The Minister's Black Veil Essay

Taking place in a small Puritan village, “The Minister’s Black Veil'' allows for readers to interpret from this Puritan standpoint. A speculation of the veil that Hooper wears is that it represents the Puritan faith. Puritan faith in Hawthorne’s eyes was stripping joy and happiness from everyone’s lives. While the true meaning of the veil in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil'' is unknown, there are many ways to interpret it. One interpretation is that the veil represents human feeling and emotion. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,'' the veil has many different effects on the townspeople. For example, some people feel fear and do not want to approach the minister. At the same time, people also feel that they can tell him anything

There are many ways to view the theme of sin within “The Minister’s Black Veil.” One of which is how people fear Hooper, the man who wears the black veil. They fear him because they believe that he knows all of their sins. Another way to view the aspect of sin is because readers also speculate that the veil represents Original Sin. The aspect of Original Sin is a biblical interpretation, which is the urge that humans have to sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses figurative language throughout “The Minister’s Black Veil.” One example from the figurative language is when he writes to Elizabeth to ask Hooper to remove the veil of his own words. Hawthorne’s writing in this example is figurative language because Elizabeth can tell that Hooper is not being truthful, so she asks him to tell the truth. She does not ask him in a literal way because she does not directly tell him to be truthful. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Hooper often uses the Calvinist theology that supports the idea of predestination, which is the idea that God has willed people to be who they are and where they will be in the future. As Montbriand says, “The most worrisome aspect of this theology, perhaps, is that a person never knows whether he or she is a member of the elect or the reprobate

Knowing the meaning of a veil similar to that of Hooper’s means that it is possible that the veil worn by Hooper also symbolizes mourning. This meaning can be carried out through Hooper even with the idea of sin. Throughout the story, Hooper has a recurring sad smile. This smile first appears when he puts on the veil. Perfectly explained by Timothy Montriand, “Before he enters, ‘A sad smile gleamed faintly from beneath the black veil, and flickered about his mouth glimmering as he disappeared.’” His sad smile represents his feeling and reaction to the townspeople not being able to understand why he wears the