Symbols In The Minister's Black Veil

The Veil as a Symbol in Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” God sacrificed his only son so that our sins could be lifted and the world could be saved. He allowed for us to continue living today. Sin needs to be washed away and have responsibility taken for it. In “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Hawthorne uses symbolism and allegory to portray sacrifice and sin. The veil changes human perspective. The minister is beloved by his people until he wears a veil over his face. They thought he was evil after he wore it. “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”(Hawthorne). The people think differently of their pastor, because of a veil …show more content…
Mr. Hooper has done a sin and is showing it through a veil that he wears. He has committed a sin and is showing his sorrow through his actions and his words. “If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough, and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?” (Hawthorne). He is covering his face from secret sin. Others want him to take off his mask and show the world, but if he does he won’t be taking responsibility for his sin. There are motives to sin. When sin has been committed the person that committed it needs to take responsibility for it. “But when we do so, we will not just reach suggestions of sin, we will ultimately discover the desperate struggle for individuation that drives both the minister’s crime and the narrator’s tale” (Emmett).Mr. Hooper committed a sin and is showing his sin in the veil that he wears. Everyone else's sin is hidden in themselves. Mr. Hooper shows his sin and sacrifices himself in the veil he wears while others judge him for it. He tells them they are all wearing a veil, because of sin. Mr. Hooper wears the veil for all of them and refuses to take it off or else the sin and shame will go away. Sin will happen, but it should be taken responsible for and admitted by the wrongdoers that do it. It should not be judged by other people, but only by the almighty

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