Chapter nine is quite sad as it reveals that no matter how many people attended his parties, did business with him, and even simply knew him, no one really paid any attention to Jay Gatsby’s death or even cared to even attend his funeral, spare Nick Caraway and his father Henry C. Gatz. The days following Gatsby’s death were “an endless drill of police and photographers and newspaper men in and out of Gatsby’s front door” (p.163). The popularity and wealth that he had acquired throughout his lifetime caused his death to be a front page story, and caused much attraction as many people made an effort to visit his house to see what all the commotion was about, but none had the time or decency to attend his funeral. Nick felt it was his responsibility to find someone to come and pay him the respect he was due: “it grew upon me that I was responsible, because no one else was interested- interested, I mean, with that intense personal interest to which everyone had some vague right at the end” (p.164). Nick had developed such a personal relationship with Gatsby, so personal that at times one would question the sexuality of their relationship, that he felt comfortable enough and trusted Nick so much to tell him the secrets of his past and what it was that made him the great and elusive Jay Gatsby. The only other person to come out of concern of the news of the recently deceased was Jay’s father, a solemn old man who, though he had an excitement in his eye, “reached an age where death no longer has the quality of ghastly surprise” (p.168). With age, death is something one encounters more often, and though his son that died, Mr. Gatz is able to reminisce with awe for how his son was able to make so much success in his life despite his disparity at an early age, quite similar to the American Dream as Gatsby was a poor boy from the west who overcame his adversity and, quite literally,was able to make a name for himself through hard,though not always legal, work and dedication.
After returning home from the city, Gatsby eventually goes to bed after watching over Daisy until four in the morning to make sure that Tom would not harm her in any way. Nick is awoken by “savage, frightening dreams” and accompanies Jay who is upset about the previous night, to which he suggests that Jay leave town for a bit so as to escape from the trouble he has gotten into before the trouble comes looking for him. Jay rejects as “he couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do” (p.148). Jay cannot leave town because he has worked so hard to make his house perfect so that when Daisy finally arrived she would feel right at home, and now that they have reconnected he must wait and always be there for her because in his eyes, she will have a revelation one day that Jay was always the man for her and that she was just fooling around and playing games with Tom. He then goes on to tell of his young love affair with Daisy, for “‘Jay Gatsby’ had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice, and the long secret extravaganza was played out” (p.148). Though he did meet Daisy first and stole her heart before Tom, Gatsby is not the controlling man that Tom is and will not force her into making the decisions that Tom prompts her to. Jay has been so used to her falling all over him and being head over heels for him that when Tom brings up the fact that she is in love with the both of them, Jay does not know what to think for that was never a thought that occurred to him. Gatsby met her when he was in a completely different social ranking than her, and though their love was more genuine, Tom prevailed in the race to the alter with Daisy as he was more relatable to her due to his social standing, and because of such was accepted by her parents, whereas Jay was not and because of so became a hurdle in their relationship. Daisy’s name is symbolic of her relationship with Jay as it is a flower which blooms with the seasons but eventually withers away: the youthful love affair between Daisy and Gatsby was so beautiful and full of excitement and romance, but eventually died out because someone else had the chance to pick her from the garden before he did, and ultimately lost the love of his life.
The storyline then shifts to the night of the murder and explains that Mr. Wilson knew that Myrtle was not being faithful to him, he just did not know to whom she was devoting her time: “‘I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God. I took her to the window and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’’” (p.159). It is ironic that Wilson would suggest that God sees everything, because if he did believe that he would also believe that God rights people’s wrongs and deals everyone the justice they deserve. However, he takes matters into his own hands and searches for the man who killed his wife instead of allowing God to justly punish the murderer. Mr. Wilson discovers that Gatsby is the owner of the yellow car that killed his wife that night, finds his mansion, and shoots him in his own swimming pool, to which he immediately kills himself afterwards. Wilson knew all along that his wife had been having extramarital affairs but could not confront her with such allegations, as she would presumptuously deny them, and just as he was about to move away so that the two could be devoted solely to each other and revitalize their marriage, she had been killed. Instead of leaving the matters to God to deal with, Wilson took matters into his own hands as it was the only way he would be able to have control over something that was happening in his life, especially regarding his marriage, and the act of killing Gatsby them himself serves to represent that he would no longer allow people to take advantage of himself and to be walked over, for in doing such an act, Wilson asserted the fact that he is capable of defending himself and in a way protecting what he loves, for he was unable to protect his marriage from adultery and his wife from being killed. Chapter seven is filled with a lot of tension as Tom and Jay go head to head over their views on how they believe a woman should be treated, particularly Daisy, and it becomes clear to Tom that Daisy may not be the innocent girl he believes her to be as he comes to realize that she and Gatsby have something much more than just a friendship. This makes Tom act out of sorts as he then comes to find out on a trip to the city that his mistress, Myrtle, is being forced by her husband to move as he suspects her of cheating on him, forcing her to end her relations with Tom. As a result, Tom loses both his wife and his mistress, as Myrtle moves and Daisy is clearly still in love with a boy from her past, and he realizes that he is no longer in control of things, causing the insecurities of the wealthy life to become apparent: he acted so controlling towards Daisy because of what he was doing to her and he didn’t want her to do the same, however she is and, unlike Tom, is not trying to hide her relations as she flirts with Jay in front of Tom and kisses him in their own house in a room full of people. However, because Gatsby is so obsessed with the notion of the past Daisy that he knew when they were younger, and Tom has developed such an emotional relationship with her over the years, when asked to choose between the two she is unable to make the decision as she admits that she loves both and will be unable to choose. Tom becomes dissatisfied with the fact that that she loves another man but is not deterred as he is confident that because she was unable to choose, their relationship is steady and he can still have control over her to do what he wants of her as at the end of the chapter he and her talk amongst themselves in their house while Gatsby watches from the outside. The chapter ends in a similar way to how Gatsby was introduced as he was watching over the green light imagining what it would be like to be reunited with Daisy and being so sure that she would leave her husband for him, to now being aware of reality and knowing that after all of the old feelings that arouse over seeing each other again, Daisy still chose to end her day with Tom, causing Gatsby to be forced to face the reality that he thought would never come true. Suffice to say, you cannot buy everything you want in life and things that come easy will never last.
The topic of social class is surfaced as Gatsby’s true past is revealed: he grew up on a farm to “shiftless and unsuccessful” parents, causing him to be dissatisfied with the life he is living and goes on to attend college at St. Olaf’s, but shortly after drops out as he is humiliated of having to pay for his tuition through janitorial duties. Gatsby places a high reverence on social status, and his humiliation if apparent of having to work as a janitor, and later as a fisherman to make ends meet by fishing for salmon and digging for clams, but when he runs into Dan Cody by chance to inform him of an oncoming storm, everything changes. The wealthy yachtsman invites Gatsby aboard to travel with him and pays him to join him on his travels to work the ship and watch over himself when he runs into one of his frequently occurring drunken spells. When Dan Cody helps him change his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby, he ultimately reinvents him and represents a clean slate for Gatsby to begin a new life as the wealthy man he has always aspired to be.
Gatsby is so infatuated with Daisy because she represents everything that he has ever wanted, but it came with such ease to her, whereas with him he had to work so fervently to achieve it. Gatsby’s gift is his ability to make his dreams come true through acquiring wealth, building up his social status, and owning a lavish mansion to house extravagant events. His biggest dream, however, is of his own self, his identity, for he has dreamed of such abundant wealth since living on a farm when he was a child and he continues to try to add things to his life so as to try to play into the wealthy lifestyle, for he does not know what it is like naturally and is constantly trying to fit in and accommodate what he perceives a wealthy lifestyle to be like. Such is symbolic of the 1920’s atmosphere as people were able to gain a great deal of wealth and aspire to further their social status, but once they achieved such it was a turbulent time as people were reckless with their money for they thought that was just how the lifestyle was and put on a façade by doing so- just as Gatsby is for he is only trying to win over the love of Daisy with all of the money his is spending, but also to boost his credibility is his social class that he is not frugal with his money. However, there always remains a strain between the naturally wealthy and those who were previously were not as financially sound but were able to attain success in wealth, as Tom, an East Egger who was born into money, finds it incredibly hard to relate to Gatsby, a self-made man from West Egger. Even though Gatsby seems to have as much money as the other side of town, he lacks their sense of ease in social settings and events and as a result he is ridiculed for having been a “new money” man. After almost five years of being separated from his beloved Daisy, Jay finally has the opportunity to reconnect with her through Nick. As Nick has just returned home from a night on the town, he is greeted by a very anxious Gatsby as he enlists his help to set up a meeting between the two. After agreeing to do so, Jay then realizes that Nick does not have the same means of upkeep as he does at his house and immediately requests for his lawn to be cut and to decorate his house with dozens of flowers to impress Daisy. When the day finally comes, Gatsby is so nervous and jittery that as soon as Daisy arrives, he leaves Nick’s house only to walk around and ring the front doorbell so as to not make it seem like he had been waiting for her. Jay is so disgruntled that he is not as suave as he usually is, as he insists to Nick “this is a terrible mistake”, for he is unable to cover up his feelings for her through a lie as she is the only person who knew him before his wealth, implying that she is the only one who knows the true Jay Gatsby. Nick finds an excuse to leave the two alone to talk amongst themselves and to his surprise, when he returns, the two have transitioned from a mutual embarrassment to astounding joy: “They were sitting at either end if the couch, looking at each other as if some question had been asked, or was in the air, and every vestige of embarrassment was gone… but there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding. He literally glowed; without a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room” (p.89).
Jay then proposes that they transition to his house, and when Nick and Jay have a moment alone to discuss the splendidness of the Gatsby mansion, jay reveals that it took him three years to earn the money to perfect what he had built, not remembering that he told Nick he inherited his money, to which he had to cover up by saying he lost money in a business: “I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he answered: ‘That’s my affair,’ before he realized that it wasn’t an appropriate reply” (p.90). Jay uses the grandiosity of his mansion to cover up the elaborate lie he is telling everyone of his life, as he is unable to keep his story straight about what he does reveal to people, Nick in particular, and never discusses his childhood, revealing that Jay has a dark past; literally because we know nothing about him, and also figuratively for only people who have something to hide do not reveal much about themselves, therefore Jay has a mysterious past that he does not wish to share with people and makes his life so interesting and elaborate, with his mansion and parties, so that people will be so distracted that they will not think to inquire of his background. However, once they arrive at Jay’s mansion he is consumed with wonder as he watches Daisy’s each and every movement and gesture: “He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real” (p.91). Daisy mentions that she loves his mansion but cannot picture him living there alone in it, which is ironic as he built the house to what it is all for her and to win her love back from the man she married, which should be him. His bedroom was the most simple room in the house to show how lonely he is and that he has been waiting for Daisy all this time to join him and decorate their bedroom, for that is the room a couple spends a lot of time in but it is also the most intimate room in the house and the only true room in which it would belong equally to both, which is why it was so bare because he was waiting for her so that they could divide it accordingly. The beginning of chapter four further displays Nick’s obsession towards the Gatsby residence as he notes each person that arrives to the parties that Jay hosts throughout the summer, so as to serve in a way as a list of who to watch out for, as those who frequently attend his events could be seen as threats and competitors longing for the attention of Mr. Jay Gatsby. One morning, Jay picks up Nick to go to lunch together to which Nick admires the qualities, as he always does, of his acclaimed neighbor. However, he does note that “he was balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with that resourcefulness of movement that is so peculiarly American” (p.64), implying that Jay is trying to fit in and seem like an “American” so as to dissuade any doubts that he is not American and to discourage the rumors that have been told of him. Jay tells Nick that he wants him to know the truth behind the mysterious Jay Gatsby so as not to buy into the rumors that have been spreading about himself, but when he does divulge the information to Nick, he is unsure as to whether he is telling the truth: “With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter. The very phrases were worn so threadbare that they evoked no image except that of a turbaned ‘character’” (p.66). There are a lot of holes in the story that do not add up and the serendipity that his family died and he stumbled into a great deal of money, then proceeded to have the opportunity to study abroad at Oxford to continue a family tradition, is very elaborate and almost too hard to believe, but because his past is so interesting and story-like (because it is a story), Nick dismisses his doubts and wants to hear all about the man that has captured his attention.
Upon arriving to the restaurant that the two are supposed to have lunch at together, Nick finds Jay talking to another man, Mr. Wolfstein, and tries to include himself in the conversation as the two old friends reminisce upon memories made without his presence. Mr. Wolfstein almost discourages Nick upon first meeting him as he brings up a business negotiation that one of Gatsby’s friends is interested in, to which Gatsby reminds him that Nick is not the man Jay was referring to. The purpose of doing so was to let Nick know that Jay has other male friends that he spends his time with, including Mr. Wolfstein who he previously spent a great deal of his time with, and that Nick is just the newest comrade in a long list of acquaintances, discouraging him of any personal romantic relationship with Jay. Mr. Wolfstein practically competes with Nick for Gatsby’s attention, causing Nick to act very aloof and standoffish towards him and only inquiring minimally of Gatsby’s past, but eventually leaves the two to resume their lunch date as he realizes his opportunity to build a more-than-friends connection with Gatsby has passed and that Nick is the newest addition to his collection of male friends. Towards the end of the chapter Nick notices Tom at the restaurant and introduces Jay to him, almost as Tom introduced Myrtle to him: they are mistresses to one another in such a way that they do not have a title to what their relationship is, but it is clear that Nick and Jay, and Tom and Myrtle, are much more than just friends. However, when being introduced to Tom, Jay finds other people to converse with and avoids an introduction. The chapter ends from Jordan Baker’s perspective of her friend Daisy and how she was madly in love with a soldier before the war, but when he was deployed and she was left to her lonesome, she eventually married the rich Tom Buchannan from Chicago and married into a great deal of wealth. The soldier turned out to be the same Jay Gatsby that Nick has recently befriended, explaining why he avoided being introduced to Tom: Jay Gatsby returned from the war to discover the love of his life was now unavailable to him, so he bought a house directly across the harbor from her and put on elaborate parties in the hopes of her attendance. Mr. Gatsby may be somewhat romantically interested in Nick, however he is obsessed with Daisy in the same way the Nick is obsessed with him, as at the parties he threw in the hopes of her arrival he would go around asking each guest if they knew her, hoping to find someone with a personal connection to her. Jay Gatsby is taking advantage of Nick’s feelings for him as he knows that they are cousins and that Nick will be able set something up for the two of them to meet and reconnect their love for eachother. At the beginning of chapter three Nick seems to display a sort of obsession towards Gatsby as he notes all of the details that he puts into preparing his house for such parties as having his servants and an extra gardener prepare the grounds, or what foods he brings to his house to serve to his guests such as lemons and oranges for beverages. Nick does not partake in going to the parties for he does not want to attend as an uninvited guest, but when he is finally given an invitation, he actively seeks to find the man behind the myth. There is almost a bit of a cat and mouse game between Nick and Jay as Nick obsesses over Jay and notices every single detail about him and his routines over the weeks that he resides as his neighbor, but all the while reserves from introducing himself to the neighbor that he so routinely watches over. On the other hand, Jay solemnly invites people to his parties, they just show up, so when he invites Nick to attend one of his events, Nick is elated for the opportunity to meet his acclaimed neighbor, but in the attempt to find the host and thank him for the invitation, Gatsby remains elusive and leaves Nick to search for him throughout the night.
In an attempt to find Jay, Nick finds himself in a group discussing the validity of the man’s life as rumors spread like wildfire of the host: “‘Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once’”, “‘I don’t think it’s so much that… its more that he was a German spy during the war. I heard that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany’”, “‘Oh, no, it couldn’t be that, because he was in the American military during the war’”(p.44). There is so much speculation as to what has happened in Jay’s life leading up to who he is today, mostly because of the mysteriousness associated with his past, as no one really knew of him in his early years. So many rumors have spread about Gatsby because it is easier to make something up than to be bothered by the mysteriousness of it, and he must be either hiding something or not telling the truth about his past for he puts on such grandeur events to distract the attention away from him and the mystery associated with him, to the elegance and festivities associated with his parties. Usually, when a person puts on such a grand event they would like to take part in it and appreciate all the hard work that has gone into it, however Jay acts in a very elusive manner as he avoids interaction with his guests, implying that he has something to hid from them as he does not want to be questioned as to who the real Jay Gatsby is. When Nick finally runs into the man he has been searching for all night, he does not even recognize him, which is rather odd considering he has been carefully and attentively watching over his neighbor’s house for the past few weeks and taken notice of his routines. Upon realizing it is Jay, Nick takes precise observations so as not to miscalculate the character if his sought after neighbor: “He smiled understandingly- much more than understandingly.. with a quality of eternal reassurance… (that) concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice.. (that) understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood” (p.48). Nick appears to be almost star struck that he has finally gotten the chance to meet “The Great Gatsby” and seems to almost be in love at first sight, for his feelings are apparent in the elaborate and delicate but precise way that he describes the way in which a simple smile makes him feel so comfortable and assured in his presence; but he soon picks up on the “fakeness” that the others have caught on to: “Some time before he introduced himself I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care” (p.48). Nick can tell that Jay is precise with his words so as to be purposely consistent in what he tells people of himself, and even though he catches on to Jay’s alertness when talking about himself, he is so interested in him that he ignores his observations, playing into the “love is blind” character as he does not want any previously heard rumors to alter the relationship they are in the process of forming, and is willing to trust in whatever Gatsby has to say to him, whether it is the actual truth or not. Chapter two further develops Nick’s character as it introduces an unforeseen trait which displays his distaste towards women and attraction to men. When describing women he only choses to focus on the physical features, such as what people do when they read a book: they look at the cover to see if they are interested and move along if nothing stimulates them, which is what he does with the female characters presented in the novel, whereas with male characters he takes the time to get to know them and make a connection on a more emotional level. Nick describes the Wilson couple, with Myrtle having a “thickish figure” that blocked the light of him observing the “spiritless, anemic, and faintly handsome” Mr. Wilson who has a “damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes” (p.25). With Mrs. Wilson, only her outward appearance is observed as that is all he wants to know of her. However, with Mr. Wilson he acknowledges his attractiveness but also takes note of his spirit and how he seemed hopeful- something as minute as eyes are the window to the soul, but can be easily ignored due to their size, and Nick consciously takes the time to notice them as more of a person’s character can be told through their eyes than through the shape of their figure. When describing men, Nick takes his time to fully evaluate the man to make a thorough assessment of his character, whereas with women, he does not wish to know that much about them, only the bare minimum, as is why he only looks at the surface layer when introduced to women.
When offered the opportunity to meet Tom’s mistress, an exciting event that most would want to take part in as to uncover the mystery behind the woman, Nick halfheartedly accepts, proving his disinterest in women: “Though I was curious to see her, I had no desire to meet her- but I did…The supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do” (p.24). This excerpt also serves to display a sense of arrogance as even though he has not met the standard of wealth that Tom has already achieved, he does not wish to take part in such activities as meeting with a mistress; after all, wealthy people do not wish to associate with people of a substandard socioeconomic level as themselves for they cannot compare to the lavish lifestyle lived by the rich as they live a life of subsistence and dependency. When at the apartment with Tom and Myrtle, Nick takes the opportunity to run errands for them as almost an excuse to take a break from the desperation emanating from Myrtle as she seeks to attain Tom’s love and affection, though such will never be achieved because she is not in the same economic state as he. Also, later on when the group is sitting around and chatting, Nick is extremely distant as he does nothing other than think of walking in the park, but he refrains from doing so as he wants to be kept in the loop of what is going on, though he is completely uninterested. Nick is self-centered as he only participates in conversation when it is something of interest to him, most notably Jay Gatsby. In the post-war era of the 1920s, during a time of substantial wealth and prosperity, a bond banker by the name of Nick Carraway travels from Chicago to return to Long Island where he moves in to a small, quaint home surrounded by the wealth of industrial self-made men who earned their status, just as he himself is in the process of doing so. Long Island is divided between East Egg, known as the center for the “old money” privileged who were born into their wealth, and West Egg, where the “new money” moguls who earned their wealth, such as Nick Carraway, reside, serving to show that even though both sides are equally wealthy, a class division remains among the genuinely wealthy and the so-called “self-made man”. As a child, his father advised him “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one . . . just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had”, indicating his background in a middle class family that values moral justice, rather than trusting loosely interpreted rumors, and that one must work toward his own success in life rather than accepting the easiness of being handed such. As he narrates the story, Carraway seems to be speaking towards more of the working class than the already wealthy populous as he explains almost in awe the grandeur and sophistication of the lives of the wealthy people he finds himself surrounded by in such a way that he is almost an outsider looking in, as he has not yet attained the level of success that his newly found acquaintances have achieved.
During this time of such widespread prosperity, people began to splurge on their spending by purchasing lavish dwellings, fancy cars, and also their way into the social scene as speak easies and dance halls became increasingly popular. Such behaviors exhibited serve to fit the characteristics of Carraway’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, who live rather wealthy lives in West Egg, but are only interested in, and consumed by, the material matters present in their lives. Their shallow personalities reflect how their lives center on gossip and money as when it was rumored that Nick was engaged before he moved to the East, he denied by answering “Its libel. I’m too poor”, and Daisy responds by insisting, "But we heard it . . . we heard it from three people, so it must be true." Daisy and Tim highly contrast Nick as they live a lavish lifestyle whereas Nick made his own fortune through hard work and sacrifice, which is why they are unable to understand his reason for not marrying the girl because he did not have the means to do so, whereas for Daisy and Tom, money has never been an issue. However, Tom has a mistress on the side who frequently calls, causing Daisy to dismiss the matter as she does not wish to confront her husband and hurt their dreamlike marriage that appears so perfect on the outside. The relationship between Daisy and Tom describes the true essence of the 1920’s as everything looked beautiful from an outsider’s point of view, but was truly corrupte and not as “perfect” as one might think when they truly got to understand what was going on during that time. In all, the underlying theme is money and how it is a prevailing concept in most people’s lives during this time, but once they begin to abuse their wealth it causes all kinds of corruption. Though Nathaniel Hawthorne has a close connection to the transcendental movement, his writings are much different than those of the true transcendentalists of the time. When compared to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau who maintain an optimism of the goodness of man and nature, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writings are more dismal as evidenced in “The Minister’s Black Veil”. In a monotonous community, the once revered reverend attends a church service one morning wearing a black veil to cover not only his face, but his sins as well, causing the community to go into an almost state of panic as they are distraught by a sudden change in his appearance. The men who would once asked him to lunch each Sunday after his service had begun to be standoffish toward him, every person in the community feared him, and when asked to reveal himself from under the veil, whether it was from his wife or on his death bed, he refused. Such can only be inferred from his actions that the innate goodness in man perhaps should not be trusted, and that no matter how “good” a man may try to be or present himself, he is judgmental and has his own sins to conceal.
