"The Minister's Black Veil"
             Sin is an issue that every human being has to deal with at one time or another in his or her lifetime. Sin is dealt with in many ways. Some people try to hide their sins, some try to push them aside and some try to deal with their sins in a more conventional way. The largest place for confessing sins in the world is the confessional booth at a church. People go to tell their sins, and feel cleansed afterwards. But what happens when a man who hears confessions day after day, sins himself. There is no confession booth for the man to go to. He must deal with his sin in his own way; a way that will leave him feeling cleansed. Mr. Hooper, in the parable, or short story, "The Minister's Black Veil" dawns a black veil to deal with his sins. The themes in the story that I chose to explore, were character, Mr. Hooper being a minister. And I also chose to talk about symbolism. The fact that Mr. Hooper's veil is black is symbolic. The shuddering corpse is also a symbol of Hooper's wrongdoing.
             When Mr. Hooper puts the black veil on, he is no longer Mr. Hooper; he is a man that everyone is a afraid of. His relationship with Elizabeth is ruined because of his unwillingness to remove the veil. She cannot accept the fact that the minister must go the rest of his life without revealing his true face. After his first sermon, he did not go to Old Squire Saunders table to bless the food, as he had done almost every Sunday since his settlement. As Hooper is dying, near the end of the story, he is alone and says, "...men avoided me, and women shown no pity and children screamed and fled..."(328), while others say he was "kind and loving, though unloved, a man apart from men"(327).
             The theme of symbolism is demonstrated numerous times throughout the book. The veil itself is symbolic. Hawthorne could have chosen numerous items that would have...