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What Does Sin Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

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Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to present a specific theme is his works. He tends to show the concept of sin the most, particularly that confessed sin will bring the confessor judgement and ridicule, while secret sin will destroy the soul. In The Scarlet Letter, both Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale have a great sin conflicting them. Hester’s sin was confessed and she was publicly shamed, Dimmesdale kept his a secret and his health declined as a result. Hester’s sin was eventually forgotten and she was thought of as a wonderful person for making clothes for people in the town. Dimmesdale seemed to be dying right in front of them and people got worried. He even goes as far as to torture himself physically to try and relieve the pain. The pain was finally relieved when he publicly confessed his sin and claimed Pearl as his …show more content…

Paranoia started to affect the town as people tried to figure out why their minister was covering his face. Hooper refused to ever remove the veil, even to his fiancee, who, as a result of this, left him. Hooper left the veil on his head until he was dying, and even then, still refused to remove the veil. Hooper died and was buried with the black veil still on his head. The common theme in these two stories, sin and its effects. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Hooper all had a sin plaguing them. In the end, Hester and Dimmesdale confessed their sins, while hooper took his to his grave. Hooper’s veil was a voluntary punishment, he randomly chose to wear it, whereas Hester was forced to wear the letter, as was Dimmesdale, but he hid his beneath his clothes. Dimmesdale’s sin weighed on him and devoured his soul so that he no longer was able to have happiness in his life. Hooper never showed signs of pain or depression but he made everyone around him sad, fearful, or

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“The Minister’s black veil” The relationship between Mr. Hooper and the Black veil is that Mr. Hooper never takes off his black veil. He always takes it around with him, the Black Veil covers his body except for his mouth and chin. No one knows why he takes it around with him but it was rumored that Mr. Hooper was wearing the black veil for his own secret sins or that he made a commitment to a young woman , He is known as death. Mr. Hooper is known as a mysterious and an evil character in the story. He’s a tormented soul and feels the need to let everyone know by veiling his face, Mr. Hooper wants to keep his identity a secret from other people.

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“He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face” “A person who watched the interview between the dead and living scrupled not to affirm that, at the instant when the clergyman's features were disclosed [as he leaned over her and the veil moved] the corpse had slightly shuddered, rustling the shroud” The tone of the story minister’s black veil has a mysterious feeling. As description describes, "When Mr. Hooper came, the first thing that their eyes rested on was the same horrible black veil, which had added deeper gloom to the funeral, and could portend nothing but evil to the wedding. Such was its immediate effect on the guests that a

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In a literary critique written by N.S. Boone, he discusses Hooper’s reaction to the people’s asking to remove the veil. He wrote, “Nothing, not he pleas of the elders, nor the nudging of Elizabeth, nor his own loneliness can persuade Hooper to remove that piece of black crape that separates him so dramatically from society,” (Boone 6). His refusal to remove the veil angers several people in the short story. They care nothing about the dying man, but about the secret behind the black

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Throughout the short story, Hooper feels as if the veil projects his sin rather than keeping it secret; “...[A]lthough its function is concealment of sin, it actually, in the minister’s case, functions to expose sin” (Boone 1). Sin is displayed in many ways, some ways are stranger than others. It is up to the sinner to decide if they are willing to protect themselves through withdrawal from society, or by exposing themselves freely to the world while there is something symbolizing their sin on their body. In the midst of Hooper’s alleged sin, individuals became obsessed with what he was hiding, rather than the sins they have been committing. One tends to shun another to take away attention from their own sins; “...they should see their own veils instead of fixating on what is possibly behind his” (Boone 1).

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Mr.Hooper 's whole life changed when he put on the veil and there was nothing that he could do about it but let

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you know not how lonely I am, and how frightened to be alone behind my black veil. Do not leave me in this miserable obscurity forever!” The black veil caused for Mr. Hooper to lose his love. Both were really close but the black veil inferred in their relationship. However,

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The people in town started spreading the rumor about Mr.Hooper wearing the black veil and when

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Elizabeth warns Mr. Hooper that she will not marry him if he wears the veil; however, he does not take it off even for love. “It had separated [Mr. Hooper] from cheerful brotherhood and woman’s love, and kept him in the saddest of prisons, his own heart ;…”( 312) is a quote that justifies how the veil caused him great grief. His secret beneath the veil had restricted him from loving again. Elizabeth

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The wearing of the veil is a confession of guilt and a suggestion that everyone should do the same. Mr. Hooper really did not understand how much this black veil was going to affect the congregation until raising his glass in a toast for a newlywed couple and catching a glimpse of himself in the looking glass. Right then and there is when Mr. Hooper realized, "the Earth, too, had on her black veil” (Hawthorne 2145). This means that everyone is hiding; most people would not wear a black veil and have no reason in doing so. Is it that the people afraid of what the veil represents to Mr. Hooper or are they afraid of what it represents to themselves?

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In the Minister’s Black Veil, the black veil has a great significance to the story. The black veil symbolizes the secret sin in society. The sins of humanity are the greatest sin which society hides and ignores. People do not take account of the bad deeds that are going on every single day. This Parable does an outstanding job of doing that because Mr. Hooper goes on with his day normally, but by having that veil on his face it exemplifies that sin is occurring.

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Throughout the story, Mr. Hooper is covered by a black veil which masks his face. He continuously prevents anyone from seeing his face or persuading him to take it off. Through the use of the veil, Hawthorne paints a picture which shows how sin ruled over the Puritan communities and controlled each person among them. The veil itself becomes the center of attention for all members of Hooper’s Puritan congregation. The entire population of the town become scared of Hooper and believe that this man who was so high among their values, now has a horrid sinful past that he is trying to hide.

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After the sin was committed, the development of guilt made Hester and Dimmesdale very miserable because they could not stop thinking about what they have done. Both of the characters kept going back to that moment, feeling remorse

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