Ideology in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil

1302 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Self-concept formation

Ideology in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil

Bennett and Royle in their textbook, Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, define ideology as representing “… ‘the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence’” (161). The ideology of self, of personal identity, is represented by a person’s perception of what is acceptable in their society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, The Minister’s Black Veil, the minister appears before his community with a black veil covering his face. He gives no explanation for this apparel and the community becomes agitated that their minister refuses to remove it. The readers challenge is to discover why the minister wears the veil and why he won’t take it off. Hawthorne challenges the readers ideology of self with his choice of words, by showing how ideology is redefined by each subject, and by using as his form the technique of the parable.

The parishioners expectations are shattered by the appearance of their beloved minister wearing a black veil over his face.

Children, with bright faces, tripped merrily beside their parents, or mimicked in graver gait, in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes. Spruce bachelors looked sidelong at the pretty maidens, and fancied that the Sabbath sunshine made them prettier than on weekdays (Hawthorne 1)

These expectations are portrayed by the way the story begins. Hawthorne uses words that suggest happiness; “bright” “merrily” “pretty” “fancied” and “sunshine”. But this ‘happiness’ vanishes with the appearance of the minister. The expectations of what is socially acceptable are challenged by the appearance of the black veil.

“But what has good Parson Hooper got upon his face?” c...

... middle of paper ...

...o understand the parable. A parable is used to explain something that is unexplainable and cannot be explained if the reader does not understand it. The reader is in constant danger throughout the reading of having his ideology of self shattered by the very real possibility that he won’t ‘get it’. The entire story is as obscure and shaky as ideology itself. Hawthorne’s choice of words throughout the story set up the reader for a continual bombardment of his/her ideology of self and societal expectations.

Works Cited

Bennett, Andrew and Nicholas Royle. Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory. 2nd Edition. New York: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Crown College. Accessed 27 Aug 2003. http://www.crown.edu/humanities/ratledgw/ENG%20132/stories/ veilhawt.htm>

Miriam Webster Dictionary. Accessed 27 Aug 2003.

Show More
Related

  • Characterism In 'The Minister's Black Veil'

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting the Protagonists in Flannery O’Connor’s Good Country People and Hawthorne's The Minister’s Black Veil

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    Minister Hooper is a very good man, believes solely in Christ, and throughout the story we come to see how his views on religion reflect his humanity and humility. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Minister Hooper dons a black veil that causes an eruption of gossip in his community. The townspeople do not have any clue as to why he is wearing this black veil and see it as scary and devilish. The people in the community believe that Minister Hooper is wearing the veil to cover up a horrible sin. This may not be the case, however, because he may be wearing it as a symbol of his faith.

    Read More

  • The Minister's Black Veil Analysis

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” for example, Hawthorne describes how, “perhaps the pale­faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them”(2). This directly contrasts the “light” faces of the members of the congregation with the darkness of the minister’s veil. By stating that the minister was just as afraid of the people as the people were of him, Hawthorne indicates that the people fear the minister due to the abrupt reveal of his mysterious sin, but the minister also somewhat fears the people and the secrets they hold deep within their hearts. The people of the town are supposedly pure and innocent, yet it is clear that many of the citizens carry the burden of their own evils. Although the minister boldly comes forward with his own sin, he still feels the pain of the loneliness, scorn, and spite that has come with his statement. Hawthorne represents the discomfort the guilty townspeople feel when in the presence of Mr. Hooper when he describes how they were, “conscious of lighter spirits the moment they lost sight of the black veil” (3). Once again, this use of light and dark imagery supports Hawthorne’s argument that people, even those who claim to be pure and innocent, are capable of sin. The townspeople in Mr. Hooper’s community feel the burden of their own sins when they come in

