Ekshesh Wurwur Mrs.Engle Us literature 23 September 2015 Comparative essay The short story “The minister's black veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about a minister whose wears a black veil as a symbol of how mankind in his/her nature is a sinner and whose faith is blinded as a black veil covers your eyes. The book more talks about how the minister is seen by the town after covering his face. “The birthmark” is another book by Nathaniel Hawthorne it talks about a married couple, the husband who is a man of science and the wife who is a woman of nature.The book describes the husband's search for perfection of his wife and the fight between nature and science. Both of Hawthorne’s book contain a description of nature guilt and sins. In “The minister’s black veil” The black veil Mr.hooper puts on is to prevent people from spying on his private life. The veil symbolized that human nature is blinded by sins and they way the town treated him after he started wearing the veil shows that there faith is blind they couldn't understand where he was coming from. “ Mr. Hooper's conscience tortured him for some great crime too horrible to be entirely concealed, or otherwise than so obscurely intimated. Thus, from beneath the black veil, there rolled a cloud into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, which …show more content…
enveloped the poor minister”(285) the veil also hides the fact that the minister is taking all the sins of the town in his side as some sort of sacrifice. The also can represent a mirror where people see their sins when they see the minister. In “The birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne show how science can't change nature in this short story. Georgiana is a the character is the book who is considered almost perfect except the birthmark in her chick which most people except her husband find it as one of Georgiana’s charm. Aylmer who is a scientist believes “It was the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceable on all her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite, or that their perfection must be wrought by toil and pain”(1024) when both Georgiana and Aylmer agree to get rid of the birth mark which represented nature's touch in humanity, they end up getting rid of it in the biggest lose Georgiana life. Hawthorne showed that the frontier is stronger than science is. In "The Minister's Black Veil," Hawthorne uses the black veil on the minister's face, to explain the hidden side of people's personalities, the veil represents "mortal imperfections". The people in the town are forced, by Hooper's veil, to face the guilt for the sins they have committed. The veil is a constant reminder of that guilt, Hooper conveys that the hidden personalities and sins must be accepted by the individual that's Hawthorne’s description in "The Minister's Black Veil" "The Birthmark" is about imperfections, as well.
In "The Birthmark,". The birthmark on Georgiana is a physical imperfection., Hawthorne states that the only way to get perfection can only be through death and therefore is not possible, as shown by the death of Georgiana. The birthmark represents the flaws in the humans. Greed is one flaws of the imperfections, Aylmer was greedy for perfection and the the removal of the mark from his wife's face. This greed compared to Hawthorne’s “The Minister's Black Veil" the sins that the black veil represented. Hawthorne reveals and embraces the truth that is that all humans were veils to hide their
imperfections. Both of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories are well written, the symbolizing of the veil and the birthmark shows how nature is a key in both stories. Hawthorne's stories may have their similarities but there differences too like on “The minister's black veil” the minister wears the veil not of off self thought but because of the sins of the town and human nature but on “The birthmark” the scientist tries to get rid of the birthmark on his wife's face because he believes in perfection and the birthmark was the only imperfection she had on her. The short stories may have their similarities in view and in symbols but they both tell a different tale with a different point of view of things. Work cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel “The birthmark.” (Electronic text center, university of virginia library.web.11 march 2011)
In reality the black veil was worn to teach a lesson. The lesson was to show how easily people are judged when unaware of one’s true intentions. This being said, Hooper is explaining how he was judged and his life changed for the worst just because he was wearing the black veil; he was hated for something that his friends and family had no clue about, but believed it was for the
Mr. Hooper the minister’s is perceived to be a “self-disciplined man”. When he was wearing the veil people in his village believed that he went insane and is guilty of a dark and terrible sin. “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face” (1253).The author explains how Mr.Hooper would wear a mask to hide his sins and face which cause people to believe he was awful. The veil becomes the center of discussion for all of those in the congregate the mask all the people wore around others to hide their sins and embraces there guilty. Elizabeth in the story ends her relationship with Mr. Hooper because he will not remove the veil that he's wearing. The veil actually symbolize for the puritans belief that all people souls are black from
He succeeds in removing the birthmark; however, he unfortunately causes his wife’s death in the process. Through “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne suggests that nothing paradoxical can exist on this earth, and that being imperfect is just part of being human. Being a man of science, Aylmer rendered Georgiana's birthmark "as a symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death." Through the birthmark on Georgiana, Hawthorne is able to portray that nature didn’t intend for things to be perfect. People are not perfect because the human condition is imperfect.
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.
Mr. Hooper in “The Minister’s Black Veil” puts on a veil to symbolize “those sad mysteries which we hid[e] from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them” (Hawthorne 310). From the moment the townsfolk see the black veil they become very frightened and intimidated by Mr. Hooper, the citizens felt that “the black veil seemed to hang down before his heart” (Hawthorne 308). People became very frightened even the “most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast” (Hawthorne 312) Mr. Hooper puts this crape on as a “symbol of a fearful secret between him and them” and because of this society chastises him and makes him out to be a...
