Examples Of Alienation In The Minister's Black Veil

Alienation in The Minister’s Black Veil
Country musician, Johnny Cash said, “I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It's still my symbol of rebellion -- against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others' ideas” (Goodreads). Even though he was highly honored and greatly respected, Cash, a country music legend, was always seen as a rebel bucking against the status quo especially through his use of an all black wardrobe. Cash points out how closed minded people and Christians judge him for his all black attire. Like Johnny Cash, Mr. Hooper an honorable and well-respected man retained the similar problems. Hooper wore a black

Hooper wears the veil for a reason, but it is unknown. Hawthorne describes the veil as mysterious and the talk of the town. He says “that and the mystery concealed behind it, supplied a topic for discussion between acquaintances meeting in the street, and good women, gossipping at their own windows” (Hawthorne, par.15). By Hooper wearing the veil, it causes him to isolate himself because he does not tell the people why he wears it. By Hooper wearing the veil he can not love his fiance because it gets in the way of their love. Boone talks about how Hawthorne writing how his love is not able to be reached because of the veil. “ Hawthorne writes that ‘love or sympathy could never reach him’ behind the veil. Since the veil constantly signifies and its signification enacts a dislocation from self, love and sympathy--like identity--cannot find a place to rest” (Boone, par.11). Hooper causes this because he has the veil over his face and loses himself, his love, and sympathy. The veil gets in the way of these everyday things. By him not being able to do these things he separates himself from the community. In the parable, an older woman of Hopper’s congregation says, “He has changed himself into something awful. only by hiding his face” (Hawthorne, par. 5). By him hiding his face causes to turns him into something no one wants to be around. No one wanting to be around him causes him to be alone and isolated. In the literary critic by Nancy L. Bunge, she talks about how Hooper isolates himself. She says “By turning himself into an unrelenting example of depravity, Hooper demonstrates a lack of generosity, most of all toward himself. His veil shuts out happiness, giving “a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things” (Bunge,par.50 ). Hooper wearing the veil results in the lack generosity not only to the community but also he losses it for himself. This cause isolation for