Minister's Black Veil Essay by Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place in Boston, Massachusetts. The Puritan occupants respond to unfamiliarity with great distraught. The author chose a veil with a black hue to present the main symbol of the story to the readers. The town inhabitants correspond to the veil in a pessimistic manner. They are unaccustomed to acknowledge unexplored fields. A townsman exclaims, "The black veil, though it covers only our pastor's face, throws its influence over his whole person, and makes him ghostlike from head to foot. Do you not feel it so?'' The veil comes across as an item that disguises secret sins of the Puritans. For this reason this allows the townspeople to contradict their "pure" beliefs in which they are not permitted to commit wrong-doings of any sort. (7/131)
Each Puritan is entitled to their own privacy and it is bothersome when people intrude and abuse personal boundaries. The minister of the town is a popular subject of discussion. A simple object such as a veil can conceal information and identity that can be easily accessed. A member of the community questions, "I wonder he is not afraid to be alone with himself." She exhibits the kind of wonderment that the people of this small provincial town have regarding the private lives of others. The physician of the village takes his part in the widespread suspicion of what Mr. Hooper is hiding behind his mysterious black veil. While he is observing Hooper, he states, "Something must be amiss with Mr. Hooper's intellects." Everyone in town is worried and also anticipating when the veil will come off. (7/140)
The minister's fiancée, Elizabeth, is not afraid or bothered by the veil at first. As time unravels she cannot tolerate the mask and asks him to unveil himself. He protests and explains that he will wear the veil for eternity. The reason for this is that he claims that the veil is an important symbol. He discusses the different purposes of the veil. For example, it can be for hiding obscene acts, or as a sign of mourning. The townspeople continue and constantly gossip about the veil. The townspeople come up with many different conclusions of why he is wearing the veil. One suspicion is that he might have had an affair with the maiden. The story does not directly imply that they have had a relationship but it is a valid suspicion. Someone at the maiden's funeral had seen their spirits walking arm and arm. The woman states, "I had a fancy, that the minister and the maiden's spirit were walking hand in hand.'' It had appeared that the spirits were as if they were lovers. The veil is worn after the death of this maiden. The minister could also be hiding from the shame brought upon him after lusting after this woman. (15/204)
Not only does the veil hide his face as a symbol of a mask, but also he wears it hide his most reluctant decisions, desires and secrets; the world is also hidden from him. The minister scorns the whole congregation in hiding themselves under their own secret "veils" from God and their peers. Mankind is afraid in committing and repenting their own sins. As Hooper is dying, he asks that the others not judge him until they have examined their own consciences and found they are free of sin. His speech on his deathbed is very blunt. He states that the veil was his way of coming forth of his sins. As the minister is having a conversation with Elizabeth he tells her his stance on the subject, "And if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?'' All humans should find a way to repent the natural sinful enactment. (7/155)
The townspeople of Boston stopped communicating with him because of the simple black veil that shielded his face. '"I don't like it,'' muttered an old woman,' as she hobbled into the meeting-house. 'He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.' They ceased all correlation with him but his personality remained the same. The evidence of a veil concealing his face frightened the people of the small Puritan town. Elizabeth, his fiancée demanded, "Lift the veil but once, and look me in the face." She established the fact that she and the other people are definitely afraid of the unknown. Hidden sins are capable of ruining special bonds and relationships. The black veil, an obvious symbol has several different messages. The veil teaches individuals to have courage and to abstain from arrogance. The people of the town were very arrogant in their mind set. They all contradicted to their principle beliefs; therefore, they were hypocrites of their own nature. The minister tried to reflect everyone's flaws by using the black veil as an object. (13/177)
(Word count 812)