Minister`s Black Veil By Hawthorne Essay, Research Paper

In Nathaniel Hawthorne?s ?The Minister?s Black Veil?, the author chooses

to mask the character of the minister with the black veil to construct an

allegory that would compare sin concocted by imagination with unrecognized sin

of one?s self. With the story being set in the Puritan time period of the

settlement of New England, as nearly all of Hawthorne?s stories are, the

reader can logically infer a certain set of value judgements. For instance,

these people, being very sincere about their religion, are likely to see

anything out of the ordinary, such as a black-veiled minister, as a serious

issue that undermines their faith. On the surface the first sight of the veil

not only confuses the congregation, but scares them as well. This man is

supposed to be their most direct mode of communication with God, and to see him

in what they perceive to be quite a bizarre condition, must make them feel that

their religious lives may be in danger. Yet another character trait held by this

community is its inability to cope with even the slightest bit of change.

Something as trivial as a man covering his face with black crape paper literally

whips this community into a frenzy. ?I don?t like it?(p.102), cried the

old woman, ?Our parson has gone mad?(102), cried Goodman Gary. Without even

the slightest bit of investigation into the issue these people have brewed in

their imaginations all sorts of theories as to what is so wrong with the

minister. A third, and possibly most dangerous trait of the community, is its

almost joyous inclination toward superstition. Whether you would like to call it

Puritan myth or strait fact, this obsession with witchcraft and the supernatural

is what made Puritan New England a dangerous place to live in the 17th century.

This idea of the occult always seems to find its way into a Hawthorne story, and

The Minister?s Black Veil is no exception. Even the good doctor cannot help

but mention, ?the black veil, though it covers only our pastor?s face,

throws its influence over his whole person, and makes him ghostlike from head to

foot.?(p.105). The true allegory arises from these beliefs of the community,

but does not wholly manifest it self until seen from the minister?s point of

view. Though he may contend that the veil personifies ?sorrows dark enough to

be typified by a black veil.?(p.109), it is possible to infer that the veil is

actually somewhat of an experiment by the minister. On the surface he may

explain its meaning by some undefinable scruples he may hold, but underneath it

represents a test of the community. By donning the black veil the minister

realizes his fear that the people of his community are more obsessed with a sin

they are sure the minister is hiding from, then their own sins that they live in

everyday. Even his fellow man of the cloth Reverend Clark believes the minister

must have some ?horrible crime upon his soul?(p.113). Not a single person

realizes the intent of the minister until his deathbed utterance that defiles

the virtue of the community. Proof positive of this realization of their fault

is the fact that while the minister was alive these people couldn?t wait to

remove the black veil, but once he is dead, unable to stop them from unmasking

him, the veil follows him to his grave. Perhaps it is reverence toward the

painful truth revealed by the minister that keeps the veil on his face, but more

likely it is simply left on in the rush to bury the man who brought to light

such a less than virtuous shortcoming. Like so many of Hawthorne?s stories,

the Minister?s Black Veil personifies the fallible nature of a people so

dedicated to living a life free of sin, when in fact they are simply ignoring

the vices that rest under their own pillows.