Towards the beginning mankind was marked by evil. Due to Eve’s manipulation and Adam’s disobedience the human race was banished from the Kingdom of Heaven. No soul went unmarked; all were cursed to walk the earth plagued with sin. Generation upon generations later we still bear the curse mark of our ancestors. Much like Mr. Hooper from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s essay, The Minister’s Black Veil, we all wear the emblem of sin upon our face, some with shame and others with pride.
Although the holy scriptures ask for obedience and loyalty to God, temptation overwhelms our body and our mind is tricked into committing sin. Many of us ask for forgiveness and try to repent for our misdeeds. We read the holy scriptures, we attend Mass, we nurse the sick and shelter the homeless, we do all that He asks of us but still our hearts are stained. The truth of the matter is that no one is left unmarked by “secret sin” (1254). As it is shown in The Minister’s Black Veil even those that are deemed holy are marked. Similarly to “good Mr. Hooper” we strive to portray an image of innocence (1253). We hide everything behind a black veil, “forgetting that the Omniscient can detect” all of the misdeeds that our hearts bear (1254). Nonetheless, though our minds conceal “those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest” are hearts fell the heavy weight they carry (1254). Consequently, “the most innocent girl, and the man of
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During the essay’s time period many feared the thought of their own black veil and the secrets it hid as do most people do today. However, these days more and more people wear their veil with pride and seek praise for it’s darkness. And so as the final hour arrives, the light of our souls, like the light of the candles, will also be dimmed by the duskily cloud that rolls from beneath our own black crape and only He who is all seeing will pass