Mr. Hooper enters the church as he does every Sunday to deliver a sermon to the church goers; however this time he is wearing a veil that is “swathed about his forehead, and hanging down over his face, so low as to be shaken by his breath” (Hawthorne 1). As he proceeds to give his sermon, the audience becomes restless and uneasy as “it was tinged, rather more darkly than usual, with the gentle gloom of Mr. Hooper's temperament. The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them” (Hawthorne 2). Mr. Hooper is revealing through his sermon that he has performed a sinful deed and that is the reason why he is concealing his face with the dreadful veil, however the audience is so disturbed by the veil that they are unable to listen and understand why he has made the sudden change in appearance. The veil serves to symbolize not only his sins and the sins of all men, but also to represent the façade that people put on every day to conceal their sins and hide them from the world as not to have others change their perceptions of themselves. Displaying the true nonconformist ideal of transcendentalism, Mr. Hooper is ready to face the change in the perception of his character as he incessantly wears the veil, showing that he, a godly man of the church, has sinned like any other man and is ready to be judged for it despite the reactions he receives for wearing it, though he never reveals what the sin actually is. The only point in the story that Mr. Hooper even comes close to revealing his face is when he leans over the deceased body of a young girl at her funeral: “As he stooped, the veil hung straight down from his forehead, so that, if her eyelids had not been closed forever, the dead maiden might have seen his face” (Hawthorne 4). Mr. Hooper has a deep connection with the girl as she is the only person who he almost reveals himself to, suggesting that she knows about his sin and was perhaps even involved in the sin that he committed, as when he delivers a prayer for her afterwards, “it was a tender and heart-dissolving prayer, full of sorrow, yet so imbued with celestial hopes, that the music of a heavenly harp, swept by the fingers of the dead, seemed faintly to be heard among the saddest accents of the minister” (Hawthorne 4). He is so distraught by her death, unlike the whole community that is distraught by his sudden change in appearance, that the only heartwarming prayer he gives is about her because she was the only person that was able to know about his sins and still accept him for who he was, unlike his wife who insists he removes his veil and leaves him after his refusal to do so when he states that each man has their own sins to hide, and he has to choice to face it head on by wearing the veil, or hide his sins like a coward: "’I, perhaps, like most other mortals, have sorrows dark enough to be typified by a black veil… 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 6). And when his veil was about to be removed on his deathbed, he contested: “‘why do you tremble at me alone? Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil? What, but the mystery which it obscurely typifies, has made this piece of crape so awful? When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; 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 9). Mr. Hooper is arguing that he should not be judged for what is shown on the outside, but that people should learn to not be so judgmental and get to know a person for who they truly are before making any preconceived notions of who they are as a person. Though Nathaniel Hawthorne has a very gloomy and dark manner of writing and seems to be the complete opposite of the optimistic writers of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, his message is clearly transcendental, just with a gothic romanticism presentation. Mr. Hooper displays nonconformity as he insists on wearing a veil to represent his sins, despite the awful reactions he receives from his community members, and in doing so, he preserves his own integrity. The integrity of the individual serves as the transcendental belief that all people are born good and are capable of being good and making good decisions, and even though he has made a bad decision, he is not trying to hide it, showing that he is also trusting his inner light to respond to his sinful situation by displaying his bad choice and allowing people to judge him for what he has done, but also to hopefully accept what he has done and still acknowledge the person that he was before committing the sin. Overall, the overlying message in Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is for people to not only judge someone for who they are on the outside, but for the individual themselves to trust their decisions , and even if they make bad choices, they should trust that they will handle it the best way they can and with the help of others be able to overcome it. |
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