Minister Black Veil
Sin is an issue that every human being has to deal with at one time or another in his or her lifetime. Sin is dealt with in many ways. Some people try to hide their sins, some try to push them aside and some try to deal with their sins in a more conventional way. The largest place for confessing sins in the world is the confessional booth at a church. People go to tell their sins, and feel cleansed afterwards. But what happens when a man who hears confessions day after day, sins himself. There is no confession booth for the man to go to. He must deal with his sin in his own way; a way that will leave him feeling cleansed. Mr. Hooper, in the parable, or short story, "The Minister's Black Veil" dawns a black veil to deal with his sins. The themes in the story that I chose to explore, were character, Mr. Hooper being a minister. And I also chose to talk about symbolism. The fact that Mr. Hooper's veil is black is symbolic. The shuddering corpse is also a symbol of Hooper's wrongdoing. When Mr. Hooper puts the black veil on, he is no longer Mr. Hooper; he is a man that everyone is a afraid of. His relationship with Elizabeth is ruined because of his unwillingness to remove the veil. She
Finally, I think that the funeral held on the day that Hooper dons the black veil is very symbolic and may prove the point that Hooper really did have a secret sin that he was trying to hide, or conceal from the public. It seems ironic that Hooper starts wearing the veil on the same day as the funeral. Possibly the donning of the veil on that particular day had something to do with the death of the young lady, or Hopper had some type of relationship with the woman. In addition, Hooper's encounter with the corpse seemed quite unusual. While Hooper was bent over the body, "the veil hung straight down from his forehead, so that, if her eyelids had not been closed for ever, the dead maiden might have seen his face"(323). On onlooker observed, "at the instant when the clergyman's features were disclosed, the corpse had slightly shuddered, rustling the shroud and muslin cap, through the countenance retained the composure of death"(323). The corpse was the only person to see Hooper with no veil on. Somehow the corpse saw something behind the veil. The corpse saw what Parson Hooper was trying to keep hidden. Somehow the corpse knew that what she saw was evil and it made her shudder, even in death. Another theme explored in the story is character. Hawthorne chose a minister to wear the black veil. It wasn't a sheriff or a farmer, but a minister. The character was very significant to his message. An ordinary p
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 972
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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