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In The Scarlet Letter Essay

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    Near the end of his description of Old England life, Hawthorne places two sentences with similar structure, and similar meaning, side by side. He first says, “there was some shadow of an attempt of this kind in the mode of celebrating the day on which the political year… commenced”. He then goes on to state, “the dim reflection of a remembered splendor… they had beheld in proud old London” (lines 11-13). Both sentences, side by side, begin with noting how Puritan celebrations were less, in every way, than the celebrations in Old England. The words “shadow”, and “reflection”, have the same effect; the same purpose. They seem to convey that they were a distorted version of the original celebrations. Then both sentences go on to praise “proud old London”. Through Hawthorne’s use of parallel structure, he creates an immediate effect on readers, causing them to see Puritan celebrations as a distorted, confused, and lesser version of the pure celebrations in the Old World. Ultimately, Hawthorne’s goal is to convince readers that the Puritan culture - their customs, their traditions, their way of life - is wrong in that it suppresses the joy, and freedom, that is necessary for a society to thrive. He attempts to convince them that the Puritan religion, as a whole, is overbearing, and clearly unjust. Hawthorne wants his audience to go through a logical progression of cause

    Read More

  • Figurative Language in “The Minister’s Black Veil”

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...'s Black Veil." Hawthorne’s story warns that secrets can destroy the relationships cherished the most in life. Hawthorne’s parable uses symbols to give the story deeper meaning. Hawthorne also uses suggestion to create a mood of mystery and darkness.

    Read More

  • Imagery And Symbolism In The Birthmark And Eye Of The Beholder

    663 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through the use of an allegory, Hawthorne portrays how important it is to uphold beauty not as it is in the eye of the beholder, but in the eye of the individual in

    Read More

  • The Role of Storytelling in The Things They Carried

    2570 Words  | 6 Pages

    Heberle, Mark. "Contemporary Literary Criticism." O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Vol. 74. New York, 2001. 312.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Minister's Black Veil

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne 's literary work, The Minister 's Black Veil, the sensation of the veil, the separation it creates from good things in life, and the persistence of the black veil on earth symbolize sin in mankind. During the whole parable, Mr. Hooper is restrained by the black veil and cannot live a free, enjoyable life. Also, people around him cannot tolerate the overwhelming, dark feeling that the black veil generates. Similarly, sin can take over people’s lives and create a feeling of hopelessness and gloom. Hawthorne’s parable overall demonstrates power and impact of sin on

    Read More

  • The Minister’s Black Veil

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Hawthorne’s Use of Allegory

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    "The Minister's Black Veil" is an allegorical narrative in which the agents of setting, symbols, characters, and actions come in a coherent way to represent non-literal and metaphorical meanings about the human character. The black veil is without doubt the most important symbol used in the story. It comes to represent the darkness and duality of human nature, adding thereby a certain undeniable psychoanalytical angle to the short story. The black veil represents the sin that all men carry secretively within their heart as M...

    Read More

  • Satiriic Diction In The Scarlet Letter

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hawthorne’s use of satiric diction helps to display his attitude towards the rigidity of the Puritan culture. An example as such “A throng of bearded men, in sad- colored garments and gray” (1). Hawthorne is identifying this society to be dull and somber by

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay: What Did I Learn?

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is important that everyone in a district, school, and classroom work together to prevent and solve bullying. This is a problem that concerns everyone including teachers, students, and parents. As a school or classroom we must educate students and staff to the warning signs of those who bully and those who are victims. Equally, we must communicate to the students the district policies and expectations that are laid out clearly in the handbook. Districts must decide on and implement a bullying prevention program that fits the needs of its student body.

    Read More

  • Reality and Experience in Young Goodman Brown

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 5th ed. New York: Longman, 2011. Print.

    Read More

  • Types of Bulling Written by LuAnn Schindler

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    When our group was deciding what issue in education we wanted to do our project on, we wanted something that we all were really passionate about. A huge issue that is occurring throughout schools all over America is bullying. The definition of a bully is to use superior strength or influence to intimidate someone and typically force him or her to do what one wants. However, bulling is not just teasing children on the playground; it is much more serious and could leave negative lifelong long scars. When we discuss the kind of classrooms we hope to have we always describe that we want a “safe” and “welcoming” place for our students. Therefore this is a huge issue to address to make sure our classrooms can be this way. There is no reason why any child should ever endure such torment.

    Read More

  • Bullying: Victims on Both Sides

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    "What Effect does Bullying have on students and schools" Michigan Association of School Administrators. Web. 2013

    Read More

More about Ideology in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil

Open Document