The Puritan's Burden
Unconfessed sin and guilt can fester in the body and soul. In the setting of Puritansociety, the themes of sin and guilt present themselves in the novel The Scarlet Letter and in theshort story "The Minister's Black Veil." In these two literary works, Nathaniel Hawthorne and a few critics express similar and different perspectives of the depiction of sin and guilt. In "The Minister's Black Veil," Reverend Hooper realizes that all men are secretsinners; they hide their guilt and sorrow away from even their closest relations. Mr. Hooperacknowledges that he, too, belongs to the stained tribe by donning a black veil. Symbolic of thisburied shame, he wears the veil at all times. Proving this point, Hooper's congregation, uponfirst sight of the veil, "felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, anddiscovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought" (Hawthorne, "Minister" 267). Wearing theveil precipitates a dramatic change in the Reverend's relationship with his congregation. Hisparishioners "no longer accept him as they did before the advent of the veil. The veil which sodistinguishes him from his fellow villagers strikes fear in the hearts of all and causes them to
Although Dimmesdale keeps his sin hidden, and the Puritan community does not punish him, hepunishes himself. Pearl seems to understand that her fathermust confess in order to find peace. Hooper, lives as an outcast for heracknowledged guilt. Some townspeople see theveil as an eccentricity, but gradually the fear develops "that Mr. Throughout The Scarlet Letter and "The Minister's Black Veil," sins smolder in secret. "Dimmesdalehas a "coup" in the very end. Pearl makes clear thatshe wants Dimmesdale to acknowledge his sin. However, in contrast to his now empty personal life, Reverend Hooper ministry becomeseven more effective. He bears his guilt in secret,inflicting his own painful punishment upon himself. Through the use of the Puritans' A, Hawthorne attempts to "analyze thepeculiar nature of the Puritans- their devotion to law and religion, their addiction to formalizedbehavior, the imaginative outlook inherent in their orthodox symbolism" (Brodhead 159).
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Acceptance Essays
