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.
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.