The Minister's Black Veil

The Minister's Black Veil by Nathanial Hawthorne is a very interesting story that leaves you wondering at the end. This short story has a completely open ending left for the reader to decide. The story starts out at a church organization where everybody is gathered to meet for their service. The preacher's name is Mr. Hooper. Mr. Hooper is a loved man by the people he preaches to, and was never thought to be any sign of weird or demented until one day he comes to the morning service with a black veil covering his whole face, everything but his chin and a bit of his mouth. Everyone is immedietely confused by this. They have no clue why the minister is wearing this veil. As the day continues there is another service for a funeral and another for a wedding. At both services the veil is being worn over Mr. Hooper's face even though he knows that everyone he has seen is watching him and thinks something is wrong with him for wearing this veil and not removing it. People begin to ask questions on why he is wearing this black veil over his face. He eventually tells him that he is mourning something and this veil must be worn until he is no longer on this earth to mourn(Hawthorne). This worries his lover Elizabeth and Elizabeth makes him choose what he wants either her or wearing the veil. Mr. Hooper chooses the veil. At this point nobody still fully understands why he is wearing this veil.

Mr. Hooper shares that he is wearing this because he is mourning a sin, but what is this sin he is mourning? This is so mysterious because nobody knows the answer of what could of happened that was so bad that you have to wear the veil for all of your life, and to lose your lover over something that you wear. Something deep and unknown is hidden in Mr. Hooper's veil. This is a major symbol of the Dark Romanticism because the whole poem is mysterious(Stade). It is dark and unknown just like what the Dark Romanticism is supposed to be like(Stade).

So what do all these readers of this short story get out of it? What do they think this terrible sin could be and why is this man wearing this veil over his whole face? At the end the preacher dies and many people are there but the ending never says whether or not something bad or evil under his veil on his face(Hawthorne). They just leave it open. After reading many criticisms I found one that talked about what Poe thinks this symbol was. It states Since the character himself never reveals the mystery of the black veil, readers have been forced to propose their own theories. Edgar Allan Poe, as well as other critics, have suggested that Hooper wears the veil as penance for a "specific sin," perhaps connected with the young woman whose funeral he conducts(Wright). I do agree that there probably was a specific sin, but there is still a mystery of what it was. Nobody ever knows and probably never will know which is why it is so intreaging. It is a dark mystery that the reader is left up to decide in his or her own head.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." Eldritch Press. 1986. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.

Stade, George, and Karen Karbiener. "romanticism." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 1800 to the Present, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EBWEP364&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 23, 2012).


Wright, Sarah Bird. "'The Minister's Black Veil'." Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCNH403&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 24, 2012).