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Significance Of Romanticism In The Minister's Black Veil

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There are stories that even though they seem to have no meaning, they are the ones that help us think the most and they open our eyes to the reality we are too afraid to realize. Nevertheless,The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of those stories that you can analyze and interpret in any way, but it still gives you the same meaning that you need to take in and realize. The Minister’s Black Veil has many symbols, motifs, and themes that we all can connect or identify with ourselves because it connects you to a reality that is known to all human nature. The Minister’s Black Veil was written during the time of American Romanticism, which in effect can lead us to the conclusion that Romanticism characteristics happen to appear …show more content…

More importantly is what the black veil really symbolizes, which there can be plenty of meanings behind. The meaning that makes the most sense when it comes to the black veil would have to be that the black veil is a symbol of secret sin and the darkness of humanity. This symbol can be seen in the following quote, "in addition to standing for man 's concealment or hypocrisy," (Stibitz 1), and emphasizes the idea that the veil symbolizes how there is darkness in humanity. Mr. Hooper wore this black veil to symbolize the secret sin that we all seem to carry within us, but we are all too afraid to demonstrate and let it out. The black veil has a very deep and suspenseful meaning to it when you take a more in depth view of it, because when we go just go with an interpretation it seems as if he is just wearing it for a funeral. However, the fact that he happened to wear it to every ceremony alerts us that there is more meaning to it, and that was when the people began to think of possibilities to meanings of the black veil. The people began thinking that he could have committed some type of adultery as they question why he didn 't let the black veil fall as he was looking into the dead body of the maiden. Considering the fact the Mr. Hooper wore the black veil when it came to the funeral of the dead maiden, it makes sense that the people will think Mr. Hooper committed some sort of adultery. An illustration of this can be seen when the people start questioning Mr. Hooper in the …show more content…

Perhaps to understand the symbolism of the black veil you need to grasp the three levels of a parable. However, in order to comprehend more smoothly, you should understand what a parable is. A parable is overall a simple story just illustrating a moral or religious lesson. Now the three levels of a parable happen to be the symbols, the theme, and the lesson that you absorbed through the parable. The parable has the main symbol ,that captures your attention, with many different meanings behind it. Similarly, there is a theme for the parable, or else it wouldn 't make much sense. More importantly is the lesson that is seized from the entire parable. In brief, the symbolism of a certain object in a parable is comprehended by identifying the three levels of a parable, which includes identifying the meaning of the symbol, the theme behind the story, and the lesson that must have been grasped in

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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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The black veil is thought to represent secret sin. Hooper exposed himself through the veil which caused him to banish himself because he upholds the community's sins. Hooper upheld the sins for the entire community and felt it would be seen as an ethical fluctuation by wearing the veil. He does not give specific reason into why he refuses to remove the veil but imagery used in the parable convinces readers that Hooper has beliefs that he is some kind of

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Black symbolizes death, and night, and in the story there is death. The death of father Hooper which takes place in the climax. His beloved wife, stays right by his side as she died as well. They were both in love, and she loved him endlessly even though the veil was sitting on his head every step of the way. This can be connected to Romeo and Juliet, the most exaggerated of exaggerated, because Romeo and Juliet both died to be together because their “love” for eachother was so strong and they were inseparable.

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Hooper understands that in life people sin. Everyone has something in their past, they are not proud of. He placed the veil as a symbol of this. He tried to explain his reasoning behind wearing it to the people, and his Fiancée. They could not see his face any longer and felt there was something wrong with him.

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Like one of them is the black veil itself. The black veil symbolizes a barrier from sins and innocence. It can also symbolize the sin that Mr. Hooper has committed. Another symbol is Mr. Hooper himself. He is a symbol because he represents the sin himself.

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Symbolism allows the author to create a story that would otherwise be bland and monotone. Without this dark romantic element, books, short stories, and poems would not have as much meaning nor appealing detail. Symbolism in "The Raven," "The Devil and Tom Walker," and "The Minister's Black Veil," creates layers of meaning and interesting characters. Symbolism has been used for centuries to spice up the literary world. Sometimes it is used in obvious ways, but other time it has to be thoroughly studied to be imperturbably understood.

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Since Mr. Hooper will not break to these cries and pleas he is only separating himself from everyone else and society. Throughout the story “Minister’s Black Veil” Mr. Hooper sacrifices many thing by him wearing the black veil. As a result of Mr. Hooper’s actions he sacrifices his social life, he sacrifices his relationship with his wife Elizabeth, and he is separating himself from society by wearing the black

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Hooper was wearing the veil to make people that actually did sin feel better about themselves. He was looked at as an idol by everyone so why would he wear a veil for people who did wrong? Mr. Hooper did something someone of his position was sacred to do and he was scared for his fiancée and his church to find out. As a reverend he was not supposed to sin, and that is why everyone looked at him differently and judged him without knowing why he wore the veil. By wearing the veil, he had to commit another sin and lie to his fiancée about why he was wearing it and he broke their vows as a result.

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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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In the Minister’s Black Veil, the black veil has a great significance to the story. The black veil symbolizes the secret sin in society. The sins of humanity are the greatest sin which society hides and ignores. People do not take account of the bad deeds that are going on every single day. This Parable does an outstanding job of doing that because Mr. Hooper goes on with his day normally, but by having that veil on his face it exemplifies that sin is occurring.

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Hooper reveal why he wears the veil on his deathbed. Hawthorne places his outburst at the end of his life: “‘When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!’” (Hawthorne 13).

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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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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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