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Similarities Between Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God And The Black Veil

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Recommended: Compare and contrast sinners in the hands of angry god and the ministers black veil

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards and “The Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are two texts that talk about religious topics, like sinning. The preachers in both texts are opposites. The texts describe both preachers and how they act upon the church. However, Edwards text was more effective because he used strong, visual words and a subjective tone to grab the reader’s attention and pull them in. In comparison, both texts reveal that hiding doesn’t solve anything. In “The Black Veil” the preacher hides his secret sins with a black veil. “But that piece of crape, to their imagination, seemed to hang down before his heart, the symbol of a fearful secret between him and them” (Hawthorne 244-246). This piece of evidence …show more content…

“The Black Veil” talks about Mr. Hooper and how his veil affects his congregation. “I don’t like it,” muttered an old woman, as her hobbed into a meeting house. “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face” (Hawthorne 44-46). This evidence is quoting how an old woman felt about the preacher’s veil. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Edwards describes how God is all powerful and could remove his hand at any moment.”But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw His hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the air to hold up a person that is suspended in it” (Edwards 35-38). This quote also goes along with how God is all powerful and that if you don’t obey He can withdraw His hands at any given moment. Nevertheless, you should obey …show more content…

Hawthorne’s text was in more of a sorrowful tone. When the minister would preach, he never yelled. He was monotone. “The Black Veil” was also in third person omniscient, while “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was in second person. In “The Black Veil” the readers knew about more than one person’s feelings. The reader knew how Mr. Hooper felt, while they also knew how the congregation and Elizabeth felt. The congregation didn’t like the veil. “Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil” (Hawthorne 485-486). This quote is explaining how the people reacted when they saw the minister. He felt like everyone was avoiding him. He felt as if they shouldn’t be judging him because of the

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When he is wearing the black veil he feels like that is the best for him to hide from his past sins. In the passage his wife was begging him to take off the black veil and to be forgiving for his sin, but the

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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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In the passage “Black Veil” Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the theme in the text as “swathed about his forehead, and hanging down over his face, so low as to be shaken by his breathe, Mr. Hooper had a Black veil” and “ Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my Black veil.” on lines 31-32, and 485-486 in “Black Veil”. In “Sinners…” the theme focuses on asking God to take away your sins, and focuses upon what will or may happen if you don’t let God take

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In The Minister’s Black Veil, the veil holds different meanings for the minister and for the people in his congregation. The congregation starts out confused about the meaning, and even though they get hints of the meaning over the years, they never understand it fully, and their obsessive fear of the minister continues even though he remains a good and harmless person. The minister seems to know what the symbolic meaning of the veil is, although he only reveals it slowly in bits and pieces until the climactic scene on his deathbed. He, too, views the veil with fear, because he sees it as a symbol of the secret sin in himself and everyone. In addition to the meaning the veil holds for the congregation and for the minister, it is important to consider the effect of the veil on the relationship between the two.

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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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There are many similarities and differences between “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards and “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Edwards and Hawthorne explain and use different ways to help persuade the readers to listen to there writings. For Example, Edwards tries to explain that you have to repent today and no later in order to get your chance into going to heaven by stating that God as already chosen your path. While, Hawthorne explains that everyone is a sinner because no one is innocent and that everybody makes mistakes and has secrets that they keep hidden. Therefore, they use different types of tones and symbols to relate to there main idea.

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The themes of the two authors passages can be compared in the event of dealing with God. the passages both talk about everyone's a sinner, and God is the one to judge. As it state in “The Minister’s Black Veil”, “Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my Black Veil?” This quote proves that Hawthorne's and Edward’s themes compare because god should be the only judge and when people judge God is provoked by their wickedness.

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566 Words | 3 Pages

In “sinners,”its theme describes if someone makes god angry because of sin and don't ask for forgiveness he can release you into hell showing his power to punish for sinning. In “Black Veil,” it decribes it does no good to try to hid secret sins because sooner or later it will surface . Both texts shows that god know if you're sinning and has the power to punish you if you don't amount for your sins. Showing he doesn't like sin but he wants you to ask for forgiveness, admit you have done wrong by sinning ,and not hide it because he already knows.

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559 Words | 3 Pages

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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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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668 Words | 3 Pages

People from other places wanting to see him just to see the “minister with the black veil”. Many other dying sinners were always welcoming him to preach all their sins to him before they left their dying beds. “In this manner, Mr.Hooper spent a long life, irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving, though unloved, and dimly feared; a man apart from men, shunned in their health and joy, but ever summoned to their aid of mortal anguish.” (14, Hawthorne) Eventually, all those stares and reactions towards his black veil made his life miserable and everywhere he sees himself in the glass mirror Mr.Hooper is unable to see himself again like he uses to do before. Among his death bed, his beloved Elizabeth came to take care of him and Reverend Mr.Clark to seek him into conclusion and to help him leave those sins so much he had attached himself to liberate him to the spiritual light.

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1277 Words | 6 Pages

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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1358 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout the story, Mr. Hooper is covered by a black veil which masks his face. He continuously prevents anyone from seeing his face or persuading him to take it off. Through the use of the veil, Hawthorne paints a picture which shows how sin ruled over the Puritan communities and controlled each person among them. The veil itself becomes the center of attention for all members of Hooper’s Puritan congregation. The entire population of the town become scared of Hooper and believe that this man who was so high among their values, now has a horrid sinful past that he is trying to hide.

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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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