The Minister's Black Veil

The Ministers Veil by Nathanial Hawthorne is an example of dark Romanticism. First of all it is set in 1700 New England. This is a Puritan town. Puritans were the first people to come to America and they also think that everyone is sinful )Hawthorne). They think that only a chosen group will go to heaven and that is it. They knew the group was chosen, but they still tried to do their best to get to where they want to be, heaven, not hell. No one wants to go to hell. It is a scary place that I think no one should go to. People should believe in God and he will believe in you and lead you to the place where you need to be. Puritans tried to resist the natural urge to sin. They were trying to make a good impression and they could not sin. Everyone sins. It is impossible not to. Its not that the rules or commandments are too hard or that there is too many of them, it is the fact that no one is perfect. No one can be perfect. We can try, but it will never happen. The Ministers Black Veil is also a Parable. A Parable is a story that teaches a lesson (Hawthorne). Dark Romanticism is a form of Romanticism that is more depressing and sad. It deals with the sinful part of life and its troubles (Dark Romanticism). At the beginning of the story it seems cheerful and happy. They are talking about the sunshine on Sabbath day (Hawthorne). This is not Dark Romanticism. This is Romanticism because it is talking about the positive of nature and what beauty it brings to the table. In the beginning of the story the man put a black cloth over his head just until his mouth. It scared the people and they did not know what to do with the parson who put a cloth over their head. They did not understand (Hawthorne). I think that the veil represents the mask that people put on. The minister is putting on the mask to show the congregation and the people around him the wrongness of not being who you are and being true to yourself. The veil could represent the "unveiling" of him. The people got freaked out and they did not know what to do. The people do not know that he is representing them with the veil and the masks that they put on to fit into society. Masks are not really a bad thing. I mean sometimes you can put on a mask to protect someone or something, but overall, putting on a mask is not a good thing because if that mask gets glued on it is very painful and hard to take off. They all thought that he was sick. They did not know that he was teaching them a "Parable" (a moral lesson). The minister was a smart man for doing this because he knows that deep down these Puritans want to be able to sin like normal people, but their religion is stopping them because they are not allowed to sin because they are afraid they would not be in the chosen group.




Dark Romanticism - New World Encyclopedia." Info:Main Page - New World Encyclopedia. Web. 30 Nov. 2010tp://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dark_romanticism#Characteristics>.

Hawthorne, National. "The Minister's Black Veil." Glencoe Literature. By Jeffery D. Wilhelm. and Douglas Fisher. Vol.American English. New York: Glencoe McGraw Hill, 2009. 278-289. Print.