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The Minister's Black Veil Literary Analysis

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“ We magnify the flaws in others that we secretly see in ourselves” -Baylor Barbee. In “ The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character Reverend Hooper is alienated by his community because he is the wearer of a mysterious black veil. Reverend Hooper is the reverend of his community’s church and has always been well respected by his surrounding peers. One day, Hooper shows up to his church and preaches the sermon wearing a mysterious black veil causing his peers to alienate him. Throughout the story, Hooper’s actions portray just how judgmental our society really is. 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 …show more content…

Nancy L. Bunge is talking on the topic of how the veil was seen to others, Bunge says, “His veil shuts out happiness, giving a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things” (Bunge-19). This quote shows that Hooper’s veil brought darkness and unhappiness to many people. In life, we naturally want to be happy, but if something or someone is making us unhappy then we naturally alienate that someone or something from our lives. The veil’s darkness and unhappiness play a big role in the cause of Hooper’s alienation by his surrounding

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After reading the Ministers Black Veil we cannot assume that Hooper, the main character, has committed a dark and secret sin. We are, however, free to assume that Hooper is wearing the veil for a reason, one that may be greater than himself. The veil is a symbol of many things, all revolving around public hypocrisy. The townspeople are quick to judge The Minister for wearing such a sinful crape but they themselves overlook their own sins amongst the chaos of speculating the different crimes he must of committed to be wearing the veil.

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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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“The Sacrifices of the Minister’s Black Veil” Could a simple black veil take on the sins of an entire community? At intervals, veils are often thought to be worn by a bride in a wedding. For some women in the Muslim world, the veil they wear is a symbol of oppression. In The Minister’s Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses strong diction, imagery, and details to portray the sacrifice needed to take on the responsibility of sin by Rev. Hooper donning the black veil. Hawthorne uses diction to portray how Rev.Hooper deliberately sacrificed his personal happiness for others sins.

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“In The Minister's Black Veil” his style was more effective even though he got judged on by his appearance. Because people felt like that if he was preacher then why is he wearing this piece of cloth or sheet he had on. ”Mr Hooper fiance had told Mr.Hooper that she wouldn't want to wear it if she was him”. All together they all thought that Mr.Hooper was an awful men because of what he had on. He wasn't really an aggressive men until when he just got tired of everything and everyone turning against

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In “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the main character Reverend Hooper’s alienation, both personal and community, brought on by the black veil to portray the society's moral values about expressing personal shame. From the beginning of the short story, Reverend Hooper

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“He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face” (Hawthorne XXX) The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of a clergyman and a black veil that scares all who see it. Hawthorne’s short story pushes the theme that “Everyone has a black veil and hides who they really are” through dialogue and character’s action. This means every person either hides their unpopular opinions/beliefs or is hiding a secret sin.

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In Hawthorn’s short story of “The Minister’s Black Veil”, rumors surround Minister Hooper when the minister shows to church wearing a black veil, for unknown reasons, people start making up assumptions as to why he is wearing the veil to the point that he becomes an infamously famous outcast. The mystery behind the veil and what was beneath became the town’s “topic for discussion between acquaintances meeting in the streets, and good women gossiping at their windows” (Hawthorn 393). Everyone in the town of Milford found themselves question the mystery, always wondering and assuming what is hidden underneath or why Mr. Hooper is hiding behind the veil. These rumors continue to grow, and as he continues to wear the black veil the people start to question him, and their image of him starts to change. Not only were the townspeople’s thoughts on Mr. Hooper changed, but also his personal thoughts were affected to the point that “he never willingly passed before a mirror… least, in its peaceful bosom, he should be affrighted by himself” (Hawthorn 395).

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Hooper is sacrificing his life by ruining his reputation of his as a minister and as a person. People start to look at Mr. Hooper as a different and changed person; this is shown when the congregation says, “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face” (Hawthorne 176). The congregation also mentions “ The black veil, though it covers only our pastor’s face, throws its whole person, and makes him ghost-like from head to foot” (Hawthorne 178). Mr. Hooper’s veil that he wore was seen as if it took over his whole demeanor and made him into a whole new person. Mr. Hooper’s finance, Elizabeth, knew that people would view him differently and that the veil was not a good look for his reputation.

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The Alienation of Reverend Hooper It is never fun to be a stranger in one’s community. Some people know this better than others. Reverend Hooper, a character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil,” is one of those unfortunate people. Mr. Hooper wore a black crape over his face.

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Nathan Hawthorne often developed his short stories around a symbolism. This is clearly the case in “The Minister’s Black Veil” because Hooper’s black veil is a symbol of isolation. When he wears it in public for the first time, he feels an immediate barrier go up between him and his parishioners. Hawthorne cultivates an air of mystery around Hooper’s black veil. By refusing to give access to Hopper’s reason for wearing the veil, he allows us, the readers, to speculate about his motivation.

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“The Minister’s Black Veil” entails a key talking point which can be used in deliberate action to sway people into thinking that by changing personal looks with one simple object, this does not change their attitude, persona, and many other attributes. This key talking point represents the idea of judging a person based on looks, clothes, hobbies, etc. to draw conclusions about a person before others get to know them. In “The Minister’s Black Veil”, this object is a black veil which Mr. Hooper uses to prove a point amongst the townsfolk that, even though he may have this mysterious object covering his face, he is still the same person in and out. Mr Hooper did all of the same tasks which he had been doing for many years, such as: going to

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Nathaniel Hawthorne's, " The Ministers Black Veil", is regarded to one of the first and greatest examples of American Short Fiction. Like many of Hawthorne's novels and stories the story is developed around a single around a single symbol; in this case, the black veil. There are ambiguous ways of explaining why Mr. Hooper wears the black veil? Mr. Hooper wears the black veil to signify he is wearing the sins of the puritans in the village. Mr. Hooper is a reverend, making one of his roles to listen to the puritans sins.

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Wearing a black veil is almost never positive, especially when a minister is the wearer. Why would any minister wear a veil? The reason for Mr. Hooper’s veil goes deeper than just sadness. Hooper conveys a sense of deep regret behind the mysterious black veil. In Hawthorne’s, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Hawthorne uses the veil to illustrate shame, the “mask” of society, and the fear of past sins.

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Many people of the community were afraid of Reverend Hooper and his black veil. “But from the...over his face” (Hawthorne 2-4). Although Hooper’s empirically observable behavior is uniformly kind and gentle, he remains unloved and dimly feared. Later on, the community realized that the veil was not a symbol of evil and decided the effects were not all that bad.

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The main character in “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Mr. Hooper represents how everyone carries a sin with them but some choose to acknowledge it, while others choose to hide them. People may live for long periods of time and say that they are “free of sins”. The truth is everyone carries a sin with them, they just choose to not acknowledge it. This world is filled with people with sins, they may be horrible, while others are not so significant, and others are shared. When people tell their sins to the world everyone looks at them like if they are the devil themselves, or if one did have a sin everyone tries to figure out what that sin is, forgetting that them, themselves also carry sins, but it is much easier to acknowledge others sins.

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