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The theme of hidden sin, guilt, and punishment in Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter
How does forgiveness play a role in the scarlet letter
The theme of hidden sin, guilt, and punishment in Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter
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As I was reading this I thought that the veil that the preacher was wearing could represent sin and later on in the story I confirmed my hypothesis. I also think that when he refused to take the veil off he was trying to show people that we as a nation do not care that we have sinned because it is the “thing to do”. We don’t want others to make fun of use for being Christian and we do not want people to think that we are different. In the story it talks about casting away your veil. “"There is an hour to come," said he, "when all of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of crape till then."” (Hawthorne 8). Taking off the veil is you repenting to good saying that you love him and that you know
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”, the reader is introduced to Parson Hooper, the reverend of a small Puritan village. One Sunday morning, Hooper arrived to mass with a black veil over his impassive face. The townspeople began to feel uneasy due to their minister’s unusual behavior. When Parson appeared, “Few could refrain from twisting their heads towards the door; many stood upright….” (Monteiro 2). Throughout the story Hooper does not take off the black veil and the townspeople, including Reverend Clark from a nearby village, treat him as if he were contagious disease. A veil typically is used to represent sorrow, but in this story it is used to represent hidden sins. No one exactly knows why he
In the text “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry god” the theme is, God is all powerful he can remove his hand at any given time, which means you go to hell. The text states that “God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as a great toward them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell…”(Edwards 3,4, and 5) God is upset with his people, they aren't doing what God ask of them. Once you disobey God he is more than likely to stop helping you through any of your burdens. The theme of “The Minister’s Black Veil” is, change will make people judge you. The text states that “Few could refrain from twisting their heads towards the door; many stood upright, and turned directly towards the door;...” Which means when you change, people will judge you regardless of who you are. Both of the preachers
The story “The Minister’s Black Veil” is symbolic of the hidden sins that we hide and separate ourselves from the ones we love most. In wearing the veil Hooper presents the isolation that everybody experiences when they are chained down by their own sins. He has realized that everybody symbolically can be found in the shadow of their own veil. By Hooper wearing this shroud across his face is only showing the dark side of people and the truth of human existence and nature.
"No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally becoming bewildered as to which may be true”. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, this quote applies to the two main characters of the novel. It applies to Arthur Dimmesdale in a literal way; he clearly is not the man that he appears to be, and the guilt that goes along with such deception consumes his entire life. The quote also applies to Hester Prynne, but in quite a different way because it was not her choice to wear the “face” that she was forced to wear. The mark of the scarlet letter on her bosom determined how others perceived her and, in turn, how she was expected to perceive herself. At first, Hester did not consider the sin that she committed as blasphemous and horrible as the people of Boston did, but she was forced to wear the “face” of a sinner.
Hawthorne's parable, "The Minister's Black Veil," uses symbols to illustrate the effect of shame and guilt. In the story, Mr. Hooper represents the average Christian with a deep longing to be holy, and have fellowship with man. However he allows the cross that he bears to come between himself and the latter. His secret is represented by the veil he wears. The veil itself is black, the color of both secrecy and sin. Spiritually, the veil embodies the presence of evil in all of mankind. In the physical realm it serves as emotional barrier between himself and everyone else (Timmerman). During his first sermon after donning the veil, it is observed that, "... while he prayed, the veil lay heavily on his uplifted countenance. Did he seek to hide it from the dread Being whom he was addressing?" (par 10). The veil made Mr. Hooper a powerful preacher. But even the people his messages touched the most would shudder when Mr. Hooper would move close to comfort them, his veiled face making them tremble (par 45). His personal relationships all but ceased to exist. Outside of church, he was seen as a bugbear, or monster. (par 44). Seemingly, the only one that did not fear the veil was his loving fiancée, Elizabeth. Elizabeth symbolizes purity. She is innocent and...
