"Minister's Black Veil"
Hidden Sins
"The Minister's Black Veil", a literary masterpiece written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was
a divergent parable for the period it was written. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote as an
anti-transcendentalist in the transcendentalist period; as a result, his view's in
writings were mostly pessimistic considering his family's sinfulness. Hawthorne's
grandfather was a judge in the Salem witch trails; for that reason, he was responsible
for over twenty innocent deaths by mistrial. In addition, a reader can easily see the
pessimism in his writing, and many hypothesize that his family's past has a part in his
style. In the "The Minister's Black Veil", Hawthorne shows a great deal of pessimism
through a minister who feels that he is too sinful to show his face. The minister, Mr.
Hopper, has many hidden sins; furthermore, hidden sins is the main theme of the parable.
Hawthorne develops the theme of hidden sins through his main character, Mr. Hopper. Mr.
Hopper, a minister, wears a black veil that resembles a man hiding his past sins. Many
people do not understand or even accept the veil over his face. Hawthorne pictures the
parson wearing the black veil and delivering his sermon along with a confused
congregation including a elder woman who says, "'I don't like it,.....He has changed
himself into something awful only by hiding his face'"(294). Others cry, '"Our parson is
going mad'"(294)! The sermon in which he speaks that day is "...darker than
usual..."(294), and also gives a gloomy feeling. The parson speaks of a secret sin; the
audience soon relates the sermon to why he is wearing his black veil. The congregation
feels that the sermon is given by someone else through Mr. Hopper's body. As a result,
the minister's black veil is the talk of the town after the disturbing sermon.
In the next section of the parable, Mr. Hopper fronts the bewildered town at a funeral
of a young lady. The parson is still wearing his black veil, even while he conducts the
sermon for the funeral; however, the townspeople still thinks abstract thoughts about of
their parson. The ladies of the town are exclaiming , '"The black veil, although it
covers only the pastor's face, throws it's influences over the whole person, and makes
him ghostlike from head to foot'"(296). Even one of the women at the funeral spoke, '"I
had a fancy.....that the minister's and the maiden's spirits were walking hand in
hand"'(297). The woman speaks of the parson as being ghostlike or even dead just because
Hopper is wearing the mysterious black veil. Hawthorne shows this inhuman actions by
writing, " The corpse had slightly shuttered, rustling the shroud and muslin cap, though
the countenance retained the composure of death"(297). When the corpse feel the presence
of the parson's sinful face, it moved or shuttered; furthermore, Hawthorne is showing the
reader that the parson can encounter the dead with his mysterious black veil. Leaving
the funeral, "...the beares went heavily forth, and the mourners followed"(296), but Mr.
Hopper stood at the end of the crowd so he can remain unseen. Clearly, Hawthorne wants
the reader to know that the minister does not fit with the rest of the town.
Also the wedding of a couple brought many others doubts to the mind of the people in the
town because of the minister's controversial black veil. The couple hears of the
parson's happiness and joyfulness, but since they heard of the black veil they
"...awaited his arrival with impatience"(297); even though once confident in Hopper, the
couple feels they want the minister not to arrive. Hawthorne describes their feelings in
this quote, "...their eyes rested on the same horrible black veil, which had deeper gloom
than the funeral"(295). The crowd mood changes, and all of a sudden this mysterious
black veil once again bewilders the people attending the wedding that feel suddenly
scared of his cloth hanging form his face. Many of the people become gloomy just of the
presence of this horrific black veil, which shows the power of hidden sins within people.
Towards the end of the wedding a significant event happens in the development of the
theme, when Mr. Hopper is taking a drink of his wine for celebration of the married, he
suddenly sees his face in the glare. After seeing himself in the glare, he drops the
glass; therefore, the significance of this states that he is scared of his own sinful
face.
In spite of that, many of the townspeople feels bewildered and wondered by the black
veil, there is one townsperson that says, '"...there is nothing terrible in this piece of
crape'"(296). This special someone is the fiancee of the minister, Elizabeth, who speaks
to her fiancee and asks why he is wearing it and why he does not take the veil off.
Elizabeth is confused also, but does not show the dubiousness of herself as other do,
most likely, because she is the fiancee of this troubled man. '"Your words are a mystery
too"'(299), explains Elizabeth when she is telling hopper about the towns confusion and
even her confusion. Hawthorne finally reveals the main theme of the story when Mr.
Hopper finally confesses that he is wearing the veil because of morning of hidden sins.
His lost love, Elizabeth, is still ignorant of the motivation of the wearing of the
black veil after the passage years, as well as the townspeople. Not only does Hawthorne
display confused townspeople, he pictures other towns coming to gaze at the gloomy
character whom is still wearing the mysterious black veil. In the Hopper's death bed
he also faces the element of hidden sins once again. As he is getting older he feels
doubt in his mind, and Reverend Clark is by his side. Revered Clark once tries to take
off the troubled veil, but still bothered by his hidden sins Mr. Hopper bursts out
energetically, '"Never"'(303)! This shows Hawthorne is keeping Mr. Hopper stubborn about
his beliefs even as he is getting closer to the minister's death.
The parable "The Minister's Black Veil" speaks of a hidden sin, which a man faces by
covering his face with a terrible black veil. Although today is a much different
society, there are still many examples of hidden sins in our society. The song
"Unforgiven" by Metallica speaks of many hidden sins committed by an individual; even
though Hawthorne's story and Metallica's song were written over one hundred years apart,
they both tackle the gloomy subject of hidden sins. In like manner, hidden sins still
catches the attention of eager audiences even after many years. Put simply, hidden sins
are still prominent and have a strong grip on lives and society, perhaps for man's
eternity.
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