Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Minister's Black Veil

"Its gloom, indeed, enabled him to sympathize with all dark affections."

The narrator in "The Minister's Black Veil" discusses the effect Father Hooper's black veiled face has on the his parishioners, and in the quote above, describes the effect the veil has on Hooper himself.

Hawthorne's notoriously ambiguous style makes it difficult to understand exactly what was intended by this story, and leaves its intended moral(s) open to interpretation One might assume that as a man of God, Mr. Hooper feels a responsibility to his parishioners to make a bold statement out of his own life by donning this mysterious black veil. He is perhaps attempting to stir a certain dark thoughtfulness in them by subtly asking them to think about their own metaphorical "veils" which hide their true inner selves from even their closest family members and friends. By wearing the veil, he ultimately isolates himself from any kind of love or closeness with any other human being, which he is perhaps trying to say everyone does by hiding their deepest secrets within themselves. What's difficult to understand is why Hooper would suddenly make the decision to wear the veil, and why he'd continue to wear it for eternity. One may speculate that Hooper himself had committed some horrible sin, which he decided he must keep hidden forever, and that the veil was a symbol of this.

Personally, as someone who's not sure about the existence of an omniscient being casting judgement over humankind, it's tough to understand why anyone would take on such a ridiculous "burden" as this. It seems simply absurd. Who does this man think he is, trying to teach a lesson to the world for the rest of his life? Or why, if there is a just God, would Hooper not be forgiven for whatever terrible sin he has committed? And from a psychological standpoint, while I think it's good to purge one's sources of shame and insecurity-- to just let it all out sometimes-- I don't think it's always a great idea to purge them onto the people we love. Sometimes the best sounding-board for such things is an impartial party, such as a psychologist. I believe there are things inside all of us, dark or not, that the world does not need to see, and that perhaps we should be selective about who may or may not see these things.

I vaguely recall reading this story as a kid, or having it read to me, but I don't remember at what age, or whether it was supposed to teach me some sort of lesson. It would be interesting to recall the context in which I heard or read it, since it likely came from some "good Christian" teacher in small-town northern Michigan, who thought he or she might be teaching the class some kind of lesson about sin. Who knows?

In a summary at this website, it is stated that "The minister's refusal to tell his congregation why he wears the veil or to remove it for Elizabeth shows that he suffers from the sin of superiority; he believes he is conscious of a truth that everyone else refuses to acknowledge." That's absolutely the way I see it, and I wonder if somehow Hawthorne is being critical of the impact religion had on people of the time. I can't quite put my finger on this one, but perhaps the ridiculousness of Hooper's actions is what Hawthorne was highlighting. I'm not sure if I believe that or not, but I suppose it's a possibility.