The Minister's Black Veil Essay

In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Nathaniel Hawthorne presents the reasoning of the veil. The veil is used in the story to represent that someone has sinned. Throughout the story, the minister’s congregation wonders what he did to wear such a horrible veil, but the minister doesn’t tell them what the secret sin is. Reverend Hooper is presenting to the community that he has committed a sin by wearing the black veil, that drapes down across his face; he is not afraid to show everyone what he did wrong, and as a result, the community doesn’t judge Mr. Hooper for wearing the veil.
At the beginning of the story, Mr. Hooper walks into the church wearing the veil. His congregation was surprised to see such a terrible sight. Mr. Hooper states, “If it be a sign of mourning, I, perhaps, like other mortals have sorrows dark enough to be typified by a black veil,” (Hawthorne 29). Hawthorne explains that when Mr. Hooper tells Elizabeth that he is no different than any other person, he can show everyone that he has sinned through the veil. Mr. Hooper is a human just like everyone else, but he is held to higher standards because he is the minister of the church; this explains why his congregation was shocked to see their minister wearing the black veil.

According to source A, the veil is shown as a way of hiding the secret from the community.

Elizabeth tells Mr. Hooper, “... beloved and respected as you are, there may be whispers, that you hide your face under the consciousness of sin,” (Hawthorne 109). From this sentence, the audience can conclude that Mr. Hooper is the man that most people in the community look up too, but the veil makes most people talk about him. Hawthorne writes, “love or sympathy could never reach him,” behind the veil (104). The minister would never let anyone in on the secret behind the veil. This presents to the readers that Mr. Hooper is doesn’t want to reveal his secret sin that caused him to wear the black

veil.
Furthermore, Tim Deines has searched Hawthorne’s work, and found ideas that explain the veil on a much deeper level. In the essay “Hawthorne, Sacrifice, Sovereignty,” Deines reveals, “Now,” secret sin” and “sad mysteries” are introduced as the possibility, not only of a coming judgement,  but of a history as well,” (paragraph 2). The author goes on and adds, “Mr. Hooper smiled to think that only a material emblem had separated him from happiness…” (Hawthorne 379-380). These quotes explain how the black veil took away the joy from Mr. Hooper by causing Elizabeth to leave him. Elizabeth did not recognize that even if Mr. Hooper removed the veil, she still wouldn’t have known the secret sin.
In addition to Boone and Deines, Janet Giltrow and David Stouck add to the significance of the black veil by stating, “Even the lawless wind, it was believed that respected his dreadful secret, and never blew aside the veil” (Hawthorne 47-48). Hawthorne is telling the reader that not even the most powerful person never judged the veil. As a result, Mr. Hooper became more powerful because no one denied the veil. The community finally realized that the veil stood as a symbol of sin.
In conclusion, Boone, Deines, and Giltrow and Stouck, all contributed to the significance of the veil by presenting how the community saw the veil. Reverend Hooper presented to the community that he a sinner, and that he knows he is wrongful of doing such a sin. Mr. Hooper is strong enough to wear the veil and show the people he has done wrong. The sources present to the reader that they found key quotes that Mr. Hooper is not afraid to show that he has sinned by wearing the
           veil.