 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE (1804-1864) American novelist, dark romantic, and short story writer

He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. His family descended from the earliest settlers of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony; among his forebears was John Hathorne (Hawthorne added the “w” to
his name when he began to write), one of the judges at the 1692 Salem witch trials. Throughout his
life, Hawthorne was both fascinated and disturbed by his kinship with John Hathorne. Raised by a
widowed mother, Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he met two people who were
to have great impact upon his life: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who would later become a famous
poet, and Franklin Pierce, who would later become president of the United States.

After college, Hawthorne tried his hand at writing. Transcendentalism was a religious and
philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century that was dedicated to the belief that divinity
manifests itself everywhere, particularly in the natural world. It also advocated a personalized, direct
relationship with the divine in place of formalized, structured religion.

After marrying fellow transcendentalist Sophia Peabody in 1842, Hawthorne left Brook Farm and
moved into the Old Manse, a home in Concord where Emerson had once lived. In 1846 he
published Mosses from an Old Manse, a collection of essays and stories, many of which are about
early America. Mosses from an Old Manse earned Hawthorne the attention of the literary
establishment because America was trying to establish a cultural independence to complement its
political independence, and Hawthorne’s collection of stories displayed both a stylistic freshness and
an interest in American subject matter. Herman Melville, among others, hailed Hawthorne as the
“American Shakespeare.”

In 1845 Hawthorne again went to work as a customs surveyor, this time at a post in Salem. In 1850,
after having lost the job, he published The Scarlet Letter, which enjoyed critical acclaim and became
an instant commercial success. The House of the Seven Gables appeared the following year and
fared even better—its initial sales exceeded even those of The Scarlet Letter. Ultimately,
however, The House of the Seven Gables proved less popular with both readers and critics.
Nonetheless, the two books together made Hawthorne a wealthy man. In 1853, Hawthorne’s college
friend Franklin Pierce, for whom he had written a campaign biography and who had since become
president, appointed Hawthorne a United States consul. The writer spent the next six years in
Europe. He died in 1864, a few years after returning to America.

Hawthorne's works belong to romanticism or, more specifically, dark romanticism, cautionary tales

that suggest that guilt, sin, and evil are the most inherent natural qualities of humanity. Many of his
works are inspired by Puritan New England, combining historical romance loaded with symbolism and
deep psychological themes, bordering on surrealism. His depictions of the past are a version of
historical fiction used only as a vehicle to express common themes of ancestral sin, guilt and
retribution. His later writings also reflect his negative view of the Transcendentalism movement.

 Edgar Allan Poe on Hawthorne “The style of Mr. Hawthorne is purity itself. His tone is
singularly effective—wild, plaintive, thoughtful, and in full accordance with his themes ... We
look upon him as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet
given birth.”
 "The Minister's Black Veil"
Shor story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne first published in 1832.

Plot Summary

The story begins with the sexton standing in front of the meeting-house, ringing the bell. He is to stop
ringing the bell when the Reverend Mr. Hooper comes into sight. However, the congregation is met
with an unusual sight: Mr. Hooper is wearing a black semi-transparent veil that obscures all of his
face but his mouth and chin from view. This creates a stir among the townspeople, who begin to
speculate about his veil and its significance. As he takes the pulpit, Mr. Hooper's sermon is on secret
sin and is "tinged, rather more darkly than usual, with the gentle gloom of Mr. Hooper's
temperament". This topic concerns the congregation who fear for their own secret sins as well as their
minister's new appearance. After the sermon, a funeral is held for a young lady of the town who has
died. Mr. Hooper stays for the funeral and continues to wear his now more appropriate veil. It is said
that if the veil were to blow away, he might be "fearful of her glance". Mr. Hooper says a few prayers
and the body is carried away. Two of the mourners say that they have had a fancy that "the minister
and the maiden's spirit were walking hand in hand". That night another occasion arises, this time a
joyous one—a wedding. However, Mr. Hooper arrives in his veil again, bringing the atmosphere of the
wedding down to gloom.
By the next day, even the local children are talking of the strange change that seems to have come
over their minister. Yet, no one is able to ask Mr. Hooper directly about the veil, except for his fiancée
Elizabeth. Elizabeth tries to be cheerful and have him take it off. He will not do so, even when they
are alone together, nor will he tell her why he wears the veil. Eventually, she gives up and tells him
goodbye, breaking off the engagement.
The one positive benefit of the veil is that Mr. Hooper becomes a more efficient clergyman, gaining
many converts who feel that they too are behind the black veil with him. Dying sinners call out for him
alone. Mr. Hooper lives his life thus, though he is promoted to Father, until his death. According to the
text, "All through life the black veil had hung between him and the world: it had separated him from
cheerful brotherhood and woman's love, and kept him in that saddest of all prisons, his own heart;
and still it lay upon his face, as if to deepen the gloom of his dark-some chamber, and shade him from
the sunshine of eternity".
Even though Elizabeth broke off their engagement, she never marries and still keeps track of the
happenings of Hooper's life from afar. When she finds out that he is deathly ill she comes to his death
bed to be by his side. Elizabeth and the Reverend ask him once again to remove the veil, but he
refuses. As he dies, those around him tremble. He tells them in anger not to tremble, not merely for
him but for themselves, for they all wear black veils. Father Hooper is buried with the black veil on his
face.
Characters list
Mr. Hooper
Mr. Hooper (also called the Reverend Mr. Hooper and Father Hooper) behaves cryptically about his
black veil. Despite the horrified reactions of the churchgoers, he wears it for the rest of his life, not
explaining why he does so. He even refuses to take off the veil for a moment when he is with his
fiancée, Elizabeth, which causes her to break off the relationship. Several years after the beginning of
the story, he becomes known as Father Hooper. While many people are frightened of him in his veil,
it makes him more effective at his job in some ways. It especially makes him better at speaking with
dying people who are penitent. Father Hooper keeps his veil on as he dies, declaring that he sees a
black veil on the face of all his mourners. Father Hooper is buried with his veil. The narrator ends the
tale by remarking that Father Hooper's face decayed beneath the veil.

