If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough, and if I cover it for secret of sin, what moral might not do the same." The veil basically ends his life, his love left him for it and many others feel uncomfortable around him with it on. The veil also is the antagonist of the story because it creates change among the parishioners, who are the protagonists. The veil is unknown to the town and even the reader, which brings up the point of the fear of the unknown and the nature of man. The story also presents the idea of isolation, Mr. Hooper is isolated because he is different that everyone else, similar to John Proctor in The…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I’ve read a lot of Hawthorne's work and in "The Minister’s Black Veil", Hawthorne presents another variation on his favorite theme: that humankind is stuck with the so-called seven deadly sins which include pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth, I think. Like all Hawthorne’s short stories, it displays the author’s vivid imagination, which I really enjoy. It also shows exceptional artistry. In “Young Goodman Brown”, another one of his stories, Hawthorne tears off people’s masks and exposes their real faces, in “The Minister’s Black Veil” he hides the face of a single character and thereby creates the impression that the exposed faces of all the other characters are actually masked. I think the imagery of that is really…

    • 131 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The satire of the story shows how the minister always wearing a veil. It seems to be very foolish to the people, but he continues to wear it. The black veil represents how we all have sins and we are hiding, so we should cover our faces too. However, in “The Raven,” Poe take the raven as a symbol of somber and dead. Poe does not use the satire because Poe express his feelings in the poem. Moreover, the diction that Hawthorne and Poe uses the words like ghastly, gaunt, plutonian, evil, devil, tremulous hand, and death-like paleness make the story/ poem sound scarier and gloomy.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the “Ministers Black Veil” By Nathaniel Hawthorne the main character Mr. Hooper has sinned. There are three different beliefs that make people believe he has sinned. The first is that the whole reason he wears the veil is to show that people hide a secret sin within themselves. The second is that he was scared of his reflection. Finally, the way he acts at the maddens funeral. Others seem to think that Mr. Hooper has not committed a sin because he's a minister. Mr. Hooper wore a black veil that symbolizes the sins that mankind hides. As he hid from his sins under the black veil, everyone around him and also his wife no longer sees the kindness that he had before. Also, the veil shows us we all hide every sin that you have made and looking past those mistakes and making the better choice.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Minister's Black Veil,” There is a pastor, Mr. Hooper, who starts wearing a black veil. This disturbs the townspeople and causes them to do outrageous things. Mr. Hooper never tells why he wears the veil, but one reason he wears the veil could be to show that everybody has secrets, everybody has something that they hide from the rest of us. In turns, he wants to prove a point, that we all need to remove our veils, we all need to stop keeping these deep dark secrets from everybody. Why he wants to prove this point is unknown to everybody but him.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Minister's Black Veil

    • 1296 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The minister’s black veil is revealed in Mr. Hooper's remarks to Elizabeth when she wonders why he had chosen to wear that mysterious black veil.Mr. Hooper was the pastor who gives a sermon on the subject of sins which, when he is giving the sermon he wears the black veil, which makes people wonder why he wears that. No one dares to ask him why he wears it , the only person who had the courage to ask was his fiance Elizabeth. He is asked to remove it but he refuses to do so. It was so strange how everywhere he went he always had that mysterious black veil.…

    • 1296 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this short story, readers can easily identify the black veil as the special characteristic of Mr. Hooper. Readers can also construe the idea how Mr. Hooper is a flat character since he never reveals his true identity and how he is not willing to change for the people in his town; but Hawthorne is also using this black veil in order to exemplify the idea he is trying to prove. Among all the negative aspects behind this black veil, there are also many positives. He becomes a knowledgeable clergyman and presents many powerful sermons. He converts people into his religion so they will follow his beliefs and eventually be saved from hell. Many people in the town start to respect Mr. Hooper, realizing he can help them and can get them to heaven once they die. As the story is coming to an end and many speculators are surrounding him questioning about the black veil, Mr. Hooper proclaims, “I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” (Hawthorne 336). By making this statement, readers can imply what Hooper’s key purpose in wearing this veil. Mr. Hooper is making a point that all people share equality and that everyone is a sinner. He is saying that even though he is wearing a black veil that covers the majority of his face, it still does not make him different from anyone else. The significant meaning behind the…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Minister's Black veil story, it is a Parable. The story has a message where we can learn from. The parable that “The Minister’s Black Veil” is trying to show us or teach us that we all can have something that can be worrying us or wanting to forget…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being fake, hiding their true selves and who they really are, you can hide from anyone you want, but you cannot hide from God. Two story's both show different ways of puritan beliefs and effects of sin, one by Jonathan Edward called "Sinners in the hands of an angry god", and the other by Nathaniel Hawthorn called "the ministers black veil". The people they preach to are hypocritical, and refuse to see the truth. While Edwards portrays an angry god and fearful Sinners, Hawthorne's character parson Hooper changes the perception of the Puritan religion.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An Angry God's Sinners

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the text The Minister’s Black Veil, Hawthorne writes a fictional text about covering up your sins and it will end bad if you do. He’s very soft and easy going in his tone, he uses a sad approach to get to the…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lurking guilt and shame, if not acknowledged and owned up to, can consume you. “‘I wonder he is not afraid to be alone with himself!’” (Hawthorne). The people that attended Reverend Hooper’s church were concerned, frightened, and intrigued about why he was suddenly wearing a black veil to cover his face. What was speculated about him not wanting to be alone with himself is true because he was getting caught up in his own guilt that he felt he needed to hide it from everyone in an attempt to hide it from himself. “At that instant, catching a glimpse of his figure in the looking-glass, the black veil involved his own spirit in the horror with which it overwhelmed all others” (Hawthorne). At the wedding, Reverend Hooper finally saw himself in the mirror and, for the first time, saw how caught up in his guilt and shame he was, and how by not owning…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In her article “Tuh de Horzion and Back: The Female Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Missy Dehn Kubitschek argues against her fellow critics’ common misconception of Janie as “a passive prize” (109), in favor of, recognizing the “the independence and strength” (109) within her. Kubitschek showcases the independence and strength of Janie through outlining her heroine’s quest throughout, Their Eyes Were Watching God, according to the five qualifications, “answering the call to adventure, crossing the threshold into the unknown, facing various trials, finding the reward (either concrete or symbolic), and returning to the community” (110), provided by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces. In doing so, Kubitschek expertly contradicts…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Zora Neale Hurston' is an outstanding African American novelist, playwright, autobiographer and essayists. Her work is considered as an important part of the African American and Harlem Literature. Hurston shifts from the black works that stick to racial themes and sheds the light on new aspects and themes in black's' life especially on feminist themes.Their “Eyes Were Watching God” examines with a great deal of artistry the struggle of a black woman named Janie Crawford to escape the shackles of the traditional concept about love and marriage and the narrow social restrictions of her class and sex. Over the course of the book, Zora Neale Hurston ties in three major ideas that can be explained through a feminist lens, the act of speaking, seeking…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays