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Symbolism Found In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tale Of The Minister’s Black Veil - Papers Online

Symbolism Found In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tale Of The Minister’s Black Veil

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Minister’s Black Veil is a story of willful sacrifice towards an eternal cause. Father Hooper, the main character of the story, appears one day with a black veil covering his visage. Questions arise as to what is the reason to this peculiar practice. (And it remains a mystery throughout the story, one can only hypothesize on its meaning.) Below, we will discuss some of the possible reasons for wearing that veil.
There are several instances, where Hawthorne hints to the reader, one of the multiple meanings of the black veil. The first is found in Hooper’s sermon to the church -“Those secret sins, and those sad mysteries that we hide from our nearest and our ...

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people, question his sanity and form hypothesis’s on his reason for wearing the veil. He becomes feared by the children, ostracized from his former society, and imprisoned in his own heart.
The veil symbolically serves multiple purposes. First and foremost, the veil serves to keep Hooper’s face from anyone, who considered him a role model, which, ironically is everyone. He felt that it was inappropriate to be a role model, when he himself had “sorrows dark enough to be typified by a black veil.” Behind the veil lies his hidden shame which he chose to make public as a form of humility. The veil served as a visual testimony to all that he was a sinner, and therefore, a member of humanity.
Later, Hooper, has a vision where he sees a veil on all the parishioners. “And lo! On every visage a black veil!” – which brings in another meaning of the veil. This time, the veil is what hides the parishioners secret sins. It therefore serves two contradicting purposes. The veil, (in ...

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Symbolism Found In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tale Of The Minister’s Black Veil. (2004, March 2). Retrieved January 13, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Symbolism-Found-Nathaniel-Hawthornes-Tale-Ministers/3915

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/2/2004 03:45:05 AM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 532
Pages: 2

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