The Devil And Tom Walker 'And The Minister's Black Veil'

A puritan may be defined by the intensity of their religious stance, their tightly woven relationship with God, and their constant battle with fear of the Devil and sin. These strict religious beliefs are laced into pieces of writing from the time period. Two pieces of literature that truly captures the essence of the time period is “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Minister’s Black Veil,” both which have an underlying dark, religious background. The fear of the devil was great at the time and sin was greatly looked down upon, which authors from the era properly reflect in their literature. Many modern-day skeptics look down on the colonial lifestyle and the prude, dark, religious world that it was believed to be. A document written by John Winthrop in 1629 helps to …show more content…
In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” the veil that covers the majority of the minister’s face represents, and is symbolic to, secret sin. Fellow townspeople are uncomfortable with the new accessory of their minister, and treat him as if he was wretched. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about specific reactions towards Mr. Hooper and his lurking black lace, such as the following passage: “It grieved him, to the very depth of his kind heart, to observe how children fled from his approach,” (273). The narrow-minded Puritans have a constant war between God and the Devil, and a great fear of all evil in the world. They believe that one’s soul is permanently damaged after sin, and perhaps that is why the minister never reveals his face, even on his deathbed. On page 275 of “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Father Hooper is asked to take off his mask, yet he replies in a particular fashion that he refuses to do so because he sees a black veil upon every “visage”. Forgiveness of sin is not promoted in Puritan belief, and the minister’s secret sin is like the black veil that hangs abruptly in front of his face, even as death

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The Devil And Tom Walker 'And The Minister's Black Veil'

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