Symbolism In The Minister's Black Veil

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AP English III 3 Dec. 2012 The Minister’s Black Veil In “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Hooper covers his face with a black veil, and his worshippers are confused and scared about why the minister is wearing it. The black veil makes life harder for him, but he still will not take it off. Hooper’s veil stands for sin, and also represents the fact that all humans’ sin, and no one ought to be judged for it. Reverend Hooper’s black veil is a symbol of secret sin and the sinning nature that all humans have. Sin is mentioned various times throughout the play, and the first day Hooper wore the black veil he preached on secret sin: “The subject had reference to secret sin” (Hawthorne 268). The veil was a symbol…show more content…
Hooper out of hurt for him neglecting to show her his face one last time, he says nothing but smiles sadly as he always does: “Amid his grief, Mr. Hooper smiled to think that only a material emblem had separated him from happiness” (Hawthorne 272). Also, at the young girl’s funeral, Mr. Hooper bends over to close her eyes and the veil lifts from his face for only her to see. Based on this evidence, Hooper could have also worn the veil out of grief for his lost mistress. Mr. Hooper’s veil can also be seen as a symbol of not only his sin, but everyone else’s because of his last words: “Then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and died! I look around me and, lo! On every visage a black veil” (Hawthorne 275). Mr. Hooper is saying that everyone else sins just like he has, yet he is judged more than anyone because he is a reverend and also because he wears the black veil. He is not afraid to say that he sins and make peace with his mistakes. Also, because of Mr. Hooper’s belief in predestination, the belief that an elect group of people are selected by God to go to Heaven, his sins do not matter. If he is chosen as one of the elect, his sins cannot send him to Hell. If he is not chosen as an elect, his sins do not make things any worse for him than they already are: “Realizing that he can never be certain whether God has elected or damned him taints a clear and uncomplicated view of worldly and spiritual things”…show more content…
Hooper and his black veil because he hated anything that separated one from the rest of humanity. Hooper’s veil does exactly this. His face is shielded from the rest of the world: “It threw its obscurity between him and the Holy page” (Montbriand). None of the members of his congregation, or his fiancé can understand, and this causes Hooper to live a sad life alone. Hawthorne also places Mr. Hooper in the small town of Salem, the town where he was born. Hawthorne is very interested in Salem in the Puritan Age because he had ancestors that were involved in the Salem witch trials: “Hawthorne had become fascinated with Puritanism when he discovered that two of his earliest ancestors in America had been important figures in two very controversial and deplorable historical incidents- the expulsion of the Quakers from Massachusetts, and the Salem with trials”
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