The Theme Of Sin In The Minister's Black Veil By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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The events in The Minister’s Black Veil, Young Goodman Brown, Ethan Brand, and Earth’s Holocaust, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows an underlying association between man's hidden evil and secret sin. Nathaniel’s popular belief was that despite religion, secret sin and evil resides in the human heart. The concept of secret sin and evil are intertwined into something complex in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories mentioned above. A human being is not perfect therefor will commit an imperfection which Nathaniel would argue is generated by evil. Nathaniel Hawthorne relies principally on allegory while presenting symbolism to demonstrate the issues of secret sin and the root of evil.
The Minister’s Black Veil, is just one of the many Hawthorne’s …show more content…

The Minister, however, acknowledges neither his own strange appearance nor the stunned and questioning whispering of the townspeople. As a preacher, Hooper delivers a sermon that was as powerful as the rest but, due to his veil, the people felt a certain sadness and mysteriousness in his words. Following the sermon, the townspeople continued to gossip about the mystery of the veil. Mr. Hooper continued to act as always, greeting the children and saluting his neighbors. But, he was met with bewildered looks as the crowd avoided him. As he turned, a sad smile crept from underneath his veil. At this point in the plot of The Minister’s Black Veil, there is a definite turn in the way the people of the town perceive their minister and is seen throughout the story such as in the setting of funeral and wedding. It is the uncertainty that makes the reaction of the townspeople all the more telling of their intrinsic sin and hypocritical nature. While speculating as to what horrific crime the minister must have committed, they overlook their own nature of sin, both large and minor. In times of need, the minister is the one who is willingly called upon, but circumvented when all is good. The townspeople shun him only because of a black veil and in doing so reveal how shallow and unappreciative their faith truly

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