Nathaniel Hawthorne The Minister's Black Veil

Paragraph 1- (Intro) The Salem Witch trials of 1692 were a dark and (prevalent) time for the people of Salem, Massachusetts. During this time, nearly 200-300 people were convicted of witchcraft, and over 60 were officially hanged by the government. This must all be looked at from the colonists’ point of view- they had come from a land where religion was the most important aspect of their everyday life, keeping beliefs close to heart. They took this aspect to the New World, the area inhabited with mysterious other people’s foreign to them, where fears of the devil replaced common fears of everyday life. The floodgates of scapegoating did not truly start, although, until Tituba, a young slave, confessed of witchcraft herself.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a transcendentalist. He judged his Puritan ancestors in their deeds, especially the witch persecutions. Transcendentalism, Puritanism and the idea of witchcraft were reflected in his novel The Scarlet Letter. Although The Scarlet Letter doesn‘t address witchcraft directly, witchcraft saturates the background of the novel. Many factors factors had their influence on the Puritan society, be it positive or negative.

In article two it states; "Mr. Hooper wears the veil to symbolize his mourning for the secret sins of many of the Puritans who fear the severe punishments for transgressions and live as hypocrites becomes apparent in the denouement of Hawthorne's story" clearly stating that he wears this black veil to symbolize the sins of the puritans rather than himself. Mr. Hooper wishes to teach a moral

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an American author. He is commonly known as an anti-transcendentalist author meaning he believes human nature is naturally evil and society balances it out. Hawthorne has a common setting around Puritanism. He became fascinated with the theme from the Salem Witch Trials, of which his great-uncle, John Hathorne, judged and shamelessly had many people killed. The Scarlet Letter, by Hawthorne, is based in a Puritan town in the 1600’s.

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most studied and influential writers in history. His many works use symbolism and allegory to portray their purpose, filling them with deep meaning and offering a wide variety of interpretation. Hawthorne was not particularly proud of his family history; he disagreed with some of his ancestors positions in the salem witch trials. He distanced himself with that part of his family and added a “w” to his name to further do so. Hawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts, which gave him a prevalent theme of puritanism in many of his stories.

Many readers like to know about the author of the book they are reading; whether it be an author showing bits and pieces of themselves through their writing or through a small autobiography. Hawthorne allows the reader a small and rare glance into his life and his personal feelings as well as sharing a connection with the reader in the preface of “The Scarlet Letter.” Hawthorne’s familiar and personal tone in the preface draws upon the reader’s empathy, eases the reader into the 1600s, and allows a stimulation of the reader’s imagination. Hawthorne draws a sense of empathy from the reader in “The Custom-House” by sharing parts of his life that large quantities of people can relate to. Although he is a very private man his theory for sharing bits and pieces of himself can be described “as thoughts are frozen and utterance benumbed, unless the speaker stand in some true relation with his audience-it may be pardonable to imagine that a friend, a kind and apprehensive, though not the closest friend, is listening to our talk; and then, a native reserve being thawed by this genial consciousness, we may prate of the circumstances that lie around us, and even of our self, but still keep the inmost Me behind its veil.”

He was a stern Puritan who denounced the worldly ways and economic prosperity of Salem Town as the influence of the Devil. His rhetoric further separated the two factions within Salem Village. It is likely that the jealousies and hostilities between these two factions played a major role in the witch trials. The "accusers," many of which were the "afflicted girls" to whom the book refers to throughout the work, did not even know the persons they were accusing. In fact, the afflicted girls could not even pick out the accused without whispers from other people telling them who was who.

A certain darkness encompasses each of these stories and helps represent the recurring themes of evil and sin throughout them. In conclusion, “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” are both strongly based in religion, contain symbolism, and share a dark mood. These elements enrich the stories by conveying the important points included in each one. Hawthorne synthesizes these elements in much of his literature, which explains how these stories are beautifully woven together like a well-crafted

Puritan’s harsh beliefs represented the beginning of the Nineteenth Century in the newly colonized America. Their community ruled with an iron fist: unforgiving, pitiless, stern. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses his disagreement with puritan priorities by revealing the hypocrisy widely practiced throughout their community. Hawthorne’s utilization of dim diction aids in the establishment of his scornful tone, while inclusion of symbols and intricate juxtaposition all serve to accentuate the Puritan’s duplicity. All these factors combine to develop a critical tone which rebukes puritan society.

Nathaniel Hawthorne comes from a largely Puritan family ventured across in literature, most notably in the novel based on a true story, “The Crucible”

Written soon after Hawthorne’s graduation from Bowdoin College, it is academic in every sense of the word” (Levin 71) Not many know who he was, or what he did, but those who do know he helped found the archetype of today’s fiction writers and sits atop the throne with an air of accomplishment. He wrote the book, Scarlet Letter, which is most widely known. His wife was always pushing him to be a better writer, and husband. Nathaniel had three children, two daughters and a lone son, Mother Mary Alphonsa, Una Hawthorne, and Julian Hawthorne.

I founded interesting that the author noticed that the Salem village is the center of the witchcraft misbelief. By everything the evil noted in Goodman Brown; it makes sense that Hawthorne would use a Salem village for this story. In my reflection about the story, I realize that is a place where the events continuously happened because it has a different incidents or devices that are widely found in the literature and recognized as motifs appear. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "

This in turn, may not provide an adequate analysis of their character. American romantic writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne had a history steeped in puritanism. So much so, that his relatives -before the change of his last name from Hathorne to Hawthorne- experienced the Salem Witch Trials,

736800 Mrs. Martini Honors English III 2 April 2023 The Effects of Society Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, was published in Boston in 1850, but the main ideas of this novel remain relevant today. This novel is great for many reasons, for example, it is really easy to follow along and not get lost while it also brings brilliant questions like whether or not there are bad people in society or do we just label people that way for one bad mistake they have made? In this novel, we are introduced to Hester Prynne who is being punished for adultery, and although the novel does indicate that sins are bad, especially in the mid-1600s, Hawthorne does a great job of explaining his main idea in the novel which is that all people

Also, one of his ancestors John Hawthorne, was one of the three judges in the Salem Witch Trials. Therefore, he had inspiration from the history that occured to incorporate into the story. Nathaniel liked to write about the dark side of human nature and gave long descriptions so the readers could envision it. He would leave the readers at the end in suspense so they could put themselves in the story and make an ending themselves. In writing about the dark side of human nature, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to prove that sin is everywhere and that anybody can commit it.