In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil there are many thematic connections between both protagonists and antagonists. Some of the protagonistic similarities in these tales embrace that both of the characters become complacent about the community that they have come to know and love. In the case of The Minister’s Black Veil Parson Hooper undergoes a transformation as an energetic preacher, revered by all, to a social pariah when he dawned the black veil. Doing so caused uneasy feelings in the community around him, which led to the building of contempt against him. Similarly, in the case of Young Goodman Brown his journey into the ‘forest’ left him world-weary of the place and peoples he grew to love from childhood including his father and grandfather. Which in turn caused Brown to have an exponentially…
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil” both deal heavily in the topics of secret sin and hypocrisy. In both stories what these men hide from their family and community ultimately lead to their sad and lonely demise. Hooper hides his face and sins behind a veil and Brown keeps his encounter with witches a secret. Even though both of these stories exhibit different characters, setting, and time frame; they both share the same general concepts, tone, and theme.…
The language Hawthorne uses in the Minister’s Black Veil focuses on the eerie sense and aspect of life. From the start, readers can notice the dark and gloomy tone because of Hawthorne’s word choice. At the beginning of the story, Hawthorne describes the Hooper’s sermon as “It was tinged, rather more darkly than usual, with the gentle gloom of Mr. Hooper’s temperament” (...). This quote shows how Hawthorne’s selection of word affects the tone and mood of the story. He sets the scene of Hooper’s sermon that it was mysterious and dark. Hawthorne also describe the Black veil which contributed to the overall theme of the secret sin that he may be hiding from everyone else. As the story progresses, the tone gets more gloomy and it can be seen that veil symbolizes something with a powerful meaning. It can be seen when the author wrote “Further than to give a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things. With this gloomy shade before him” (...). Moreover, the use of imagery paints a picture for the reader to know that there is something hidden beneath the veil. The gloomy shade of the veil can be depicted as strange and…
The way Hawthorne chooses to tell the story is very important. He tells it in third person limited, through the eyes of the parishioners. In doing so we never find out the truth about the veil and it becomes a mystery to everyone around him. The main symbol in the story is the veil, which represents death and darkness. Also the veil symbolizes the secret of sin. At one point he even says, "If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough, and if I cover it for secret of sin, what moral might not do the same." The veil basically ends his life, his love left him for it and many others feel uncomfortable around him with it on. The veil also is the antagonist of the story because it creates change among the parishioners, who are the protagonists. The veil is unknown to the town and even the reader, which brings up the point of the fear of the unknown and the nature of man. The story also presents the idea of isolation, Mr. Hooper is isolated because he is different that everyone else, similar to John Proctor in The…
The elements of evil live among the population. It has been that way since the creation of time. One can neither run nor hide from something so malicious. Unfortunately, the avoidance of evil can only be accomplished through instinct. On the other hand, the nature of evil is often neglected. As a result, the usage of evil can be misjudged or unaccredited by the human race. “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil” are apparent to these essences of wickedness. In these works by Nathanial Hawthorne, the reader must analyze how evil coexists in everyday life. Even though individuals are subject to glance over evil and the concealing it holds, the presence of it should still be taken with appropriate measures.…
I’ve read a lot of Hawthorne's work and in "The Minister’s Black Veil", Hawthorne presents another variation on his favorite theme: that humankind is stuck with the so-called seven deadly sins which include pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth, I think. Like all Hawthorne’s short stories, it displays the author’s vivid imagination, which I really enjoy. It also shows exceptional artistry. In “Young Goodman Brown”, another one of his stories, Hawthorne tears off people’s masks and exposes their real faces, in “The Minister’s Black Veil” he hides the face of a single character and thereby creates the impression that the exposed faces of all the other characters are actually masked. I think the imagery of that is really…
In “The Ministers Black Veil”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mr. Hooper is hiding his own secret sin. The fact that everyone wonders what could possibly be the mysterious sin that he hides, and why he has it. But in the story, it shows that he wants everyone to understand that not everyone is perfect and…
