Masked Man
(An Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil) A question that is asked possibly by every person at least once in their life is the question of their existence. Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? However, while we are on this earth, we just have to live the life we have been given. One interesting fact about human life is that there is one other attribute that every human shares besides the belly button. We all share the mask that every person hides behind. Of course, some may say that they are completely out in the open about their life and their beliefs, but there is always a piece of a person’s past or a secret that they have kept hidden from everyone in their life. A famous American author once said, “We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be” (Rothfuss). In Black Veil, the veil itself symbolizes just how unsettling the human mask truly is when turned into a physical attribute. In Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil, there are three main messages presented which are:everyone has a mask, death is …show more content…
When we as people pass from this life to the next, we are unable to take with us the worldly items connected during our time here. Mr Hooper in the parable showed, however, that worldly possessions and accessories can ruin a group of people’s opinion over you. He exclaimed, “It is but a mortal veil- it is not for eternity!” (280) With that line, he showed that everything on this earth is but an item that will be gone in just a few short years. Nothing but our knowledge stays with us in the life to come. In my religion, it teaches that, “Prophets and apostles teach that education is an eternal principle” (Holland). Education is important due to the fact that it is the one piece of the world we are able to take with us into forever, because worldly ideals will not
(An Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil) A question that is asked possibly by every person at least once in their life is the question of their existence. Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? However, while we are on this earth, we just have to live the life we have been given. One interesting fact about human life is that there is one other attribute that every human shares besides the belly button. We all share the mask that every person hides behind. Of course, some may say that they are completely out in the open about their life and their beliefs, but there is always a piece of a person’s past or a secret that they have kept hidden from everyone in their life. A famous American author once said, “We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be” (Rothfuss). In Black Veil, the veil itself symbolizes just how unsettling the human mask truly is when turned into a physical attribute. In Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil, there are three main messages presented which are:everyone has a mask, death is …show more content…
When we as people pass from this life to the next, we are unable to take with us the worldly items connected during our time here. Mr Hooper in the parable showed, however, that worldly possessions and accessories can ruin a group of people’s opinion over you. He exclaimed, “It is but a mortal veil- it is not for eternity!” (280) With that line, he showed that everything on this earth is but an item that will be gone in just a few short years. Nothing but our knowledge stays with us in the life to come. In my religion, it teaches that, “Prophets and apostles teach that education is an eternal principle” (Holland). Education is important due to the fact that it is the one piece of the world we are able to take with us into forever, because worldly ideals will not