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'Symbolism In The Minister's Black Veil'

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People of all ages and sizes are judged by their physical appearance and even the most righteous ones have committed at least one sin throughout their lives. As Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” develops, it becomes evident that everyone in society is consistently judging the protagonist, Mr. Hooper, upon how he perpetually wears his black veil; even when he is the ‘priest’ during a wedding or when he is conferencing with his fiancée, Elizabeth, who too has yet to see the face behind his black veil. In this short story, symbolism, which is the use of symbols to emphasize particular ideas by giving them symbolic meanings which are not close to their literal definition, is key to this story. Mr. Hooper’s black veil is a symbol …show more content…

Immediately after Elizabeth leaves Mr. Hooper, Hathorne asserts, “But, even amid his grief, Mr. Hooper smiled to think that only a material emblem had separated him from his happiness through the horrors, for which it shadows forth must be drawn darkly between the fondest of lovers.” The material emblem mentioned in this quotation is a metaphor for the black veil, and commonly an emblem is given a positive connotation representing something that is of help; however, it is evident that this veil is meant to have a negative connotation as it continues to symbolize death and sins. By Hawthorne claiming it shadows forth must be drawn darkly between the fondest of lovers, he means that no matter how to what extent two people love each other, a relationship that is not built on the basis of trust will not last. This illustrates how this very black veil has separated him from his fiancée who is just letting him slowly die on the inside all alone without any support. This depicts how no matter if you are a man or a woman, the loss of your significant other leaves you in the deep sea in depression. All in all, along with a pitiful tone, this solemn tone is also a significant part towards the development of this

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In Hawthorne’s short story, the minister walks out of the rectory one morning with a black veil covering his face. In this story, it is heavily debated what that black veil actually symbolizes. Could it be a symbol of sin and guilt, or is it rather a barrier between the minister and the rest of society? The story takes place in winter at Milford, Connecticut, where it focuses on Parson Hooper, the town’s minister.

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Which allows me to signify that another theme that this story hides is sorrow, there’s a lot of sadness and grief throughout the story. “Have patience with me, Elizabeth!” “ Do not desert me, though this veil must be between us here on earth” (242). “The black veil separated him from cheerful brotherhood and woman’s love.” Hence, one of the major themes of “The Minister’s Black Veil” is that those who acknowledge the secrets of their hearts and those who choose to stand apart from their fellows will often find that they are ostracized and may well lead lives of loneliness, prisoners in their own hearts”( Reed 3 ).

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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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522 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the short story “Minister's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Hooper sacrifices many things by wearing the black veil. Through his choice in wearing the black veil he sacrifices his social life, his relationship with his wife, and he’s now considered an outcast in his community. By wearing the black veil Mr. Hooper sacrificed many things, one of these things is his social life. In the story a woman says “ ‘Truly do I,’ replied the lady; and I would not be alone with him for the world”(Hawthorne 3).

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468 Words | 2 Pages

In article two it states; "Mr. Hooper wears the veil to symbolize his mourning for the secret sins of many of the Puritans who fear the severe punishments for transgressions and live as hypocrites becomes apparent in the denouement of Hawthorne's story" clearly stating that he wears this black veil to symbolize the sins of the puritans rather than himself. Mr. Hooper wishes to teach a moral

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828 Words | 4 Pages

This shows how 1 small piece of cloth that you are wearing can make a huge impact on the type of person you are. As stated in the quote, it can get you from being a nice and gentle pastor to being a scary and frightening pastor that no one wants to be around. Essentially, it can be seen that appearance does link to the type of person you are in the Minister's Black Veil by the actions the people took towards Mr. Hooper's new

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The stories “Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” both portray the theme of loss and secrecy. Women, specifically Faith and Elizabeth, bring to light some of the conflicts and foreshadow the outcome of the story. The women in the stories “Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” represent the outcomes of the story with their name or their secrecy towards the main character. “Minister’s Black Veil” reveals the theme of secrecy and grief among people. The main character, Mr. Hooper, wears a black veil over his face like a blanket of secrets.

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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

Mr. Hooper was forcing all of the people to look deeper within themselves and try to understand the veils true meaning “Such was the effect of this simple piece of crape, that more than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meeting-house. Yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them.” (Hawthorne 707) In reality, the veil represents the secrets everyone is hiding within himself or herself. The theme of the veil is the conflict between the dark, hidden side of man.

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In literature, archetypes “evoke deep and perhaps unconscious responses in a reader” (2043). Similarly, Hawthorne uses various symbols in “The Minister’s Veil,” and “The Birthmark” to enhance, and clarify his stories’ themes. Hawthorne’s tenacity on his symbols leaves a huge burden on them. His stories become overly dependent, so much so if a symbol is too obscure the story becomes a riddle. Consequently, the birthmark fails to establish the story’s theme, and thus the story trembles.

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What can you expect from a minister from changing persona where people use to see him as a “gentlemanly men, of about thirty, though still a bachelor, was dressed with due clerical neatness.” Then have a change in his appearance where it drastically changes his life. By a piece of cloth over his head accounts reactions of the congregation to it, the veil, a black veil that changed the image and the reactions of the people from Westbury. It is just a man, Mr.Hooper, who Hawthorne is modulating between dramatic incidents involving the black veil and Mr.Hooper approaches dramatic reactions towards it, in the short story the “Minister’s Black Veil”. The key symbol of the short story is the black veil it represented the spiritual isolation between

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In the story “The Minister's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mr. Hooper the church's minister is judged by this appearance. He is a minister in a church his job is about faith, and when being a minister appearance has a big part in it because when you are talking to someone you want to be able to see their face. The minister is young, good looking and always looking really put together there was nothing odd about him. It was time for church and a sexton stated, " But what has good Parson Hooper got upon his face?”

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1113 Words | 5 Pages

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most studied and influential writers in history. His many works use symbolism and allegory to portray their purpose, filling them with deep meaning and offering a wide variety of interpretation. Hawthorne was not particularly proud of his family history; he disagreed with some of his ancestors positions in the salem witch trials. He distanced himself with that part of his family and added a “w” to his name to further do so. Hawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts, which gave him a prevalent theme of puritanism in many of his stories.

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993 Words | 4 Pages

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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In his short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses irony, symbolism, and stereotypical Puritan beliefs and behavior to expose humanity’s hypocrisy in an effort to create change. Irony is an extremely important literary element that Hawthorne uses in “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Throughout the story, many different examples of irony are evident. First off, the

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