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Comparing Scarlet Letter, The Ministers Black Veil, And The Birthmark

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Chris Ocampo Period 4A October 18,2015 Character Analysis/symbolism/Theme Identification-Analysis Essay Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of symbolic commentary and conventional themes in The Scarlet Letter, The Ministers Black Veil, and The Birthmark, characterizes sin and judgment as deformations within us all. Within each of Hawthorne’s’ works sin reflects internal and exposed sins, as well in people’s flaws. However, there deformations expand further than the objects that they wear. All of the major symbols and themes in Hawthorns selected works embody Alienation. Hester Prynne, Aylmer, and Mr. Hooper are linked to the ambiguity of Puritan morals. Puritans throughout the 1800’s believed science and knowledge was sinful. Much of Hawthorne’s writing …show more content…

Mr. Hooper’s veil and Hester’s scarlet letter symbolize ones self-sin within and the ones exposed. The black veil that Mr. Hooper voluntarily dons becomes more sinister in its interpretation as time passes. The veil turns black over time, symbolizing the horror of others. Mr. Hooper assimilates the veil within is personality. Nonetheless, allowing others to see his true being. “Know, then, this veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with strangers, so with my familiar friends, no mortal eye will see it withdrawn, the dismal shade must separate me from the world" (336) Hawthorne’s them through out the Ministers Black Veil and many more of his works, resemble innocence, guilt and secret …show more content…

Heart versus mind seemed to be a well talked about theme in this piece. Hester Prynne, the antagonist, has an affair that takes their town for a turn. The scarlet letter on Hester’s chest is a continuous reminder of the sin she committed. In the 1800’s adultery was rarely seen and was high frowned upon. ‘Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast, —at her, the child of honorable parents, —at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin.” (5.1) The A’s humiliating and Hester’s put unwillingly on the scaffold, for the whole town to have a shot. Hawthorns exhibition of pearl, is also a symbol of shame. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl all get punished in this gothic novel. The “family” is alienated in town full of judgment. However, Dimmesdale does not take part for most of the novel. He deals with a conflict within himself. This deformation is not seen by the townspeople but he suffers greatly

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“Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world.” That is a quote the novel, The Scarlet Letter, a novel written during the Romanticism era of literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of The Scarlet Letter and the Minister’s Black Veil. The Scarlet Letter takes place in the 1600s in the Puritan town of Boston. Hester Prynne is the main character, and the subject of humiliation after she is caught committing adultery and gives birth to a child, Pearl.

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It is a close knit town where everybody knows each other. As the story progresses, it is seen how people will avoid even the most loved friends and family once there is a mysterious barrier in between them. So, throughout the story, the minister’s black veil symbolizes a variety of things such as: secret sins, a barrier, and even sorrow. First off, I think that Father Hooper’s black veil symbolizes everyone’s secret sins. In the beginning of the story, church begins and Hooper appears concealed by a black veil, and everybody is mystified.

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In the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” and the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the stories of two men who keep their sins secret and are hurt deeply. In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale does not reveal his sin to the community and experiences far more pain than Hester, whose sin is revealed. Years after the original sin, Hester has healed and is accepted by the community, while Dimmesdale still feels guilty, as can be seen when he mounts the scaffold. Dimmesdale’s experience is similar to that of Reverend Hooper, who covers his face after a secret sin and is eschewed by the community. When we refuse to admit our faults, we will feel guilty

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Nathaniel Hawthorne was a very well-known author in the mid-1800s. The manuscript that made him famous was the novel, “The Scarlet Letter.” Which was officially published in the year of 1850 along with two of his other very successful stories, “Young Goodman Brown.” And “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Hawthorne’s books became very popular in the year that it was published and has managed to remain extremely popular now, high school and college students are currently required to read his work today.

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The Minister’s Black Veil: A Parable, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a tale that may seem dark, but rings with a haunting amount of truth. The dominant symbol that Hawthorne uses in this short story is Minister Hooper’s black veil. In this essay, the veil will be recognized as a symbol for the barrier between an individual and those around them. This barrier works to create fear and distrust in the characters throughout the work and greatly influences their actions and behavior toward Hooper. The symbol of the veil also opens the readers’ eyes to the fact that there is a barrier between themselves and the world around them.

