Minister's Black Veil - Essay Example

The Minister’s Black Veil – an analysis The human world has been ridden with sins since the creation began. Right from the day when Adam and Eve had taken the bite of sin and knowledge simultaneously, the evil trait has planted its seed within the soul of man. Each person who says a prayer in the morning might fall to the temptation of sin when darkness covers the earth. Even an individual who might appear pure from the outside might reveal his evil nature when time prompts him. Although faith in God might have done away with the evil, man’s spirit is weak and therefore he finally gives way to the temptation of sin. Milton Stewart’s comment is remarkable in this regard, “Evil will forever reign over good, for the peccable, weak souls of todays youth are for more intelligent than any of us will ever be.” Nathaniel Hawthorne has incorporated this theme in some of his works of great significance, for instance, ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and ‘Young Goodman Brown’. Hawthorne through his work ‘The Minister’s Black Veil’ tends to identify individual flaw with universal character of mankind using a symbol, which hides the physical but reveals the abstract. The short story of Hawthorne uses the black veil as a symbol, which gains prominence in the very title of the story. The black veil predominates the very plot and theme of the story. The story initiates in front of the church where the funeral ceremony of a young maiden is being held and the minister appears with a black veil covering more than half of his face. Only his mouth and chin were visible and the onlookers search for the reason behind it. When he bends over the maiden the veil hangs such that if the corpse’s eyes are open she can see his face. This again raises a question about the reason why he is hiding his face and what his “secret sin” is. He immediately catches the veil with his hand to keep the face covered. Even his wife cannot get a definite answer and the minister declares that he is going to wear the veil throughout his life. Many critics have questioned the purpose of using the veil but according to Carnochan, the black veil serves more as a “symbol of symbols” than simply a “parable of guilt”. The purpose of the veil is to reflect a meaning on one hand and on the other, hide it – “inviting speculation and resisting it” (Freedman, 354). Once the face is revealed the significance of the veil will be lost. The purpose of using the veil in the story is to initiate emotions of an individual. The plot tactfully reveals the curiosity of the townspeople, gives a hint about the secret sin of the minister and later we find the minister appropriately saying – “Why do you tremble at me alone?…when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!" (Hawthorne, 15). Therefore the veil becomes a symbol not only for the minister but for the other sinners as well. While Clark tries to remove the veil from the face of the dying Mr. Hooper, he is actually trying to find one implication of the symbolic veil. When the minister resists him and does not let him remove the veil, he is actually trying to hide the real meaning behind the object. Thus the veil signifies a mystery created by the author (Freedman). If the mystery is to be revealed then the face of Mr. Hooper has to be unveiled. The author persistently uses the word ‘veil’ in order reinforce the main theme of the story. Thus a veil, which a woman would normally wear as a bonnet, appears “terrible” on the minister’s face. The author also plays with the different form of the word ‘dark’ such as ‘darkly’, ‘darkened’, ‘darksome’ etc. Hooper later on lives a sacred life where he is nicknamed Father Hooper and he blessed the little children by keeping his hand on their heads. German observes that the veil functions as a symbol of pride, which he uses to make himself stand out from the crowd, suggesting himself to be superior to the rest of the society (German, 47). This pride however comes from the acceptance and hence the repentance for his sins, which urges him to remain, isolated from the rest of the society. Stibitz suggests that Hawthorne “reaffirms his equally constant belief that man is often guilty of pridefully and harmfully exalting one idea, frequently a valid truth in itself, to the status of an absolute” (Stibitz 182). He emphasizes upon two sins. The first sin occurs with respect to the one committed by the minister or the reason for his wearing the veil. The second sin occurs when the minister tries to hide his sins and reflects his hypocrisy. His sin is hidden even from his near and dear ones and the society. Stibitz suggests three perspectives on the story. First implication of the veil is the indication of crime. Secondly the veil is used to produce the indication of human