The Theme of Guilt Through Symbolism inHawthorne's The Minister's Black Veil
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s two short stories, The Minister’s Black Veil and Lady Eleanore’s Mantle, cover the same thematic topic, but are opposite in approach and differ in the symbols used. Both the veil that Parson Hooper wears and the mantle that dons the head of Lady Eleanore deal with issue of guilt. The differences between the two, however, lie in the wearers of the articles, and their attitudes towards their own guilt. Parson Hooper wears the cloth because he realizes his sinful nature and desires humility by trying to cover it up. Lady Eleanore, on the other hand, wears the charming mantle as a prideful showcase of her wealth and heritage. In The Minister’s Black Veil, the minister, Parson Hooper, puts on a black veil to hide his face from his parishioners. Hawthorne has Hooper wearing this veil for two reasons. First, Hooper veils himself to symbolize the façade of righteousness and decency that the townspeople have raised while their true nature is quite the opposite. Secondly, the minister, seeing himself as sinful, wears the veil as an act of confession to the people of the town. Hawthorne’s purpose for the veil is to point out that all people who hide their sins inside wear a veil that covers their soul instead o
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 821
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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