Elizabeth
At first Elizabeth is not appalled by her fiancé's veil. She does not see why others are uneasy about it.
But after Mr. Hooper refuses to remove the veil, even for a second, she becomes frightened of what
the veil might hide. She then breaks off their engagement. Nonetheless, Elizabeth never marries and
remains friends with Mr. Hooper until his death.

Reverend Mr. Clark: is the minister who comes to give Mr. Hooper last rites. He urges Father
Hooper to remove his veil.

Goodman Gray: is a parishioner who yells that Mr. Hooper is mad when the minister appears at
church wearing the veil.

Squire Saunders: a leader of the community, who usually invites Mr. Hooper to dinner on Sundays.
Squire Saunders uncharacteristically forgets to do so the day Mr. Hooper first wears the veil.

The Bride: is marrying the groom at the wedding ceremony. They are said to be the handsomest
couple in Milford Village.

The Groom: is marrying the bride at the wedding ceremony. They are said to be the handsomest
couple in Milford Village.

Analysis
Like many of Hawthorne's works, the setting of the story is a town in Puritan New England. The scene
provides the backdrop for a psychological exploration of the themes of sin, repentance, and
morality. Much of the story focuses on the acrimonious reaction of the congregation to the seemingly
benign veil. Hawthorne uses their reaction as a critique of the Puritan image of original sin, using the
veil as a representation not of "secret sin" but the inherent sinful nature of all people.
Nathaniel Hawthorne writes the story in an allegorical format, using a didactic tone. The main theme
proves to be revealed sin and underlying guilt, with Hooper's method of preaching being to wear his
sin on his face in a literal way. The townspeople grow uncomfortable with him because they start to
become aware of their own sin. Hawthorne keeps the motive of the veil unknown to the reader. But
the interpretation of the story generally rests on some moral assessment or explanation of the
minister's symbolic self-veiling. Literary critic Edgar Allan Poe proposed that the issue of the
minister's self-veiling was a mystery conceived to be solved or inferred by the reader. While Poe
proposed this, Hawthorne never lets the reader know the reasoning behind the veil. While the veil is
the main symbol in the story, it is also ironic. Hooper, in his stubborn use of the veil parable of one
sin, is unconsciously guilty of a greater sin: that of egotistically warping the total meaning of life. In
addition to standing for a man's concealment or hypocrisy and for Hooper's own sin of pride with its
isolating effects, it stands also for the hidden quality of second sin. Hawthorne's use of ambiguity can
be portrayed in many different ways: the manipulation of setting, manipulation of lighting and effects,
and the use of an unreliable narrator to weave a shocking story that could or could not be likely. The
narrator's credibility tends to be questionable because it is not a direct source. In using a third person
narrator, the minister's motives are never solidified which keeps up the suspense.
 Themes
Hidden nature of guilt: Hooper arouses in a sermon the notion of secret sin and the sad mysteries
in which we hide from our nearest and dearest. Hooper acknowledges the problem of sin, the guilt
that is admitted openly, and the guilt of sin that is repressed or hidden from the world. When the
Reverend Hooper makes the people aware of the darkness within his being, he introduces
disintegration of a barrier between his repugnant, repressed self and his conscious self. This barrier is
characterized by the veil, which is transferred into the expression of hidden guilt. Hooper, in the story,
advises to the congregation that everyone wears a black veil, this is apparently inferring that
everyone has some form of hidden guilt. Some evidence in the story suggests that Hooper committed
a very atrocious sin, such as adultery. This could be a reason for his black veil.
Communion of sinners: Hooper leads the townspeople in realizing that everyone shares sin no
matter how much they try to avoid facing it. All people sin and it is up to them whether they face their
sin or ignore it. Hooper tries to teach a lesson. In content, the lesson may be very much like the
sermon on "secret sin" Hooper was scheduled to teach, but the townspeople are uncomfortable with
the medium. The veil is something they have to see every day, rather than a sermon just once or
twice a week.
Morality: Hawthorne's use of Hooper's veil teaches that whether we face it or not, we all sin and must
accept what we have done, because judgment will come for everyone. Hooper decides to represent
hidden sin and guilt in a literal way to reach out to his followers.
Symbols
The Black Veil
It symbolizes the denial of sin before God. In a time and culture focused on religion, this struck the
people considering it as unacceptable. When someone dies, their “veil” is removed in a way because
God can see and pass judgement on their sins.
The Church Bell
It symbolizes the bright mood of the morning, it also sets an initial, open atmosphere, making the veil
more jarring.
The People
At first, they appear to symbolize the light, innocence and holiness in the world, but as you read on it
becomes apparent that they symbolize a further denial. The people are not accepting that they are
committing the same sins as Mr. Hooper.
Inspiration
Hawthorne may have been inspired by a true event. A clergyman named Joseph Moody of York,
Maine, nicknamed "Handkerchief Moody", accidentally killed a friend when he was a young man and
wore a black veil from the man's funeral until his own death.