Ministers Black Veil :: Character Analysis, Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne has always been [caracterizado] for using symbols and ambiguity on all of his stories. This is the case in â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† where he introduces the story of Minister Hooper, a religious man that starts wearing a black veil on his face until the day he dies. While re reading the Ministers Black Veil it is impossible just to come up with one conclusion of the motives why Minister Hooper puts on the veil. Since Hawthorne uses the act of ambiguity in this parable for the reader to come to their own conclusion, there are a significant amount of interpretations of the Minister’s black veil. The reader becomes acquainted with the protagonist at the crucial moment of his life, the moment in which he decides to wear a black veil on his face. But every reader encounters the same question, why did Minister Hooper put on the veil? {NEED A TOPIC SENTENCE} The very beginning of the story is a portrait of a happy everyday life in Milford - merry children are willing to make fun of a graver's gait, spruce bachelors are looking sidelong at the pretty maidens and a sexton is tolling the bell - and its light-hearted mood contrasts with that of the rest of the story. It gives us a taste of what the parson's life was like before his decision to wear his black veil.When Mr. Hooper appears wearing a black veil â€Å"[s]wathed about his forehead, and hanging down over his face, so low as to be shaken by his breath† (1) a period of alienation starts in his life. This event is not expected since Mr. Hooper is â€Å"a gentlemanly person† (1) and has the reputation of a â€Å"of a good preacher, but not an energetic one: he strove to win his people heavenward by mild, persuasive influences, rather than to drive them thither by the thunders of the Word† (2). The veil itself, Hawthorne tells us, consists o f two folds of crape which entirely conceal Mr. Hooper's features, "except the mouth and chin, but probably did not intercept his sight, further than to give a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things"(1). E. Earle Stibitz explains how Mr. Hopper’s is shown as an â€Å"essentially weak man, poorly prepared by his unmarried solitude, his somewhat morbid temperament, and his professional position to deal in a stable way with an absorbing religious idea that harmonizes with his personal and vocational prejudices(188).