Minister's Black Veil Theme

In one's lifetime, there is always a secret sin that one must keep to themselves. This is shown in the story The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main character who is known as Mr. Hooper is judged by his community for wearing a black veil. Several of the other characters suspect that Mr. Hooper has committed a crime giving him the reason to wear the black veil. The descriptions and thoughts the romantic characters have of Mr. Hooper wearing the black veil is shown throughout this story; where one can easily suspect the reason behind the black veil.

This story introduces several characters many of which can be considered as romantic characters. These characters include Mr.Hooper, Elizabeth (Mr.Hooper's wife), and the young

One of the reasons why the theme would be guilt is; because by having Mr. Hooper wear the black veil it demonstrates that he is feeling guilty about something he did. Additionally, throughout this romantic story, there are numerous areas where Mr. Hooper can be found feeling guilty. For example, "Mr. Hooper's conscience tortured him for some great crime too horrible to be entirely concealed..." (Hawthrone 13). As it is shown Mr. Hooper began feeling terrible for the sin he made thus he felt guilt as well. Another theme is loneliness. A reason why this can be taken into consideration as a theme is because as soon as Mr. Hooper wears the black veil, people immediately begin to distance themselves from him. An illustration of this loneliness is shown when Mr. Hooper tells his wife "... you know how lonely I am, and how frightened, to be alone behind my black veil..." (Hawthrone 13). Furthermore, when Mr. Hooper says this to his fiance it gives a perfect example of how many people began distancing themselves from Mr. Hooper, along with people judging him as well even though everyone has their own sin to hide. As a result, this would bring me to the next theme which is sin. The theme of sin in this story plays a big role. One reason is Mr. Hooper wearing the black veil and confessing that he has a secret sin. Additionally, sin is a theme in this story because by Mr. Hooper having a secret sin it demonstrates how each of us carries a symbolic veil, meaning that everyone has a secret sin that they have never shared with anyone. The theme of sin also includes people being less concerned with the sins of others but rather focus on your own sins. Although the symbol of the black veil may be obvious it is crucial to this romanticized story. This is because the black veil is the only object in the story that truly symbolizes something. In the same way that sin is a theme,