"The Minister's Black Veil" helps to reveal the extent to which the Puritans valued sinlessness as well as conformity. Hawthorne implies, through a sympathetic depiction of Mr. Hooper's character and beliefs, that all human beings are sinful and, further, that we all try to hide our sinfulness from one another because we are so afraid of feeling ourselves to be alone, the only sinner, and judged by our fellows, ourselves, and our God. Though all of Mr. Hooper's parishioners experience some recognition of this fact, at least after the first sermon he delivers after putting on the veil, they uniformly continue to pretend sinlessness even after Mr. Hooper has pointed it out and continues to do so by wearing the veil. Conformity is so important for them; even more important, Hawthorne seems to say, than actually being sinless is having the appearance of it.
Likewise, Hawthorne shows, they...
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value piety, but they value the appearance of piety more. When Mr. Hooper begins to wear the veil, he signals to his community that he questions his own and their piety, and this makes them so dramatically uncomfortable with him that he becomes a social outcast for the remainder of his life. If piety were their primary concern, then they would be far more willing to admit that Mr. Hooper is telling the truth and work together to become less sinful; however, since it is the appearance of piety that they value, they are more scared of the implications of Mr. Hooper's veil (his truth-telling) for their community than they are of the repercussions of their own lack of piety.
How does Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil" relate to the Puritans?
The Puritans, of course, were historically a repressive religious (Protestant) group that left England for the New World in hopes of living a life free of the persecution at the hands of those who disagreed with their religious doctrines. Ironically, however, the Puritans established thriving communities with their strong work ethic, and then proceeded to persecute those among them who would not conform to the letter of their law.
The Puritans were dedicated to work to save themselves from the sin in the world. Those who deviated from the teachings of the Bible were punished in a variety of ways. Excessuve drinking was frowned upon. A man could not openly kiss his wife in public. Failure to attend church could land one in the stocks, and if there were a suspicion of "congress" with the Devil, a man or woman would be put to death.
Puritans were intolerant, motivated to avoid sin, while watching carefully for sin in others. Guilt was a great force in the Puritans' beliefs. While they accomplished a great deal, for example, in providing education for all children, their intolerance made it difficult for the church to thrive in a young and changing country.
In "The Minister's Black Veil," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mr. Hooper, the parson (minister) is perceived to be a "self-disciplined" man, a Puritan trait which would have been admired by the people of his Puritan congregation. In wearing the veil, they believe that if Hooper has not gone insane, he is guilty of a dark and terrible sin.
The veil becomes the center of discussion for all those in the congregation. When Hooper oversees the funeral of of a young woman, the superstitions that guided the Puritans can be seen: when the veil falls away as Hooper leans over the deceased, one woman is sure the corpse "shuddered," and others imagine a vision of Hooper and the corpse walking, holding hands.
People begin to avoid Hooper because he makes them feel uncomfortable; his original sermon upon donning the veil, spoke to the mask all people wear around others to hide their sins. The congregation was greatly moved by the message, perhaps due to a sense of guilt—a Puritan belief that all people are sinners.
Hooper's sweetheart, Elizabeth, ends the relationship because he will not remove the veil. So the years pass, and Hooper remains alone, an outcast from his society.
On his deathbed, he once again stresses the message of his earlier sermon. He points out that he wears a tangible veil that hides his face, but that others do the same with the mask each wears to hide his/her sins from others. The Puritans' sense of evil in the world, the constant warring of God against the Devil, and the vigilance to avoid sin and damnation, are reflected in the darkness of Hawthorne's message. Even into death, Hooper wears the veil, perhaps symbolic of the Puritans' belief that all people's souls are black from sin. Forgiveness or deliverance from sin are not promoted in this faith, and the color of the veil paints a somber, frightening picture of the Puritans' perceptions of the world and man's place within that world.
Like much of Hawthorne's best work, this story is set in the time of his Puritan ancestors, an era he said was "characterised by... gloom and piety." Hawthorne added the following note to the story:
Another clergyman in New England, Mr. Joseph Moody, of York, Maine, who died about eighty years since, made himself remarkable by the same eccentricity that is here related of the Reverend Mr. Hooper. In this case, however, the symbol had a different import. In early life he had accidentally killed a beloved friend; and from that day till the house of his own death, he hid his face from men.
Interestingly, by adding the subtitle "A Parable" to this story, Hawthorne indicates the importance of the story's moral theme. A parable is a short, usually simple story, based on events from ordinary life, from which a moral lesson is drawn. Certainly, when we think of this tale, the message of hidden sin that affects us all, seems to act as a rebuke to the hypocrisy of Puritanism that placed such an emphasis on outer show, often at the expense of inner purity.