The document provides an analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Minister's Black Veil". It summarizes that the story is set in Milford, Massachusetts and centers around a minister, Mr. Hooper, who suddenly starts wearing a black veil over his face. Through symbols like the veil and descriptive language, Hawthorne explores themes of universal sin and the need for individuals to acknowledge their sins. The veil acts as a mirror that causes people to reflect on their own sins and secrets as they speculate about what evil Mr. Hooper is hiding beneath it. In the end, Mr. Hooper refuses to remove the veil even on his deathbed, reinforcing the theme that all people have a dark side

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The Minister’s Black Veil: Setting, Imagery and Theme.
“The Minister’s Black Veil”, is a fictional work of art in print by Nathaniel Hawthorne,
which had a different moral tale for the time it was written. Nathaniel Hawthorne is composed as
an unsuccessful person in the excellent period; as an outcome, his opinions in literatures were
typically doubtful bearing in mind about his family’s immorality. Hawthorne’s grandpa was a
magistrate in the Salem sorceress hearings; for that aim, he was accountable for above twenty
unclear demises by unfair trial. In addition to that, a reader can simply see the doubt in his script,
and several posit that his family’s preceding life had a contribution in his style. In the “The
Minister’s Black Veil”, Hawthorne displays unlimited treaty of negativity over a minister who
senses that he is as well wicked to display his face. The minister, Mr. Hopper, has several unseen
sins; additionally, concealed sins is the key theme of the story.
The scenery of "The Minister's Black Veil" is the city of Milford, where in New England,
which we see from annotation in which Hawthorne states that "another clergyman of New
England" declared himself prominent for take on the same "strangeness" as Reverend
Hooper. Assuming the fact that Hawthorne devote more of his life time in Salem, Massachusetts,
it is sensible to say Milford’s home is in or close Massachusetts. Even though the point that the
scenery takes place in "Milford" is of slight importance, the point that the set is in New England
is actually essential. In cities like Milford, typically minor and farming centered, the minister is

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commonly the most important citizen, observed up to by every person, including municipal
authorities, for ethical help, spiritual teaching, and ease during pain. Whatever that changes the
nature of the city's minister will also mark the town either destructively or constructively, so the
scenery itself is an essential part in the general story description even although the city's name of
action is comparatively irrelevant.
In “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the fictitious styles, imagery,
repetition and characterization, disclose the subject of undisclosed sin. Metaphor is used to signify
Rev. Hooper’s black veil as a glass when the worshipers, the villagers and eventually, even his
personal spouse look at it and their own undisclosed sin comes to their realization. Repetition of
severe expressive words such as “dreadful,” “horrific,” and “terrible” is used by the residents to
define Clerical Hooper’s black veil. Since the black veil is a looking glass, when they talk about
these stuffs about it they are truly speaking about themselves and how their individual sins are.
The description of Reverend Hooper’s partner, Elizabeth, discloses her changeover from being
unpretentious by the black veil, to being scared of it. Previously in Elizabeth’s talk with Reverend
Hooper, she give an impression to be invulnerable to the panic of the black veil. She utters that it
is not very bad, and she looks to be natural by it not like many of the other characters in the book.
Later in their discussion, as she stares into the veil she is all of a sudden scared. This further gives
the fact that the black veil is a glass of sin and it exposes that Elizabeth has something to hide, and
unites the person who reads. This idea of undisclosed sin ties symbolism, recurrence and
description within the book. Through these elements, Hawthorne, proposes the reader a
comprehension of this main subject.
The most clear stylistic device in the book is that of symbol. The black veil signifies the
black side of all human way of living and is planned to make a report to the worshipers of Reverend

