The Minister's Black Veil critical lens essay
...l during the Sunday ceremony. When he walked down passing the pews, the people where surprised and even the children “clambered upon the seats and came down again with a terrible racket” (182). “At the close of the services, the people hurried out with indecorous confusion, eager to communicate their pent up amazement… some gathered in little circles, huddled closely together, with their mouths all whispering in the center”(183). Even though the Puritans are strictly religious, they gossiped a lot about a simple veil out of fear, amazement, or just surprise. After whispering, people who would invite Mr. Hooper over for dinner just shunned him, the women avoided him, and the children who would receive blessings from Mr. Hooper screamed and fled from him. His parishioners could not see past the veil and see the same Mr. Hooper they respected and loved. The people believed Mr. Hooper wore the black veil because of a “secret sin”, which was the subject of one of his sermons. Mr. Hooper wore the black veil to show the parishioners that they all wore veils, which did not allow anyone to show their true selves and interact fully with each other. “Lift the veil but once, and look me in the face”(187) she said and after he denied she said “Then farewell!’(187). Even Elizabeth, his fiancé and true love, could not see past the veil and accept Mr. Hooper for who he was and asked him to remove the veil. He vowed he would never remove the veil, which showed he was devoted to helping his parishioners, since he wanted them to realize that they all hid behind “veils” and acted as their “other” selves. The minister of Westbury told Mr. Hooper “…Before the veil of eternity be lifted, let me cast aside this black veil from your face!”(189). “ ‘Never!’ cried the veiled clergyman. ‘On earth, never! ; ‘Dark old man!’... ‘with what horrible crime upon your soul are you now passing to the judgment?”(189) His fellow ministers wanted him to remove the veil instead of seeing its true purpose. The minist...