failure, which indicates a man’s denial to reflect his burden of guilt for the sins committed by him. Thirdly, the minister’s wearing of the veil indicates some fundamental problems. For instance, it shows the character of a man turning antichrist. On one hand the veil represents secret sin while the minister’s uncertain smile, which makes its presence felt throughout the story, contradicts the veil and creates uncertainty. Hence scholars discuss that the minister is rather guilty of inappropriate behavior. However Stibitz claims that the irony reflected in the story is unifying in nature. While smile signifies light the veil indicates darkness and this is how the author uses ambiguity to reflect the theme in the story. This also reveals the irony hidden behind the smile. The ironic implication has two stages. At the first stage, it calls for attention towards man’s tendency to hide his “sin of concealment” while in the second stage the minister commits a sin by showing off his veil in public. From here one might question the motive of wearing the veil. Whether his idea is to repent for his sins or if he means to point a finger at others around him, is not clear. While the first sin is made evident throughout the story the second one is implicit. The irony lies mainly in the minister trying to hide his sin apart from showing his guilt. He is hiding it not only from his consciousness but also from his family. Boone writes about Davis’ explanation about the veil, which is claimed to have been used by Hawthorne as a symbol of authorial ethics. Although Hooper tries to hide his sins with his veil, without which he would perhaps have been perceived as guilty of normal sins and also accepted as a clergyman. His wife Elizabeth asks, “But what if the world will not believe that it is the type of an innocent sorrow?" and rightly observes "Beloved and respected as you are, there may be whispers that you hide your face under the consciousness of secret sin. For the sake of your holy office, do away this scandal!" (Hawthorne, 11) Boone suggests that Elizabeth is right because even the community gradually believes that Mr. Hooper is guilty of some “horrible crime” (Boone, 167). The wearing of veil might also be accepted as a symbol of Mr. Hooper taking the burden of the guilt of the entire community on himself. This is even more evident when in his deathbed he accuses everyone of being liable to wear a black veil. Hence the veil constant speaks and implies the sin of the minister. It is a “saying” and exposes Mr. Hooper though it hides the face. Hence physical concealment reveals the abstract, that is, his unknown guilt. The story has even raised some questions about the orientation of Hawthorne – “either a decayed Puritan or renegade transcendentalist” (Santangelo, 61). His tends to put behind the motive of the story. The veil of Hooper indicates an exploration of human arrogance and encompasses the journey of the human soul from “innocence to guilt to redemption” (Santangelo, 61). Santangelo claims that the author perhaps tried to show that the evil when it enters and penetrates the soul, an individual perceives the entire world as black. The story urges an individual to recognize the worldly existence of evil and then reunite with the conscience. Finally in conclusion one might suggest that the story of Hawthorne stress on the implication of sin within human nature, a sin which is present in everyone and that a symbolic veil might hide the physical appearance but at the same time, reveal the heinous sin. Removal of the veil would also reveal the action, which the minister has sinfully committed. The author suggests that he isolates himself in order to develop himself in a moral and ethical way and in turn repent for his sins till death. Not only is the individual flaw universal in nature, the simple black veil becomes a symbolic representation of guilt. . References Santangelo, G.A. “The Absurdity of "The Ministers Black Veil"”, Pacific Coast Philology, (5, Apr., 1970), 61-66. JSTOR. November 8, 2010 Freedman, William, “The Artist’s Symbol and Hawthorne’s Veil”, Studies in Short Fiction, 29.3 (1992), 354-62. EBSCO Host. November 8, 2010 German, Norman, “The Veil of Words in “The Minister’s Black Veil””, Studies in Short Fiction, 25.1 (1988), 41-47. EBSCO Host. November 8, 2010 Stibitz, E. Earle, “Ironic Unity in Hawthorne’s ‘The Minister’s Black Veil”, A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography, 34.2 (1962): 182-90. EBSCO Host. November 8, 2010 Boone, N.S. "THE MINISTERS BLACK VEIL" AND HAWTHORNES ETHICAL REFUSAL OF RECIPROCITY: A LEVINASIAN PARABLE”, Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, 57.3 (2005), 165-76. EBSCO Host. November 8, 2010 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, “The Minster’s black Veil”, Feedbooks, 1837. Read More