Haein In The Minister's Black Veil

On Naver, a Korean search engine synonymous to Google, there are so many rumours about Haein, or Katie, who is a daugther of a divorced couple in which the father is the CEO of Shinsegae, a South Korean department store franchise, and the mother is one of the most renowned actresses of Korea. Some read, “She looks like her mother, but she must have gotten plastic surgery because her eyes look much bigger than her younger pictures”, while others read, “she must be sad because she cannot even talk to her mom”. Below these comments, people add more comments in congruence, making their statements about Haein seem true. Yet, the real truth is that Haein somewhat resembles her mom, though not greatly, and that she did not get any plastic surgery.

Also, she does not identify with any specific emotions when she sees her biological mother because she rarely knows her. Clearly, people are not aware of who Haein actually is, but they talk about her and spread unfounded rumours, and in doing so embellishes their mythomaniac beliefs. Similarly, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil”, the townspeople of Milford conjecture the purpose of Minister Hooper’s black veil and believe that their postulation must be true. The purpose of the black veil is not significant in the story; rather, the congregation’s reaction to the veil suggest Hawthorne’s view on human nature. Through his description of the public’s response to the black veil, Hawthorne condemns the shallowness of human nature by showing that people are easily swayed by appearance, merciful only towards themselves,

With this in place, Hawthorne unmasks how people are easily affected by visual stimuli, forgiving only to themselves, and pursue pointless discourse in order to condemn the superficiality of humans. In a society where information is spread quickly and public opinion forms on nearly everything, there is a peril that inadquately substantiated public consenus will be deemed as a “truth”. Because of this, in the status quo, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” acts as a warning of accepting uncorroborated rumours as the the genuine truth. The story ushers the readers to recognize their inherent sins, and to not seek refuge behind the black veil of another person; rather, they should confront their sins directly to improve their human