Comparing Scarlet Letter, The Ministers Black Veil, And The Birthmark

“Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world.” That is a quote the novel, The Scarlet Letter, a novel written during the Romanticism era of literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of The Scarlet Letter and the Minister’s Black Veil. The Scarlet Letter takes place in the 1600s in the Puritan town of Boston. Hester Prynne is the main character, and the subject of humiliation after she is caught committing adultery and gives birth to a child, Pearl.

It is a close knit town where everybody knows each other. As the story progresses, it is seen how people will avoid even the most loved friends and family once there is a mysterious barrier in between them. So, throughout the story, the minister’s black veil symbolizes a variety of things such as: secret sins, a barrier, and even sorrow. First off, I think that Father Hooper’s black veil symbolizes everyone’s secret sins. In the beginning of the story, church begins and Hooper appears concealed by a black veil, and everybody is mystified.

Hawthorne, influenced by his Puritan ancestors, criticize Puritanism by the use of symbols and parables. The veil worn by Reverend Hooper in “The Minister’s Black Veil” separates him from society, and from God. Whether this separation is voluntary or imposed depends on how one looks at the situation. Voluntary, Reverend Hooper knows that his wearing the veil will cause people to avoid him, and yet he wears in anyway. It is apparent in that Revered Hooper would really prefer to be treated normally by his neighbors and parishioners.

The Minister’s Black Veil: A Parable, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a tale that may seem dark, but rings with a haunting amount of truth. The dominant symbol that Hawthorne uses in this short story is Minister Hooper’s black veil. In this essay, the veil will be recognized as a symbol for the barrier between an individual and those around them. This barrier works to create fear and distrust in the characters throughout the work and greatly influences their actions and behavior toward Hooper. The symbol of the veil also opens the readers’ eyes to the fact that there is a barrier between themselves and the world around them.

Suffice it to say that the mainstream of the argument has moved, in a logical sequence, from one polarity to the other polarity"(Barry 1). What I have learned in my research for "The Minister's Black Veil" was that there were so many different symbolic meanings about the veil, which can make me learn the different aspects of how many meanings one simple veil can possess. I thought this was a substantial story that had several interpretations about the real world. Hawthorne wrote this story with great essence and impurity to show the readers that many people sin, and with him using the black veil as a reference to a shield of defense from all sins, is a fascinating comparison of referral.

Introduction In the novel “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester is constantly reminded of her sin and put down for it. The Puritans look down upon her because she has committed a sin. Thesis: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter” can be seen as criticism of the beliefs of puritans and how symbolism is used to show Hester’s sin and how she is defined. Body Paragraph 1 Topic Sentence: When the Puritans had found out that Hester had conceived a child with another man, the Puritans saw this as a sin that deserved punishment.

This was fascinating to me because the black veil is clearly a symbolic device that Hawthorne had used in his story. There is a strong suggestion in the story that it also hides a secret sin or crime committed by the Reverend Mr. Hooper. The mystery fuels

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, he explores the prodigy of love, crime, and revenge. It revolves around a sinful act of passion that impacts Hester Prynne, an adulteress forced to wear a scarlet letter “A”on her bosom; Reverend Dimmesdale, a respected minister in the puritans community; their daughter, Pearl; and Roger Chillingworth, Hester 's husband. Most of the characters portrayed can be analyzed as embodying both “good” and “evil” qualities. Dimmesdale is especially viewed as an ambiguous character. Dimmesdale’s moral ambiguity comes from his internal conflict between his devotion to the church and the guilt he feels for not receiving blame for his sinful act of co-adultery with Hester.

Nathaniel Hawthorne In his story, The Minister’s Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne presents many different hidden meanings, and teaches many different lessons to be learned. In his story, Reverend Hooper wears a black veil that covers up his face. Throughout the story, Nathaniel Hawthorne kept it secret of the motives that Reverend Hooper had for wearing this black veil. When reading The Minister’s Black Veil, it is understood that the black veil symbolizes hidden sin and guilt of the whole congregation and mankind.

The choice of whether to conform to society's demands or to comply with personal impulses is a difficult one. This is an idea that Nathaniel Hawthorne explores extensively in The Scarlet Letter. This theme of conformity and individuality is manifested mainly through the character of Hester Prynne; a woman who committed adultery in an idealistic Puritan town with (35). Hester Prynne struggles between the of Puritan ideas and her constantly throughout the novel. As the story develops, however, it is evident to the reader that Hester is an individual—not a product of her town.

In the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” and the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the stories of two men who keep their sins secret and are hurt deeply. In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale does not reveal his sin to the community and experiences far more pain than Hester, whose sin is revealed. Years after the original sin, Hester has healed and is accepted by the community, while Dimmesdale still feels guilty, as can be seen when he mounts the scaffold. Dimmesdale’s experience is similar to that of Reverend Hooper, who covers his face after a secret sin and is eschewed by the community. When we refuse to admit our faults, we will feel guilty

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a very well-known author in the mid-1800s. The manuscript that made him famous was the novel, “The Scarlet Letter.” Which was officially published in the year of 1850 along with two of his other very successful stories, “Young Goodman Brown.” And “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Hawthorne’s books became very popular in the year that it was published and has managed to remain extremely popular now, high school and college students are currently required to read his work today.

The structure of a story can either make or break the book being written. The Birthmark and The Scarlet Letter, both by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are both effective in the ways they were written. The birthmark is a short story that teaches a life lesson. Hawthorne was effective in the way he structured this specific story since he didn’t dwell on history and small details. The Scarlet Letter was very effective and the structure played a huge role in that.

In the “Minister’s Black Veil”, Hawthorne displays Hooper and the symbol of the veil as a representation of how judgmental society can become when faced with situations they don’t understand even though they have no right to judge. The “Minister’s Black Veil” was written as a parable in order to teach us a moral lesson stating that you should never judge someone. In Paul J. Emmett’s literary criticism he tells of a point in the story when Hooper explains his reasoning for wearing the veil, Emmett says, “After exhausting life in his efforts for mankind’s spiritual good, he had made the manner of his death a parable, in order to impress on his admirers the mighty and mournful lesson, that, in the view of infinite purity, we

Nathaniel Hawthorne develops more than one theme in his book, The Scarlett Letter, however, one theme seems to prevail: Holding on to sin can destroy one’s life. This theme is demonstrated very well in the lives of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Both of them have committed a sin, but they each decide to deal with it differently. Hester Prynne decides to deal with her sin by taking responsibility. She realizes that what she has done is wrong, and now she has Pearl, who is “the figure, the body, the reality of sin,” (Chap 5).