Essay On The Minister's Black Veil

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The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathanial Hawthorne was born in 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts and he died in 1864. Hawthorne became the "most valuable example of American genius" as stated by Henry James, another author in 1879 (Hawthorne 603). Hawthorne's short story The Minister's Black Veil was first printed in The Token. The themes of The Minister’s Black Veil include the symbol of ambiguity (Emmett) and Mr. Hooper’s alienation (a state of isolation because of self-cause, or societal cause, or a combination of both).
There is a mystery behind Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil that leaves critics wondering what the significant meaning could be. The writer tells of how Mr. Hooper, the minister, dawned this black veil covering up the top part of his face. This left his perish wondering and scared that the symbolism of the veil meant he had created a horrible sin. Many critics feel as if that Hawthorne is insinuating a sexual sin in the story, while others like Nicolas Canaday believe “Hawthorne is not stressing secret sin in this tale, especially sexual sin” (143) (Emmett) at all. …show more content…

Including his own mistress, she questions why he is wearing the veil and explains to him that it is causing a lot of turmoil among his perish and followers. They begin to doubt the truthfulness of his actions. Eventually, his mistress leaves him and most of the followers either mock him or shun him due to his persistence in wearing the black veil. W. B. Carnochan claims that there a couple different views to which critics are troubled by. On one side, they see Mr. Hooper as a saintly figure, one without sin; on the other side, he represents one of Hawthorne's unpardonable sinners (Carnochan

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