In certain periods of history writers have written about dark things. The reasons may not be known but the effects are certainly felt. Romanticism occurred in the early 1800’s, which was when, “the Ministers Black Veil” was written. The romantic era was an artistic, intellectual movement. Nathaniel Hawthorne is usually associated with romanticism, due to his ties with Puritan New England. He was born in Salem, Ma which was where the Salem Witch trials occurred. The elements of the veil are said to be ones of mystery and suspense. In “the Ministers Black Veil,” Hawthorne shows how someone who is misunderstood can become alienated from his society. Mr. Hooper’s failure to elaborate on the reason he wears the veil separates him from his own community.…
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writings have had the history of relating to a certain times in his life. The stories were not fully based on what he went there or what his family had done, but the idea of them had come his imagination and from his life. The guilt and alienation that “The Minister’s Black Veil” has seems to have a relation to the guilt that Hawthorne felt about what his family had done in Salem. Hawthorne’s desire to separate himself from his family was very strong. He moved out of Salem and he changed his name by simply adding a “w” to his name to distance himself even more form them. (Ruben Essay, 2).The full detail of the events that took place in connection to Hawthorne’s family is not fully discussed but the humiliation and embarrassment that he felt for the acts they committed followed him throughout his life. Although one can allude that Hawthorne’s imagination was the source of the writing of The Minister’s Black Veil, but is his imagination the only thing that helped him write such tales?…
The Minister and the black veil is a very interesting story that may change the way some people think about sin. The author’s tone in “The Minster and the Black Veil” is negative because Hawthorne believes that the Puritans were not just very religious, but were judgmental and had a tendency of sinning. In the beginning of the story the minster comes to the church with a black veil. The Puritans saw him and were very scared. Everyone was very confused on why he was wearing a black veil over his face.…
Mystery is always something that excites and bustles both individuals and groups of people, especially if the context of the secrecy is related to religious aspect. “The Minister’s Black Veil” is a short story set in Puritan New England in the first half of the eighteenth century, where the secret sins of humanity exerted a fascination for most citizens of a little town called Milford. In that era, the belief that all humans sin continuously from birth and that even most church-attending Christians were at risk of not entering heaven, made the process of understanding the “addition” to Mr. Hooper’s , the village’s parson, garb very difficult for this community. He wore a black veil covering his face for years and even had it on when he died. What so dishonorable has Mr. Hooper committed to condemn and hide himself behind a piece of fabric throughout his life? The answer is broad; however, my feelings about the issue tend to agree that probably he did nothing so drastic to deserve live his life in such darkness. This was the author’s choice to raise a point and allow each reader to express individual points of view. In my opinion, it is important to realize that this parable written by Nathaniel Hawthorne describes sin and its variants. The major theme of the story is that men live with their own offenses, and the black veil is used as symbolism to convey the meaning of a secret sin or the "original" sin.…
Nathaniel Hawthorne has always been known for using a great amount of symbolism in his writings. This is due to the fact that he is very vague when it comes to his works and demands for the reader to draw their own conclusions. This is the case in “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Hawthorne first introduces symbolism when he introduces Minister Hooper, the religious Minister that begins wearing a black veil one day and continues to wear it until he dies. The use of symbolism the way Hawthorne portrays it allows the reader to draw their own conclusions about what the veil could mean. The only hint that is given to what the veil could relate to is at the very end of the story where the author states that the view did not represent, like in other cases,…
The veil in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is one symbol Hawthorne shares in his short story. Mr. Hooper, a pastor, scares his congregation when he enters into the church with a black veil covering his face. The sexton says, “I can’t really feel as if good Mr. Hooper’s face was behind that piece of crepe” (256). Before the veil, the congregation thought of Mr. Hooper as a good preacher. He sought to bring “his people heavenward by mild, persuasive influences” (257). After the veil, he gives a disturbing speech that is out of the ordinary for his character. “The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting…
Nathanial Hawthorne had a way of intertwining imagery and symbolism into one. He could put the two together to create an ominous mood throughout his story “Young Goodman Brown”. The focus on the use of symbolism and imagery helps imply the theme, that no one can escape sin, in the story. Hawthorne uses this theme to denounce puritan attitudes and hypocrisy.…
In the text The Minister’s Black Veil, Hawthorne writes a fictional text about covering up your sins and it will end bad if you do. He’s very soft and easy going in his tone, he uses a sad approach to get to the…