What Does The Minister's Black Veil Symbolize

In this essay the author will be talking about "The Ministers Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The author will be telling the themes that take place in the short story as well as the meaning behind it. Within the essay, the author will also discuss the symbolism used in "The Ministers Black Veil", the main symbol and how the symbol relates to what it represents. Textual content from the story itself will be concluded by the author as well. In "The Ministers Black Veil" Hawthorne discovers the themes of religion, loneliness, and secrecy to open his personal opinions. Throughout the short story Hawthorne portrays religion as a powerful force and as a force that effects the world more than we realize. "... he became a man of awful power of souls that were in agony for sin". Loneliness plays a big role in "The Ministers Black Veil" because the minister is excluded from society when he puts on the veil. The ministers wife also claims that the veil makes him a different person, so she leaves him. "Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity , and children screamed and fled, only from my black veil". Hawthorne also uses the theme of secrecy to convey that keeping secrets from the …show more content…
The black veil is a visual reminder of the sins of people. The members of the church become uncomfortable around the minister because he is physically, with his veil, confronting them of the sins they have committed. The minister wears the veil to visually show his congregation that people commit sin, but those who do sin have to face the consequences; just as the minister is being judged and criticized himself for the veil. The veil is used as a weapon to force members of the church to think about what they done. It is the veil itself to represent the darkness of human kind but the color of the veil that stands the visual image of