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Hooper. It works by branding him as a better minister of word of God, but it fails on him when he
declines to remove it. Every person together with his fiancee, starts to disbelief him and are
surprised what evil he is hiding. But no one actually sees if he devoted a sin or if he is just creating
an illustration out of himself so somebody else will recognize what he's remained working so firm
to do. I have faith in that the imagery as presented by black veil and that of Nathaniel Hawthorn’s
fact of Assessment straight lead to the subject of general secret sin. The darkness and amazing fact
of how everybody really has confidences they are not pleased of portraying the part in the church:
“Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as
if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity
of deed or thought”(Nathaniel, 2). Even the correct view of the veil is worrying to public: “I don’t
like it,” murmured an old woman inaudibly, as she limped into the gathering house. “He has
changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.”(Nathaniel, 1)
Not alone does imagery play a part in the subject, the Opinion of View (third party joint
restricted) provides the reader an intellect of comprehending. For instance, when Hawthorn states,
“At the close of the services, the people hurried out with indecorous confusion, eager to
communicate their pent-up amazement, and conscious of lighter spirits the moment they lost sight
of the black veil. Some gathered in little circles, huddled closely together, with their mouths all
whispering in the center; some went homeward alone, wrapt in silent meditation; some talked
loudly, and profaned the Sabbath day with ostentatious laughter.”(Nathaniel, 2) He uses this
linguistic exactly as if he is an unseen reporter that is captivating summaries on the whole thing
noticeable to him. The configuring of notes and reporting stretches to the reader a logic of trust, as
we can unite to taking notes. The link of the “secret sinner is universal” subject is presented by the
first reference, (of this reply) but is totaled up at the end of the book: “when man does not vainly

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shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a
monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every
visage a Black Veil!”(Graham, 7) Here, Hooper precisely describes that he has a underground sin
that disturbs him so aggressively that he must cover his face out of disgrace and humiliation.
The story revolves through the theme of “Everyone’s is a Sinner”, by the confliction of
paragraphs which refers to the clue of everybody has a black as well as a decent side to themselves.
The author-Nathaniel uses the conflict of sections as one of the means to describe that everybody
has a “decent” side and “evil” side. At the start of the story, the writer’s portrayal of children “with
bright faces, tripped merrily beside their parents, or mimicked a graver gait,” (Nathaniel, 1) is in
conflict with the parts that follows as the writer presents ‘But what has good Parson Hooper got
upon his face.’(Steinbrecher, 1) The disputing sections attaches to the better subject as Mr. Hooper,
a truthful, good pastor wears a black veil as a symbol of fault for constraining of some sins. Even
though the conflicts of paragraphs signify the moral and evil, the dark veil is a symbol of the dark
amongst people. In reaction to Mr. Hooper’s troubled wife, he says “when all of us shall cast aside
our veils… I wear this piece of crape till then.”(Eva, 4) Mr. Hooper refers to the point in order for
the veil to be really detached, people have to have faith in and admit that no one is clean and all
are wicked, no matter the what extent or weight of the sin. Even at the time of his demise, his
reluctance to take away the black veil stresses the idea as he says, ‘Why do you tremble at me
once… I look around me, and lo, on every visage a Black Veil.’(Steinbrecher, 7)
The book also has another theme of “The Essential to Accept Sin”. Putting on a veil is the
Rev. Mr. Hooper's method of giving clue to the trend of people to keep undisclosed their
disgraceful opinions and evil conduct. To make a wonderful incentive, society must boost their

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coverings, disclose their mistakes—at least to God—and ask for forgiveness. With that, people
will reform and repentance
.......The minister's veil causes people to repent their sins and reform their lives. The narrator
says, By the aid of his mysterious emblem—for there was no other apparent cause—[the Rev. Mr.
Hooper] turn out to be a man of terrible control over feelings that stood in pain for sin. His changes
continuously considered him with a fear odd to themselves, confirming, however but symbolically,
that, before he got them to heavenly light, they had been with him after the black veil."

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Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001. Print.
Colacurcio, Michael J. The Province of Piety: Moral History in Hawthorne's Early Tales.
Durham, N.C: Duke University Press, 1995. Print.
Graham, Wendy C. Gothic Elements and Religion in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Fiction. Marburg:
Tectum-Verl, 1999. Print.
Porte, Joel. In Respect to Egotism: Studies in American Romantic Writing. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1991. Print.
Steinbrecher, Eva. Zu Nathaniel Hawthornes "the Minister's Black Veil": Die Symbolhaftigkeit in
"the Minister's Black Veil". München: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2009. Internet resource.
Sterling, Laurie A, and Harold Bloom. Bloom's How to Write About Nathaniel Hawthorne. New
York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2008. Internet resource.