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The symbolism in the story of NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
Symbolism in Hawthorne’s works
Symbolism in Hawthorne’s works
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Art Is Art Is Hawthorne When an author (artist) can make his emotions, thoughts, ambitions, and inner self materialize, he has reached the dearest form of art, and the artwork can never mean as much to anyone as it does the one who created it. The artist does not own nor can he interpret completely due to the ever growing life-like attributes that the art/literature has adopted. Therefore, Hawthorne himself could not put into words an interpretation of The Minister's Black Vail because the story its self is an interpretation of something living inside the author, a feeling that can only be felt. In this literary figuration, portrait, there is not a moral. Nathanial Hawthorn used the whole story to create or incite a particular emotion, a type of "picture" that is like something else. In the minister's black veil Hawthorne creates a partial "portrait" of his own emotions and soul with the focus being on the pain that isolation, alienation, and loneliness brings to some one such as an artist. An argument can be made in a few different ways, but it is best to determine the possible validity of the argument by attempting to view the piece in its entirety, considering all facetted parts of the story. The intended idea was created in the story, the story was created by the man, and the man was created by society, these are all contributors to The Minister's Black Veil, possibly as much as the words. To consider the text, The Minister's Black Veil, without taking into account, the above stated, is to see the piece incompletely. One must consider the entirety of the story, unless one believes: "A story is a story, is a story." As a precursor, the common understanding needs to be reached that: literature is an art, and has many mediums. Medium is the material or technique with which an artist works (Dictionary.com), for example: photographs, pastels, canvas, paper, ink, etc... There are technical, recreational, and otherwise artistic uses for all mediums. A small child taking pictures of a puppy with a disposable camera, a reporter taking precise pictures of a sporting event, and an artist taking close-up pictures of the dew as it drips off a tree are all different uses of the same medium in photography. Literature can be created with many different intentions and reasons, but the attempt to determine that something is not art based off of the motivation or intentions of the artist is quit meaningless.
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 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
“The Minister’s Black Veil” is a Romanticism short story written by Nathanial Hawthorne, and it is a story about well-respected and loving parson starts to wear a black veil, and he spends his long life isolated by his parishioners and fiancé. This is a short story classifies to Romanticism category which includes the characteristics of valuing feelings, believing supernatural and appreciating individual rights.
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.
...t to acknowledge that fact than to live your life a lie. By keeping sin secret from the world like Dimmesdale, your conscience eats at your spirit until you are no longer able to live a healthy, normal life. Hooper's demeanor and sermons scared everyone into seeing their own sins and when looking at his black veil, they saw their own faults, which petrified them for they knew they were pretending to be one of the elect, and that none of them could be perfectly sinless. The horror and the hate people felt towards both the black veil and the scarlet letter was an outward manifestation of the horror and hate they all had for their own sins. Thus it brings us back to the theme that Hawthorne makes so clear in both the Scarlet Letter and "The Minister's Black Veil," that though manifested sin will ostracize a person from society, un-confessed sin will destroy the soul.
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 made out his life a source of inspiration. Every event that happened in his life made him think of a way to write about it. The Scarlett Letter was written after his mother died, and it focused on his society and it was used as a strong accusation against the Puritan Americans (Gollin 2605). His works were the results of long-term contemplations of humans and the society of his time, The Minister’s Black Veil is an example of this. A story about a man who decides to walk around his town cover in a black veil that symbolizes sin, and more importantly, “how the guilt we hide from one another and about the dangers of self-absorption” (Gollin 2604). Every major event in his life brought a new theme to his writings and that made it stand out. Just like Irving, he decided that he wanted to pursue of life full of
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.
Hawthorne wrote The Minister’s Black Veil as a parable; he uses the hypocrisy and judgmental nature of Milford’s inhabitants as a model of what a poor Christian looks like. He stresses the importance of the avoidance of judgement, and that secret sin is ever prevalent and brings out the worst in even the best of people. By pointing out what hypocritical Christians the inhabitants of Milford are, Hawthorne mocks small town
It is no secret that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is a parable. Hawthorne intended it as such and even gave the story the subtitle “a parable.” “The Minister’s Black Veil,” however, was not Hawthorne’s only parable. Hawthorne often used symbols and figurative language to give added meaning to the literal interpretations of his work. His Puritan ancestry also influenced much of Hawthorne’s work. Instead of agreeing with Puritanism however, Hawthorne would criticize it through the symbols and themes in his stories and parables. Several of these symbols and themes reoccur in Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “Young Goodman Brown”, and The Scarlet Letter.
Hawthorne’s heavy use of symbolism is evident in “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Without a doubt, the most obvious use of symbolism is found in the black veil itself. There are many interpretations on what the black veil means to people. As Mr. Hooper states Elizabeth, “So far as my vow may suffer me, Know, then, this
The Minister’s Black Veil genera is American Romanticism. Often American Romanticism is usually confused by people, because they think it has to do with romance. It is the exact opposite, it focuses on the individual and how they define themselve. Romanticism elevates the imagination over reason, it usually exaggerates aspects of the human life and experience. This means American Romanticism stories are over dramatic and have a grotesque and twisted feel about the story. The Minister’s Black veil has that exact eerie and creepy sensation the reader looks for in a American Romanticism story.
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
In creating a novel, the author must at least know the concept and ideas on literature in order to have a ideas regarding to narrative writing. As we all know, literature can be found everywhere when it comes to regular activities. In fact, Literature is used in our daily basis therefore literature is part of our life no matter what. When studying history, books, documents, and files are used. Those forms are the exact literature itself, it contains in any sorts of languages which contain letters and numbers. Other sorts of symbols are considered to be literature itself. Poems, declamation, oratorical are a form of literature. Pieces, symphony, and movements are also a form of literature to musicians in order for them to understand the very concept of music itself. Painting, drawing, and sketching are also forms of literature which is a language that is only understood by artists and critics.
Literature is creative writing of recognized artistic value. Literature represents the very best of human expression. We read and celebrate Literature for many reasons. A few of these reasons are,- to be inspired, to be delighted, to embark on incredible ventures and others.