An overview of the ministers black veil

Understand them better with these study guides. From this day forward, no one attempts to have Hooper remove the veil. Eventually, she gives up and tells him goodbye, breaking off the engagement.

Hooper shouts that his veil must never be lifted on earth. Hooper says a few prayers and the body is carried away.

His own antipathy to the veil is so intense that he avoids mirrors or other reflecting surfaces. American Romantic writers often delved on the secrets of the human heart and soul. One woman, thinking the veil has transformed him into a ghost, tells her husband she would not be alone with Hooper for any price; she surmises he is probably afraid to be alone.

Hooper arouses in a sermon the notion of secret sin and the sad mysteries in which we hide from our nearest and dearest.

Yet as the group visits and sits with Hooper, they notice that he is smiling sadly, and feel so uneasy that they do not ask him about the veil. They beg him to allow them to remove his veil, so that they may see the face of a good man.

Women with weak nerves must leave the service. In content, the lesson may be very much like the sermon on "secret sin" Hooper was scheduled to teach, but the townspeople are uncomfortable with the medium.

In response, Hooper asks why Milford has been afraid of him for so long, and says that they should be afraid of each other.

I look around me, and, lo. We get the point Mr. Hooper, in his stubborn use of the veil parable of one sin, is unconsciously guilty of a greater sin: He's a tormented soul and feels the need to let everyone know by veiling his face, forever.

He can see through the veil, but it darkens everything he sees. This is Hawthorne criticizing the overly judgmental nature of the Puritans belief on sin, for them sin was an undeniable mistake, "Hooper need not have committed any specific sin; for the hardened Puritan, his humanity was sinful enough, and he wore it the way the medieval penitent would his hair shirt.

Why have they trembled to see him, but not to see each other. The veil causes children to flee and others to peep behind gravestones to get a look at his face. Hooper leave his house, but this Sabbath morning the sexton is astonished at the sight of the minister.

The black veil represents… — this is where you finish the sentence. Hooper begs her not to leave him, and asks her to try to understand him, insisting that he will only wear his veil on earth, that in the hereafter they will be united without the veil between them.

Hooper is greatly saddened, but even as he grieves, he smiles sadly, thinking that it was only a veil that separated him from Elizabeth.

He customarily stops ringing when he sees Reverend Mr. The townspeople grow uncomfortable with him because they start to become aware of their own sin. Many years pass, and grass covers his grave and moss covers the stone. They sound loud and proud in being critical of the minister for his veil, but they are clearly weak and not confident inside their own minds about their personal salvation, so the harsh judgement of others could possibly be seen as a way to relieve themselves for a people were never sure about whether they were really going to heaven.

Instant downloads of all LitChart PDFs (including The Minister’s Black Veil). Impress your friends and neighbors with how much you know about literature: This study guide for "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne contains a summary, character analysis and thesis ideas.

Summary Summary Part 2 Summary Part 3 Printable PDF. The opening of “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne presents a setting that seems, from first perception, to be an idealized portrait of how one might imagine life in early America.

"The Minister's Black Veil" is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was first published in the edition of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir. It was also included in the edition of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir, edited by Samuel Goodrich.

The minister’s parishioners see the veil as a reflection of their interior selves. The veil comes to represent the original sin that condemns all men.

The minister may wear the veil on his face, but all others wear the black veil on their souls. Before we get to our "Minister's Black Veil" analysis, read the short story (it's not much longer than my summary).

An overview of the ministers black veil