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

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