Essay On The Minister's Black Veil

In the short story, The Minister's Black Veil, Hawthorne plunges deep into Puritan Culture by revolving the plot around the horror that spreads throughout this tiny fictional community when anyone strays from the norm. When Mr Hooper, The minister of the community walks into church, everyone is taken aback because a black veil cascades his face, only showing his mouth. While reading the bible, it is as if Mr. Hooper is catching a glimpse of everyone in the church’s deep, dark secrets by Hawthorne expressing, “A subtle power was breathed in his words. Each member in the conjugation, the most innocent girl, the man with the hardened breast felt as if the creature felt upon them,behind his awful veil, and had discovered their inequity of

thoughts”(473). In Puritan culture, one goes to church to cleanse their sins and to become a “moral” Puritan.The minister is dressed in a black veil, which represents tragedy, fear and loss. It is because of Mr Hooper’s appearance that make the churchgoers feel uneasy, and their fears heightened. Since Mr Hooper has a devilish, dark veil on his face, and especially the fact that his facial expressions are hard to discern, the churchgoers feel as if the minister has been taken over by a strange, unholy presence and is peering into every sin or bad thought that they’ve had. After the church service, the minister attends a funeral. As soon as he walks in, the community feels a dark cloud of disquietude. Hawthorne describes it as, “The only thing that their eyes rested on was that black veil, which only brought deeper gloom to the funeral” ( pg 475). In Puritan culture, blackness and death are connected. They are both the heart that pump the blood of fear, uncertainty and doom in one's veins. Mr Hooper's veil symbolizes this blackness, thus adding to the gloominess of an already tragic situation. Mr.Hooper's appearance and strange demeanor also makes the funeral goers believe that his devilish, toxic presence is preventing the young woman's soul from peacefully transitioning to heaven. The result of The Ministers strange appearance is his isolation from his congregation members.

Since the fear of darkness and the unknown has been forced among the people in the Puritan society since they were young, the siting of the changed appearance of Mr.Hooper is pure logic.

As the minister was reading the bible to the church goers, Hawthorne examines their feelings by stating, “ They longed for a breath of wind to blow aside the veil, almost believing that a stranger's visage would be discovered” ( pg.472). In Puritan culture, a minister represents heavenliness, light and purity. Mr.Hooper's appearance is the opposite of that, which only sparks panic within the community, making them hope that this is not their beloved minister. Since the principles used in Puritan culture have been drilled into Puritans, they don't know anything other than these principles, thus creating their responses to the Minister's different persona mostly logical. The parishioners responses after the church service are full of hushed voices, shock and fear. The community has never seen anything out of the normal before, so it is a natural reaction uncertainty and tension begins to rise. Once the minister arrives at the wedding, it is if a wave comes in, crashing on this happy occasion. Worry is their first instinct when they seeing him. His simple black veil creates a sense that the husband and bride’s marriage will be doomed because it is dark, which represents death. After the wedding, there were attempts to confront the minister as to why he was wearing this black veil. After the delegation failed, the attempts were mostly done by his wife, Elizabeth. After learning that he can not take the veil off because he is bound to wear it in lightness and darkness, she eventually gives up. Hawthorne explains , “ From that time, no more attempts were made to remove the minister's black veil; and the minister could not walk about with a peace of mind.” ( pg.480). Once the news of the Minister's black veil begins to simmer down, the community begins to forget about the

minister, but are still weary when they see him. The minister will always be isolated from the community because it is an instinct for the community to disown anyone who does not fit in with their strict, pure ways. If the community’s responses were emotional, then their feelings of uneasiness would fade away and welcome the minister back into their hearts. Since the response is logical, the minister will always be an outcast; just because he is wearing a black veil.