"A veil lies over their hearts, but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed."
             In his short story entitled, "The Minister's Black Veil," Nathaniel Hawthorne's intrigue with mankind's clandestine nature is manifested in the shrouding of his protagonist's heart with a black veil. This dreadful veil instigates reactions from other characters, namely, the townspeople, and becomes Hawthorne's vehicle for propelling his audience toward self-analysis. Throughout the story, Hawthorne employs these responses to condemn society's proclivity to judge despite their superficial knowledge of the truth, while simultaneously indicting the Minister for passing judgment on his congregation. Ultimately, "The Minister's Black Veil" depicts a world in which all people wear a metaphorical veil that imprisons their hearts. Only when they introspectively judge themselves is this veil removed and Truth finally revealed. Readers of Hawthorne may then, apply this message to their own reality in their personal unveiling of the Truth.
             From the outset of the story, Hawthorne generalizes society's hypercritical nature through one member's first impression of the veil. Despite the "conscious dignity" (Hawthorne, 1281) of their Sunday wardrobe, the bustling townspeople defy the restfulness of the Sabbath, the day on which the veil first appears and which Hawthorne conveniently begins his parable. The veiled Mr. Hooper, however, is confronted by a bewildered congregation. Among the first reactions, Hawthorne includes the response of an old woman who sullenly detests the veil when she mutters, "He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face," (1281). Even though her acquaintance with the veil is less than intimate, this woman makes an impetuous comment, which in effect, embodies the attitude of the townspeople. Although th...