The Minister's Black Veil By Nathaniel Hawthorne
The veil in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is one symbol Hawthorne shares in his short story. Mr. Hooper, a pastor, scares his congregation when he enters into the church with a black veil covering his face. The sexton says, “I can’t really feel as if good Mr. Hooper’s face was behind that piece of crepe” (256). Before the veil, the congregation thought of Mr. Hooper as a good preacher. He sought to bring “his people heavenward by mild, persuasive influences” (257). After the veil, he gives a disturbing speech that is out of the ordinary for his character. “The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting
that the Omniscient can detect them” (257). With his speech, many people began to think of their own hidden sins and how they are seen by God. This is the same reason Mr. Hooper is wearing the veil. While he does not explicitly tell why he’s wearing the veil, he says, “I, perhaps, like most other mortals, have sorrows dark enough to typified by a veil” (260). With this phrase from Mr. Hooper, Hawthorne's audience gets a sense of Mr. Hooper’s problem with his own demons and refusal to show his face until they are subdued. While close to death, an angry Mr. Hooper says, “Then deem me a monster for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil” (263). Although Mr. Hooper’s veil disturbs most of the congregation, even until his death, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s symbol of the veil as a wall between the sins of the world and your personal sins explores two different battles within human nature.
that the Omniscient can detect them” (257). With his speech, many people began to think of their own hidden sins and how they are seen by God. This is the same reason Mr. Hooper is wearing the veil. While he does not explicitly tell why he’s wearing the veil, he says, “I, perhaps, like most other mortals, have sorrows dark enough to typified by a veil” (260). With this phrase from Mr. Hooper, Hawthorne's audience gets a sense of Mr. Hooper’s problem with his own demons and refusal to show his face until they are subdued. While close to death, an angry Mr. Hooper says, “Then deem me a monster for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil” (263). Although Mr. Hooper’s veil disturbs most of the congregation, even until his death, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s symbol of the veil as a wall between the sins of the world and your personal sins explores two different battles within human nature.