Symbolism In The Minister's Black Veil By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Minister’s Black Veil The Minister’s Black Veil is a romantic story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This story is based upon a Minister whose life was altered when he started wearing a black veil to Church every Sunday morning. The second people saw this mysterious black veil, they were angry, upset and some were terrified. Back during this time, there were only two reasons why someone would wear a black veil, a funeral or if they committed a horrible sin. Everyone felt the need to ask why Mr Hooper, the Minister, would wear this hideous black veil for such a long period of time, but whenever he was approached, people felt an overwhelming sense of fear and walked away. The only person to ever confront him was his fiance, Elizabeth. She asked him to take off the veil just once for her, but he declined her request. She left him and all Mr Hooper could do was smile. Years later Mr Hooper was growing older and so old he could no …show more content…
Throughout the whole story, Mr Hooper is being avoided due to the fear his veil brings to people. It is revealed half way through the story that Mr Hooper wears this veil because he committed a terrible sin. Although we don’t know what this sin actually is, Mr Hooper was determined to wear this veil for the rest of his life. At the end of this story, Mr Hooper screams out that he sees black veils over every face he sees. This gives depth to what the black veil symbolizes with individuals and society as a whole. With this final quote in the story, we can infer that the black veil represents the secret sin every individual carries with them for their whole lives. And if we look at this in the grand scheme of things, you’ll realize the black veil also illustrates how the general public tries to be people they aren’t. We are all guilty of trying to be perfect and hiding our true identities. This symbol made the story and is the reason why so many people love