Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Alienation In "The Minister’s Black Veil" - Term Papers

Alienation In "The Minister’s Black Veil"

"The Minister’s Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about one clergyman’s alienation due to his outward dressing. Reverend Hooper was a well-respected preacher who got along well with the townspeople until one day when he appeared wearing a black veil over his face that consisted "of two folds of crape, which entirely concealed his features, except the mouth and chin" (Hawthorne 253). From that day onward, he was alienated both socially and physically from his community and from himself due to his inability to remove the veil.
Reverend Hooper’s black veil caused alienation from his congregation. The minister did not even move his veil to perform marriages, which the town ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

odd clothing, Reverend Hooper’s veil caused more than a physical separation from the people of his town. The people felt the veil was "the symbol of a fearful secret between him and them" (Hawthorne 256). Their fear and confusion of the minister’s motives caused strange behavior and unnatural withdrawal from their spiritual leader.
After the initial onset of the black veil, the minister was alienated from himself. After performing the wedding, he caught a glimpse of himself in the looking-glass, and "the black veil involved his own spirit in the horror with which it overwhelmed all others" (Hawthorne 256). He would no longer look in a mirror at himself because "his antipathy to the veil was known to be so great" (Hawthorne 258). The veil which isolated his face from the sun and rain also kept him from his deepest fears and regrets. Reverend Hooper could no longer face himself and decided no one else alive would be allowed to face him either. The only people who seemed to see ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.

Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Turabian

Alienation In "The Minister’s Black Veil". (2006, March 14). Retrieved June 21, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alienation-In-The-Ministers-Black-Veil/42744

"Alienation In "The Minister’s Black Veil"." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 14 Mar. 2006. Web. 21 Jun. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alienation-In-The-Ministers-Black-Veil/42744>

"Alienation In "The Minister’s Black Veil"." Essayworld.com. March 14, 2006. Accessed June 21, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alienation-In-The-Ministers-Black-Veil/42744.

JOIN NOW

Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays

PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/14/2006 11:14:10 PM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Free Paper
Words: 642
Pages: 3

Save |

Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS

Save and find your favorite essays easier