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Many tend to focus on either the consequences of sins, or the causes of them. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist Hester Prynne is widely considered as the most controversial character in the piece. D.H. Lawrence’s criticism “On the Scarlet Letter” displays his views of how Hester Prynne is depicted, as well as how she should have been depicted, in the novel. Lawrence utilizes the literary devices of choppy syntax, biblical allusions, and satirical tone to emphasize his opinions on the characterization of Hester Prynne.

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The structure of a story can either make or break the book being written. The Birthmark and The Scarlet Letter, both by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are both effective in the ways they were written. The birthmark is a short story that teaches a life lesson. Hawthorne was effective in the way he structured this specific story since he didn’t dwell on history and small details. The Scarlet Letter was very effective and the structure played a huge role in that.

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Mr. Hooper was forcing all of the people to look deeper within themselves and try to understand the veils true meaning “Such was the effect of this simple piece of crape, that more than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meeting-house. Yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them.” (Hawthorne 707) In reality, the veil represents the secrets everyone is hiding within himself or herself. The theme of the veil is the conflict between the dark, hidden side of man.

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In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne pinpoints various effects of sin on individuals within a strict, Puritan society. To shed a negative light on Puritan attitudes toward sin and lack of forgiveness, Hawthorne paints vivid pictures of freedom and imprisonment, relief and regret, through the juxtaposition of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, and the characterization of the two lovers. Hester undergoes major character growth through her years bearing the scarlet “A,” "so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom," introduced in the narrator’s shifting viewpoint of the young mother. The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale on the other hand, shoulders his guilt, in spite of the physical manifestation of his inner turmoil in his

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans of Boston persecute Hester Prynne for adultery. She continues to protect her lover, the minister Arthur Dimmesdale, though she is forced to wear the letter ‘A’ on her chest and suffer through hardships and solitude. In her cottage on the edge of both wilderness and civilization, Hester finds herself stuck between the confines of her strict religious community and the ‘sinful’ romance that she feels in her heart to be sacred. Utilizing images of nature, Hawthorne describes Hester’s development of individuality throughout her seclusion from Puritan society, and conveys his own support of Hester’s relationship with Dimmesdale.

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In the “Minister’s Black Veil”, Hawthorne displays Hooper and the symbol of the veil as a representation of how judgmental society can become when faced with situations they don’t understand even though they have no right to judge. The “Minister’s Black Veil” was written as a parable in order to teach us a moral lesson stating that you should never judge someone. In Paul J. Emmett’s literary criticism he tells of a point in the story when Hooper explains his reasoning for wearing the veil, Emmett says, “After exhausting life in his efforts for mankind’s spiritual good, he had made the manner of his death a parable, in order to impress on his admirers the mighty and mournful lesson, that, in the view of infinite purity, we

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In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne bestows upon Hester Prynne a character of unparalleled strength with a high capacity for moral reflection. Hester’s strong actions and reflectively eye opening thoughts foreshadow a brilliant light at the end of this dark tunnel of a tale where she will pick a “sweet moral blossom” (Hawthorne 42) that has been nurtured by her excruciating struggle and has finally bloomed. When Hester is officially convicted of her act of adultery, she is forced to wear a scarlet “A” upon her chest as punishment and a symbol of shame that she must live with for the rest of her life; she was then forced to stand on display for her fellow Puritan townspeople and let everyone view her “sin”. However, to the spectators’ amazement, Hester stood before them “with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed” (46).

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Nathaniel Hawthorne develops more than one theme in his book, The Scarlett Letter, however, one theme seems to prevail: Holding on to sin can destroy one’s life. This theme is demonstrated very well in the lives of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Both of them have committed a sin, but they each decide to deal with it differently. Hester Prynne decides to deal with her sin by taking responsibility. She realizes that what she has done is wrong, and now she has Pearl, who is “the figure, the body, the reality of sin,” (Chap 5).

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