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Symbolism In 'The Raven And Minister's Black Veil'

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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. Although "The Minister's Black Veil," "The Raven," and "The Devil and Tom Walker" all have evidence of the dark romantic element symbolism, it is more abundantly found in "The Devil and Tom Walker."
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The well-known symbol, the raven, signifies the presence of death, which we later learn was the death of his well-beloved, Lenore (Davis). One of the more prominent allusions is the reference of the Plutonian Shore which refers to the underworld and the wait for the ferryman to take the banished across to the gates of Hell (Davis). This symbolic allusion helps Poe describe the night as hellish (Davis). Another symbol that is easy to pick out is the bust of Pallas that the raven perches on. The symbolism of the Goddess Athena and of her great wisdom helps the reader understand how the author will always have the curse of persistent memory; a "mournful and never-ending remembrance" (MeJohnson). Poems like "The Raven" serve as great references to find emotions that the author may have not been able to express as intensely if it was not for symbolism.
Symbolism is more popularly used to portray more harsh, or intense feelings. In
"The Minister's Black Veil" the minister's feelings of guilt and sinfulness are expressed through the dark and mysterious veil ("SchoolWorkHelper"). Nathaniel Hawthorne put the wedding and funeral in the story to symbolize the circle of life and death (Lorcher). Continuing with the idea of symbolism in the wedding and funeral, the minister and his black veil creates a sense of evil at both events and reminds the reader that evil presences can be anywhere (Lorcher). Throughout it all, there is this mysterious feeling created by the black veil and this is a great way for Hawthorne to bring symbolism into the story.
Even though there are other ways to create a feeling without directly coming

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The black veil symbolizes the secret sins of all humans. “How strange, said a lady, that a simple black veil, such as any woman might wear on her bonnet, should become such a terrible thing on Mr. Hooper’s face”(Hawthorne). The black veil became a terrible thing like a sin. It was a simple black veil

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“The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is full of many different symbols, but the most notable one is the veil itself. Throughout the story, Hawthorne presents many instances where the veil could mean several things. Some may see only one meaning, however, others may see a number of them. Hawthorne may have been the only one who truly knew what the veil symbolized, but at the same time the fact that the story makes the reader think even after reading it is what makes it all the more interesting to analyze. The veil itself could symbolize things such as rebirth, secrecy, ambiguity.

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The Dark Truth “The Raven”, by Edgar Allen Poe, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two stories that show the dark and twisted side of humanity. Edgar Allen Poe is best known for writing his stories about death and the darkness of death. This in turn makes all his seem to be this style where as “The Raven” is a creation of humans seeking hope in a situation that is hopeless. Hawthorne writes about the good and bad in the choices we choose. In “The Ministers Black Veil” Hawthorne confronts a touchy subject by displaying how the congregations covers their sin like a veil covers the face.

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Hawthorne is not as straight forward with this symbol as he is in “The Birthmark”, but it is still a strong symbol when examined closely. The members of Reverend Hooper’s church are under the impression that he has committed an awful crime and is concealing a secret sin. Readers are comfortable believing his because of Hawthorne’s footnote in the original text concerning the Reverend Joseph Moody who wore a black veil after killing a dear friend (Hawthorne 8). The secret sin in “The Minister’s Black Veil” is an affair he had with the young woman who they laid to rest, and that he could have something to do with her death. The veil makes its first appearance on the day of her funeral, and Reverend Hooper says that it is a sign of mourning, but mourning who?

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Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ambrose Bierce express their dark romantic writing styles in a way to create a certain emotion to the reader. In Hawthorne’s “The Minister's Black Veil” and Bierce’s “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” both stories are similar in their use of symbolism and irony to add depth to the story and contrast in their use of tone. Symbolism is one technique used by both authors. A major symbol in “The Minister’s Black Veil” is Reverend Hooper’s black veil.

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Minister’s Black Veil Symbolism In the short story The Minister’s Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne proposes that people are hiding their sins and not accepting them through the symbolism of the black veil. People are uncomfortable by Mr.Hooper’s veiled appearance in the church because they feel he knows their sins. Everyone has hidden sins and now with the company of the veil, scandals seem to be out in the open. Hawthorne describes the disgust of the veil, “They shuddered at the veiled face so near...”(Hawthorne 63).

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In this essay, the poem “ The Minister’s Black Veil ” by Nathaniel Hawthorne unravels the story of a man who was judged and thought to have committed a terrible sin. The key aspect discussed in “The Minister’s Black Veil” is of secret sin and how Mr. Hooper the communities reverend must carry the burden of these sins like how Jesus died for our sins. Mr. Hooper incites fear in his community after he starts wearing a black veil, but they don’t understand why. Everyone wants to ask Mr. Hooper why he wears a black veil but the community was craven. No one asked Mr.Hooper about the veil until his fiancee brazenly asked him.

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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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Throughout the parable, Hawthorne provides clues as to what the veil symbolizes; for example, the words “I look around me and, lo, on every face I see a Black Veil!”. However, even with the subtle hints, the ambiguity of the veil still leaves readers and critics wondering what it

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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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The poem makes some allusions, for example when referring to the bust of shovels, refers to the bust of atene or atena or "shovels athena" ie the crow perches on the Greek goddess of wisdom, civilization, war, art and strategy . "That bird or demon" rests on wisdom, according to the author of the poem, the time of year in which the poem is located is December, a month of much magic, but the most important allegory is the raven itself, "bird of the demon "" that comes from the plutonic riviera of the night "also refers to the crow as a messenger from beyond, in a few words it refers to the Roman god Pluto of the underworld, its equivalent for the Greeks was hades as a curious fact the Romans instituted exclusive priests to plutón called "victimarios" of all the Roman gods plutón was the most ruthless and feared, then the crow was a messenger of the beyond, perhaps invoked by that "old book, rare and of forgotten science", during the poem was speaks of seraphim that perfumed the room, with censers, according to the Christian angelology the seraphim have the highest ranks in the celestial hierarchy, since they are not made in image and Likeness of God, rather they are part or essence

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