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Examples Of Ambiguity In The Minister's Black Veil

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Through allegory and his intentional vocabulary in ‘the Minister’s Black Veil’, Nathaniel Hawthorne parallels the literal veiling of Minister Hooper’s face with his own withholding of details within the plot. Hawthorne is deliberate in his word choice throughout, keeping with the theme of concealing. By purposeful ambiguity, both the minister and Hawthorne are demonstrating a point to their congregation or reader.
In a review of Hawthorne’s book “Twice-Told Tales” in Graham's Magazine, Edgar Allan Poe insinuates that Hooper’s “secret sin” and the cause of the veil is an affair he had with the young woman whose funeral is mentioned, being “a crime of dark dye”. (Crowley 92) The only time that the veil is an “appropriate emblem” is during the funeral, where a pair attending swears to have seen “the minister and the maiden’s spirit walking … hand-in-hand” (Hawthorne 639) It is unlikely that Hawthorne would have included this scene or the dialogue between the two people had the woman not played a significant factor in the sudden demonstration through concealment of the Minister. …show more content…

(Morgan 184) When his fiancée and the only person who has not had a repulsed reaction, Elizabeth, inquires about the veil, he refuses to confess the reason for it to her. Although she never learns of Hooper’s offense, she leaves him until he is on his deathbed. His commitment to his lifelong vow to his God to cover his face is shown when he states to Elizabeth that he intends to have the “mortal veil” between them until they reunite in Heaven. Even as she begs him to show her his face just once, he refuses. (Hawthorne 641-642) He continues to become isolated and a spectacle throughout his

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In Hawthorne’s short story, the minister walks out of the rectory one morning with a black veil covering his face. In this story, it is heavily debated what that black veil actually symbolizes. Could it be a symbol of sin and guilt, or is it rather a barrier between the minister and the rest of society? The story takes place in winter at Milford, Connecticut, where it focuses on Parson Hooper, the town’s minister.

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After reading both of the text “The Minister 's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards they’re various similarities and differences can be noted, especially toward the attitudes of sin and guilt. In the story’s the are just portrayed a little bit different. In both stories the feel that sinning is horrible and should be frowned upon. In the story the “Minister 's Black Veil” Nathaniel Hawthorne wants the reader to know that Reverend Hooper is wanting to hide his past sins.

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When she finds out that he is deathly ill she comes to his death bed to be by his side. Elizabeth and the Reverend ask him once again to remove the veil, but he refuses. As he dies, those around him tremble. He tells them in anger not to tremble, not merely for him but for themselves, for they all wear black veils. Father Hooper is buried with the black veil on his face.

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279 Words | 2 Pages

In “The Minister’s Black Veil”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the minister, Mr. Hooper wear a black veil which affects his relationship with his community negatively because the people distanced themselves and isolated Mr. Hooper. For example, Elizabeth, Mr. Hooper’s fiancee distances herself from Mr. Hooper. Hawthorne writes, “Then, farewell!” said Elizabeth. She withdrew her arm from his grasp and slowly departed...”. Elizabeth is heading out upset when Mr. Hooper says to her, “Oh!

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682 Words | 3 Pages

In contrast, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” incorporates a narrative style, with the theme that one cannot hide from their own sins. Hawthorne writes, “There is an hour to come when all of us shall cast aside our veils.” The veil symbolizes sin, so the quote explains that one lives with their sins until death. This is a key line that ties the story’s theme

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Hooper wearing the veil this makes everyone consider him an outcast to society. Before the service and old woman said “I don’t like it” and she hobbled into the meeting-house”(Hawthorne 1). As a result of Hooper wearing the veil he makes this old lady avoid his service because she is scared of him. At the close of the service many people went straight home by themselves and the other huddled in small groups and ignored Mr. Hooper and instead talked about him. Nothing, not the pleas of the elders, nor the nudging of Elizabeth , nor his own loneliness can persuade Hooper to remove the piece of black crape that separates him so dramatically from society (Boone).

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(Hawthorne, 5) The minister says this to show that the veil represents the secret sin that one will carry with them while on earth. Despite the fact that they have different ideas , both authors are able to reveal a greater meaning through

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In article two it states; "Mr. Hooper wears the veil to symbolize his mourning for the secret sins of many of the Puritans who fear the severe punishments for transgressions and live as hypocrites becomes apparent in the denouement of Hawthorne's story" clearly stating that he wears this black veil to symbolize the sins of the puritans rather than himself. Mr. Hooper wishes to teach a moral

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In "The Ministers Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne "The reason that it is difficult for the congregation and even his fiancée to look upon him is that they only see the veil. " The minister is hiding his face because he is afraid that what he is hiding will show to the people of the church and his fiancée. Mr. Hooper is wearing the veil because he committed a sin; and is hiding it from the town and his church First of all, Mr. Hooper is hiding behind the veil to ensconce his sins is because it is bigger than all the other sins everyone else has admitted. The article said that it could be him hiding a inclination he is having for a female.

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In a community of metaphoric veils only the veil seen by the public eye is known as obstructive or harmful. Throughout the story, Hooper was portrayed as a monster for publicly wearing the veil as a symbol of his sins. “To surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else” (Dictionary.com). “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Hooper sacrificed his love, his dignity, his own happiness, and his position in the community by wearing a veil, which led to his alienation.

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1158 Words | 5 Pages

The wearing of the veil is a confession of guilt and a suggestion that everyone should do the same. Mr. Hooper really did not understand how much this black veil was going to affect the congregation until raising his glass in a toast for a newlywed couple and catching a glimpse of himself in the looking glass. Right then and there is when Mr. Hooper realized, "the Earth, too, had on her black veil” (Hawthorne 2145). This means that everyone is hiding; most people would not wear a black veil and have no reason in doing so. Is it that the people afraid of what the veil represents to Mr. Hooper or are they afraid of what it represents to themselves?

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Mr.Hooper new that throughout his life of trying to get many people to understand why he did such thing like of the black veil. They would never understand why so and/or overpass through the negative reactions of the people towards him for wearing the

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1277 Words | 6 Pages

Hawthorne has said that "Among all its bad influences, the black veil had the one desirable effect, of making its wearer a very efficient clergyman. By the aid of his mysterious emblem--for there was no other apparent cause--he became a man of awful power over souls that were in agony for sin." (Hawthorne 13) As explained by Hooper in this quote, he explains that the sin that

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993 Words | 4 Pages

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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The Story Behind the Veil “The Minister’s Black Veil” is arguably one of the most famous short stories in the history of American Literature. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an extremely well known writer who is recognized for his many works. From The Scarlet Letter to The House of the Seven Gables, Hawthorne’s exceptional literary skills are portrayed in each and every one of his stories.

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