The Minister's Black Veil

Habibat Oguntade
Ap English III
10-19-09

The Minister’s Black Veil.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Hawthorne identifies a Puritan minister as a man not innocent enough to believe that he could not escape sin or secret sin. Good Mr. Hooper, as he was called, spent his entire adult life trying to prove a point that was only figured out in the end. Throughout the story good Mr. Hooper was treated as if he made people feel that they were all sinners, which is kind of similar to SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD, which many of us seem to be familiar with. With the use of various literary devices, Hawthorne construes his opinion about American Gothicism.
Throughout the story, the minister wore a black transparent veil, which concealed every part of his face apart from his mouth and chin. He never took off the veil, or let anyone else touch it. This might have been assumed to be a sign of true devotion to his God and a means to cover up his sins, in order to be rewarded with heaven. By wearing this veil, the Minister created a feeling of lack of righteousness to the other individuals. As the Sexton said in story, “I can’t really feel as if good Mr. Hooper’s face was behind that piece of crape.” Minister Hooper gave up his entire adult life for his secret sin and also to prove a point that no one could hide from sin, no matter who they were. In the story Minister Hooper gave up his fiancée for his task, because if he did not give her up he thought that he would fail his mission. He never told her why he would not take off his veil but gave her a hint when he said, “If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?” She later became aware of terror at the sight of the veil. A terror of the veil overcomes Elizabeth just as it had the rest of Hooper’s congregation then She decided to leave. Hooper begs her to stay. She offers to stay on the condition that he removes the veil and looks her in the face; when he refuses, Elizabeth leaves him.
It can be concluded that the Minister Hooper’s character also helped Hawthorn to give his opinion about American Gothicism, by displaying a dark, gloomy and mysterious tone, throughout the story. An example of this is how Minister Hooper was always sad and never showed pure happiness except when he died. He was happy when he died due to the fact that he knew the gates of heaven would open up for him when he got there. He also never gave all of his sermons, marriage ceremonies, and funeral services in a composed mood. He was always in a mild mood and showed a flicker of a smile once in a while. Throughout the story, Mr. Hooper is portrayed as an odd man who wears a black veil. As he goes through the life with this black veil he created sin for those people by having them whisper and ridicule him to other people and thoughts about him to themselves. The ignorance of the town is abundant due to the fact that they were Puritans and felt that they could never be sinners. With this, Hawthorne conveys , that no matter who those people were, they could not escape sin.