Sin In The Minister's Black Veil

In both of Hawthorne’s works there is a familiar theme, sin, which ties both of the stories together. The short story expresses, “It was tinged, rather more darkly than usual, with the gentle gloom of Mr. Hooper’s temperament. The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them” (“The Minister’s Black Veil” 3). Although Hawthorne did not make it clear, “The Minister’s Black Veil” has a relation with sin. Mr. Hooper was hiding something considering he was wearing a veil to cover his face, and the author was suggesting he had committed a sin. One of the themes of this story is sin because in this quote he has committed a secret sin which caused him to wear the veil.

The society was not aware of what he had done, but he was the reason which caused him to make decisions which affected his life in a negative way. The author was not as effective in presenting the theme of this story as in The Scarlet Letter because he made it more apparent. A similar theme of sin is shared in the novel and an example is stated in the following, “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast, at her, the innocent, as the figure, the body, the reality of sin” ( The Scarlet Letter 73). As explained in The Scarlet Letter it is apparent what the theme of the story is. The author uses the theme very successfully because he incorporates many examples of sin tieing it in with the characters and plot. Hester had committed adultery which was a sin in Puritan