Throughout his literary endeavors, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism to present a certain theme that pertains to human nature and life. In his works, The Scarlet Letter and "The Minister's Black Veil", Hawthorne uses symbolism to present a common theme pertaining to religion; that though manifested sin will ostracize a person from society, un-confessed sin will destroy the soul.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil" illustrates the dangers of secret sin. Allowing guilt from things done in the past, things that cannot be changed, can ruin lives. The life of the secret-carrier will be devastated, along with the lives of that person's most loved ones. Hawthorne uses various types of figurative language in his works to portray his message. "The Minister's Black Veil” is no exception; Hawthorne uses symbolism and suggestion to add depth and mystery.
The Minister’s Black Veil, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1836, is a parable about a minister, Mr. Hooper, who constantly wears a mysterious black veil over his face. The people in the town of Milford, are perplexed by the minister’s veil and cannot figure out why he insists on wearing it all of the time. The veil tends to create a dark atmosphere where ever the minister goes, and the minister cannot even stand to look at his own reflection. In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's literary work, The Minister 's Black Veil, the ambiance of the veil, separation from happiness that it creates, and the permanency of the black veil symbolize sin in people’s lives.
Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for some of his well-written literary pieces. Some of Hawthorne’s literary works is the “The Minister 's Black Veil” and The Scarlet Letter. Within these literary pieces, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to shape the perspectives of the community members on how they see an individual wearing the symbol and how the person wearing the symbol feels externally and internally within. Symbols can mean many things, it may or may not change over time. It’s up to one to let a symbol define them or not, it they allow
Mr. Hooper’s veil is very sentimental to him. His veil is looked at in different ways, it can symbolize the confession of his sins or a way to hide his sins. Mr. Hooper showed honesty toward his veil. He didn’t take it off even when people tempted him to take it off, specifically when his soon to be wife debated with him to take the veil off who was pretty much the only person who had the courage to go up and talk to him about the veil, he then rebuttled and told her he can not take it off. People around were thinking he was hiding secret sin, but we really don’t know why Mr. Hooper wore that veil, but for whatever the reason was, Mr.Hooper was being honest in whatever the reason was he wore that veil, to either show he is confessing his sins and showing that he is a sinner or a symbolic way to show that we are all sinners and we all have masks but the only difference is that his veil is
In the short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the Mr. Hooper’s black veil and the words that can describe between him and the veil. Hawthorne demonstrates how a black veil can describe as many words. Through the story, Hawthorne introduces the reader to Mr. Hooper, a parson in Milford meeting-house and a gentlemanly person, who wears a black veil. Therefore, Mr. Hooper rejects from his finance and his people, because they ask him to move the veil, but he does not want to do it. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Mr. Hooper’s black veil symbolizes sins, darkness, and secrecy in order to determine sins that he cannot tell to anyone, darkness around his face and neighbors, and secrecy about the black veil.
In “The Birthmark,” Aylmer is the force of evil that wants to change Georgiana, who is an innocent character. She eventually comes to believe in his opinions and he corrupts her self-image. Aylmer thinks he can make Georgiana perfect and change what Georgiana got naturally. As previously mentioned, he eventually causes Georgiana’s death with this search for perfection. Hawthorne takes advantage of tying in his ideals with the story to illustrate, once again, that striving for physical perfection can be
“Swathed about his forehead, and hanging down over his face, so low as to be shaken by his breath, Mr. Hooper had on a black veil.” Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” begins with a description of Mr. Hooper and his veil, but much of the rest of the short story encompasses the guilt culture of the Puritans. Hawthorne, though writing in the 1800’s, depicted the Puritans as a people with an obsession for purity and a persecuting spirit for a secret sin that every human possesses. In “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne isolates his characters to illustrate the compulsion of judgement that the Puritan culture embodied.
Although “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in the mid-1800s, its themes and ideas are still a part of society today. The 19th century was a time of change, just as this, the millennium, is a time of great change. Hawthorne’s ideas about science, beauty, and life still play a major part in our lives, despite many improvements. Even today, people try to play “God” and change things that nature has put in place. It’s human curiosity; how much can be changed, how many things can be perfected? The themes in this short story-- religion, gender, and science--were relevant in Hawthorne’s day, and still are many years later. The theme of religion is hidden in the desire to erase the birthmark. In trying to “perfect” Georgiana, Aylmer is testing God’s creation. He doesn’t believe that how God created Georgiana is perfect, and he is obsessive about making her his idea of perfection. Aminadab, Aylmer’s servant, tries to tell his master to leave the birthmark alone. He tells Aylmer that if Georgiana were his wife, he wouldn’t worry about something so trivial. However, the scientific ideas on Aylmer’s mind won’t let him forget the birthmark. He believes he can remove it with the help of science. Even so, science has no part in creation, according to Hawthorne, and Georgiana’s death after the removal of the birthmark signifies that theory. Her death is Hawthorne’s way of showing that judgment and perfection are God’s duti...
Hooper and as well understanding his reason for wearing it. It is thought that the black veil represents a mask that Mr.Hooper has on which hides his face of guilt of having committed a sin. Also, he has it on because the one sin he committed was killing his own friend. Although, throughout the entire story Mr.Hooper never truly states why he wears he does give clues. He states that although you can’t see his face he is not the only one wearing a black veil. He says that many others are wearing it to because everyone has committed something that they are not proud of. That everyone has committed a sin and he gives the clue that he himself has committed a sin. In my opinion I believe that Mr.Hooper wears the black veil to cover up his sadness that he does not want to spread to others because he wishes others happiness and health. Mr.Hooper being a priest gives the clue that he is looked at as a role model and mainly as a spiritual