AP English III 3 Dec. 2012 The Minister’s Black Veil In “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Hooper covers his face with a black veil, and his worshippers are confused and scared about why the minister is wearing it. The black veil makes life harder for him, but he still will not take it off. Hooper’s veil stands for sin, and also represents the fact that all humans’ sin, and no one ought to be judged for it. Reverend Hooper’s black veil is a symbol of secret sin and the sinning nature that all humans have. Sin is mentioned various times throughout the play, and the first day Hooper wore the black veil he preached on secret sin: “The subject had reference to secret sin” (Hawthorne 268).
In bewilderment, they see the minister’s face covered with the black veil which creates commotion among them. There are speculations about the origin of the veil, nevertheless nobody dares to ask. Mr Hooper’s sermon is on secret sin, as the Puritans were obsessed with this theme. The veil induces in minister such emotions that the sermon is the greatest ever and causes in parishioners anxiety and at the same time disgust as it reminds and makes them aware of their own sins. The scene might be compared with that in the novel Scarlet Letter, where reverend Dimmesdale, suffering guilty conscience delivers the speech which makes all the people astonished.
The Dark Shroud Everyone has a secret. Everyone has a reason behind everything they do. Why did Reverend Hooper become possessed in wearing his veil? In The Ministers Black Veil, Hawthorn writes an entertaining story about a young Minister who covers his face with a black veil, and the townspeople shun him because of this decision. Why does he do this?
The first and the most obvious ambiguity of the story is the fact that Mr. Hooper, a well liked and well known man of God, has chosen to wear a veil. A veil is a customary article of clothing worn by women. Strange and shocking, it is clear that the minister is trying to put up a blockade between him and something else. With everyone in his congregation befuddled and stirred up at the first couple of sightings of a minister wearing a veil, no questions are asked and rather multiple assumptions are made by the townspeople. With so much talk and confusion being drawn towards this article of clothing, Hawthorne is able to add to the intensity of the reasoning of the veil.
Hawthorne even emphasizes this obsession by describing Chillingworth’s transformation into an embodiment of evil. Hawthorne writes: “At first his expression had been calm, meditative, scholar-like. Now, there was something ugly and evil in his face” (116). To prove to himself that Dimmesdale is indeed the one who committed adultery with his young wife, Chillingworth questions the minister. One day, Chillingworth shows a “dark flabby leaf” from graveyard to Dimmesdale; he explains that the leaf is grown out of the heart of person who dies with hideous sin, and this leaf is “sprang up out of a varied heart,
F) In the end their responses ended up having some intense results with many Christians dieing due to their beliefs on what caused the Black Death and how they decided to respond to it. William Dene described Christians as being in such chaos that “The labourers and skilled workmen were imbued with such a spirit of rebellion that neither king, law nor justice would curb them.” They were so affected by the Black Death that they were in such moral disarray that they were starting to become completely out of control. William Dene also stated in his writing that “The people for the greater part ever became more depraved, more prone to every vice and more inclined than before to evil and wickedness, not thinking of death nor of the past plague nor of their own salvation.” Christians were throwing away their religion and were slipping into a life of wickedness and evil. (Doc. K) On the other hand Muslims were actually accepting towards the Black Death they pretty much believed that if this plague was in their God's will they will respectfully live it out, you see this when Michael Dols uses a statement "Prayer for lifting the epidemic is
He wrote “I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could ever befall me. For with all slaveholders with whom I have ever met religious slaveholders are the worst” (p.55) He saw that often religion was a cover and gave excuse to self-centeredness and barbarity. He observed masters who claimed to be Christians - but the ” religion of the south was a mere covering for the most horrid of crimes, a justifier for the most appalling barbarity, and a sanctifier for the most hateful frauds”. I am moved that this man of God, however did not loose faith in Jesus Christ, in spite of the witness he observed. In the later additions of his work he wrote in an appendix on how some had read his statements in regards to religion, and believed he was opposed to Christianity.
Everybody in Maycomb county is affected by racism in one way or another; however there are three people who are particularly affected by it. Calpurnia, the black maid in the Finch residence, must lead two separate lives, one with black people and one with whites; they can never inter-mingle. Mister Dolphus Raymond is suppressed into pretending to be a drunk because he is a white man who marries a black woman, and has interracial children. Tom Robinson must suffer the most, he is seen as guilty for a crime he does not commit and sentenced to death, all because of the jury’s prejudice towards black people. Indeed, everyone in Maycomb County, whether they are black or white, is affected by racism, and sometimes all it takes to see it is a child.
He has shown this throughout the novel by showing how Curley’s wife was ignored by the men, how Crooks was discriminated against because of the color of his skin, and how Lennie ultimately died because no one understood him. John Steinbeck masterfully used symbolism to reflect society during the 1930’s. Because of this novel we get a true view on how life was during this time. He had a true realist perspective and it unquestionably was evident throughout the novel. Even in today’s society, though, the message that Steinbeck wished to display would have been seen as applicable.
Halberstam observes that in Gothic novels, “the Gothic monster represents many answers to the question of who must be replaced from the community at large” (Halberstam 3). By having Victor go on a trip with Clerval prior to his wedding, Shelley suggests a homosexual relationship between Victor and Clerval. In addition, Clerval serves as Victor’s “only nurse” when he was ill. This further emphasizes the homosexual aspect in Frankenstein since Victor does not need a female, but instead he favors a devoted male caretaker who willingly risks his life for Victor. In this case, Clerval is less visible monster, which disrupts the definition of an ideal man who should be heterosexual.