In “The Minister’s Black Veil” Nathaniel Hawthorne conveys the idea that sin, whether it be your sin, secret sin, or a known sin, can sometimes lead to isolation and gives insight into people’s true character. The main character Parson Hooper was met with many confrontations in his literal representation of secret sin by wearing a black veil. In the beginning of the story, as Hooper leaves the church he dreadfully realizes the darkness and effect of the black veil which would soon lead to his own isolation. Hawthorne writes, “catching a glimpse of his figure in the looking-glass, the black veil involved his own spirit in the horror with which it overwhelmed all others.” Parson Hooper was so hurt by the people’s reaction and afraid of the black
Hawthorne uses imagery to highlight the blackness and darkness of Dimmesdale’s guilty heart. Dimmesdale says this about himself when he is talking with Chillingworth says that the men meaning himself, “shrink from displaying themselves black and filthy in the view of men…they go about among their fellow-creatures looking pure as new-fallen snow; while their hearts are all speckled and spotted with iniquity of which they cannot rid themselves.” (Hawthorne, 129) Hawthorne uses the dark imagery and the contrasting terms such as “speckled and spotty heart” compared to “pure as new-fallen snow” to show how the guilt in a man’s heart remains with them on the inside even if they don’t show it on the outside. Hawthorne is alluding to Dimmesdale and how he k...
...esides over a funeral and a wedding, providing no one with any explanation as to his unusual appearance. The only character not afraid of the veil is the minister?s fiancé but she does ask him to remove it and how his face if only for a single time. He refuses to do so, explaining that the veil must stay on forever in recognition of the time when we will all cast aside our veils. She finally breaks off her engagement with Mr. Hooper since he refuses to remove it. When the minister dies, he is buried with the veil unlifted.
Is it acceptable to neglect one’s crimes and move on, or is it better to openly confess yourself in front of your peers? In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the main character, Arthur Dimmesdale, experiences both ends of the question. From initially disregarding the need to repent for his sin, his figure and character drastically change. By repenting in the wrong ways, Dimmesdale’s character continues to worsen until he finally publicly atones for his mistakes. Hawthorne’s views on the theme of repentance are embodied within the tragic and symbolic character of Dimmesdale, which he uses to demonstrate how repenting leads to a strong-willed and free being.
“This veil that Mr. Hooper was wearing represents that everyone has something in their hearts that no one else knows about.” As time passed by and the minister still was wearing the veil the townspeople began to become very uncomfortable whenever in his presence. The simple reason behind this is the veil begins to make the congregation fear
The Scarlet Letter is trying to get across to the readers that sin can have either a positive or negative result depending on how that person chooses to react to sin. As long as there is sin, people will react to it in different ways; some will hide it, some will embrace it, some will rot from it. But no matter how the sin is dealt with, it will always leave it's mark.
He knows that everyone else should be wearing a black veil because they are all hiding their secret sin as well. Mr. Hooper feels that his secret sin is a very evil thing and he doesn't want anyone else to know about it. The people in his congregation don't understand why he has to cover his face like that and they treat him a lot differently now just because he has the veil over his face. Mr. Hooper doesn't understand why his people would treat him any differently because he hasn't changed at all as a person, he has just changed his appearance somewhat and people shouldn't judge one another on their appearance, they should be judged on their inward qualities. Mr. Hooper feels that he is doing what is good by shielding the world of his sin and part of the problem his congregation has is that they too have a secret sin and they don't want to own up to the fact that they do and admit it.
Symbolism portrays many different meanings. With sin there are consequences. Particularly in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil” the author uses the black veil to symbolize the sins of Mr. Hooper and to portray the theme of man’s determination to keep his own sin a secret.
“The past is gone! Wherefore should we linger upon it now?”(Hawthorne 113) When Hester said this, she took off the letter and flung it into the leaves (Hawthorne 113). Hester immediately felt the burden of depression and shame lifted up from her. By taking that letter off, Hester got rid of everything holding her down in life. She was able to become a new person, the person she wanted to be. Pearl did not accept it at all, and wanted Hester to put the scarlet letter back on (Hawthorne 117). This is another representation of how letting go of the past isn't always the easiest thing to do. Carrying around the weight is one thing, but letting it go and moving forward is another, even when people don't feel the
Another way Nathaniel Hawthorne uses light and darkness throughout the novel to symbolize events, objects, or actions is when Dimmesdale is confessing his sin and when he is on the scaffold. At nighttime (darkness), Dimmesdale is on the scaffold so no one can see him. Thus, concealing the truth about himself from the rest of the Puritan community. On the other hand, Dimmesdale is confessing his sin during the daytime (light), which symbolizes his exposure of all of his secrets instead of hiding them away from everyone else.