The two texts titled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and “The Minister’s Black Veil” written by Jonathan Edwards and Nathaniel Hawthorne share some similarities and differences in terms of themes. Also, the styles developed throughout the story share a couple similarities and differences as well.…
When looking at “The Ministers black veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, Elaine Barry makes a strong case for the central symbols such as the veil, and people have such a strong ambiguity. She makes the case that it helps describes “Hawthorn’s distrust of moral certainties, but also his sense of artistic bankruptcy” (Barry 1).…
This essay is comparing and contrasting two stories by Nathaniel Hawthorn. The stories are The Scarlet Letter and The Ministers Black Veil. There are many similarities as well as differences. There are similarities in religious beliefs. They also have almost the exact same themes. We will begin with a couple paragraphs on what the two stories have in common…
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…
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…
In “The Minister’s Black Veil”, the black veil symbolizes a secret sin. Mr. Hooper wears the black veil to hide his sins and to confront people of their sins. The townspeople were disturbed by this black veil because he was facing them with their sins. He wore this black veil everywhere he went. The black veil separated him from God and the townspeople. Mr. Hooper wore the veil to church, funerals, weddings, and even his death bed.…
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.…
Jonathan Edwards, author of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” and Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of “The Minister’s Black Veil,” were both strong, influential writers. Although both Hawthorne and Edwards were strong writers, the way they conveyed their message to their readers were quite different. Both Edwards and Hawthorne shared a main directive. Their writing style was not only effective but also quite different. Edwards who was more blunt and straightforward in his writing, used that approach to be an efficient writer.…
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.…
Father Hooper enlightening us that he wears the veil not to cover his own immorality but to remind him of the wickedness that is in everyone.…
In contrast, one may argue that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s text had better style and meaning to it than Edwards’ text. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s text is a parable, which teaches you a lesson throughout the story. He taught people in his text that you can’t treat someone differently based on how they look or dress. In his text the preacher says “I look around me, and on every visage a Black Veil.” The preacher is going through harsh times and everyone is treating him differently because of this…
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…
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…
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…
This is what sets the tone for the rest of the story. The images that Hawthorne writes in this passage show Goodman Brown’s character becoming a depressing figure. That is significant because with imagery that is depressing it sets Goodman Brown’s journey as more of an on purpose than a naive accident. This can also suggest that the temptation of sin is too…