Essay On The Minister's Black Veil

Is your appearance really linked to the person you are? In the short story, The Minister’s Black Veil, by Nathaniel Hawthrone it shows a side of a man named Mr. Hooper who begins to wear a black veil. As he proceeds to wear the veil, people that know him begin to see him as a different person. As a result villagers began to fear and not trust the man. This issue is further seen as people began to judge him for being different and for what he looks like. The minister was known to be a good preacher however with his new appearance people automatically disliked him. As people begin to go out of their way to make themselves look different, they are soon seen as someone new eventually not knowing what to think about them. Essentially it is true that the appearance of someone is linked to who you are. …show more content…
One example of the villagers judging Mr. Hooper can be seen when a woman says “‘I don't like it,’ muttered an old woman, as she hobbled into the meeting-house. ‘He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.’” (Hawthrone Pg2). Essentially this shows the change of appearance on Mr. Hooper caused the woman to judge him, just based on the way he looked. This issue is further seen when another man does not accept that Mr. Hooper is the one under the veil he is wearing. For instance a sexton says “"I can't really feel as if good Mr. Hooper's face was behind that piece of crape,’”(Hawthrone Pg2). This proves that what he is wearing is causing others to feel a different way about him just by looking at him. As a whole we can see that appearance is used to influence the way people see