Critical Anaysis of the Minister's Black Veil

Nathaniel Hawthorne's selection "The Minister's Black Veil" reveals the concept of sin, underlined by symbolism. He exposes this thru the protagonist, Parson Hooper; whom of which is a well respected minister of the town. It was not until Mr. Hooper came to the weekly service wearing a black veil, completely covering his face. This action brought upon whispering shock from his congregation and eventually the entire town. Minister Hooper left everyone's questions unanswered; including his fiancée, Elizabeth. Hawthorne not only leaves his readers in the dark about the veil, but the townspeople as well. It seems as though Hawthorne expresses his theory of the actuality of one's personal evil; along with the belief in one's ability to hide their private thoughts and guilt. Hooper is a well respected minister of the town but does not justify the fact that he cannot cope with his issues in his own way?

Furthermore, the reactions from the public towards their religious leader's wearing of a simple veil, shadows the theme of change. These people judged him so harshly because of his high power as a clergy man. Given this higher authority in religion, the veil is an indication that people are not perfect humans, nor do they have to constantly be perfect because of their commitment. Hawthorne illustrates this thru Mr. Hooper explaining the veils enduring to Elizabeth:

"If it be a sign of mourning, I perhaps, like most other mortals, have sorrows dark enough to be typified by a black veil" (Hawthorne pg.50). This explanation does not seem logical enough for Elizabeth and soon after she abandons him. The veil is treated as a permanent lesson of his mysterious guilt. To be more specific, Hooper's self-expressed sin has him unknowingly guilty of developing an even bigger sin; corrupting the meaning of life itself. The irony here is that Hooper's sin is an obvious hidden one in the sense that everyone has no clue what has happened, except himself. He has enslaved himself to face his exclusive truth of sin. On the contrary, apart from being the extreme sinner everyone may assume Mr. Hooper is, he continued to hold a honorable religious clergy with his congregation. When Mr. Hooper took on the veil, he sacrificed all himself towards his personal vision of truth. The loneliness and sorrow is the disgrace of a heroic spirit and not of a sinner. Owen Warland, describes Parson Hooper as an 'artist' who "must keep his faith in himself while the incredulous world assails him with utter disbelief; he must stand up against mankind and be his own sole disciple. Minister Hooper seems to mentally battle for the truth, himself, behind his shockingly black veil. Throughout the story, he has to ignore the judgment. Elizabeth explains her reasoning for her being so terrified:

"... there may be whispers that you hide your face under the consciousness