23 pages • 46 minutes read
Nathaniel HawthorneThe Minister's Black Veil
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1836A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Original Sin
Mr. Hooper wears his veil as a reminder of Original Sin, or the innate sin believed to be inherited by all people following the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. On his deathbed, Mr. Hooper explains that the people have been wrong to shun him for his black veil, for a figurative black veil darkens “every visage.” Every human, he suggests, is a sinner; therefore, if they fear him, they should fear each other and themselves.
Mr. Hooper’s condoning of their isolating him as singularly sinful is not to suggest they should not tremble at the sight of his sin. Indeed, he is horrified by his own reflection. When he sees himself in the mirror, he flees the room. While Mr. Hooper confronts his own sinfulness, the residents of Milford deny the existence of their own. In the absence of an explanation from Mr. Hooper, they assume the veil is a reflection of Mr. Hooper’s sin alone. Their fear of his appearance and their resulting alienation of him suggests their desire to separate themselves from a man they see as guilty of an awful crime—but also that they are shying away from accepting the sin within themselves. That the people perhaps suspect but reject that the veil represents the sin in all of them is evident in their feeling that “the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought” (3).
The Visibility of Godliness
“The Minister’s Black Veil” is in part a comment on the importance Puritans placed on appearances. The Puritans believed in predestination, a doctrine holding that God has already decided who is saved and who is damned. Notably, one’s godly behavior was considered a sign of one’s salvation. This focus on outward appearance leads to the people’s fear of Mr. Hooper’s veil, which they connect with his personal sin. Though his sermons delivered while he wears the veil are mostly unchanged, the residents of Milford see Mr. Hooper as a very different preacher than he was before, finding the first speech he delivers with the veil to be exceptionally powerful. As the years go on, they continue to see him as a more effective parson. He is considered “a man of awful power over souls that were in agony for sin” (10). Hawthorne writes that his power must derive from “his mysterious emblem—for there was no other apparent cause” (10). Their shunning of him shows how they make assumptions about his guilt based solely on a piece of cloth that is covering his face.
The people thus validate Mr. Hooper’s belief that they equate one’s appearance with one’s guilt or innocence and that they can deny their sin as long as they hide it from each other. Mr. Hooper’s lesson is that though he is the only one who wears his sin outright, he is not the only sinner. The people’s fear of him is misplaced, for they, too, are sinners. The only difference is that they believe they can negate their sin by putting it out of sight. Sin can never, however, be out of the sight of God. Ironically, Mr. Hooper himself is guilty of the same superficiality of which he accuses the people. His fright at his own image shows that he is no more immune to judgment of appearance than are the people. Moreover, as a public statement of his own superior understanding, the veil evokes in Mr. Hooper not only distress but also pride, as is evidenced by his sad but condescending smile.
Alienation
Mr. Hooper is “grieved […] to the very depth of his kind heart” when people avoid him on the street and children flee from him in fear (10), and he begs Elizabeth not to leave him. The black veil separates Mr. Hooper from the residents of Milford. It also reflects how we are separated from each other because we hide our true selves. In his sermon, Mr. Hooper laments that we hide our “sad mysteries” from “our nearest and dearest” (3); on his deathbed, he reiterates that we do not show our “inmost heart[s]” to our friends and loved ones. Our secrecy with each other is also reflected in Mr. Hooper’s decision not to reveal to the people the meaning of the veil, even to the reader. Mr. Hooper seems to suggest that even those who are not socially alienated as he is still suffer an alienation of sorts from those around them.
Puritanism
Mr. Hooper embodies the Puritan belief in sacrificing earthly pleasures to lead a godly life. In attempting to confront his own Original Sin and the sin in all humans, he sacrifices not only commune with the residents of Milford but also a life of happiness with his fiancée. However, it is evident at his death that his sacrifices were for nought, as the people do not appear to have learned the lesson he has been trying to teach. There is no indication that the people’s behavior will change—nor that Mr. Hooper has actually led a more godly life than the people he chastises. Mr. Hooper’s self-denial has done nothing but ensure his own sadness and shine light on his self-satisfaction. Hawthorne seems to be criticizing Puritan asceticism, self-sacrifice, and fixation on the appearance of godliness. The young Reverend Clark’s lack of understanding of Mr. Hooper’s lesson further suggests the outdated nature of these tenets.
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By Nathaniel Hawthorne
