How would you feel if you had a good reason for doing something, but people still judge you poorly for it? In “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character, Mr. Hooper, donned a black veil for a reason only he understood. The people in his town were quick to change their views on him without even knowing his side. Throughout the story, we see the effects the veil has on Mr. Hooper and those around him. In this story, I can pull out two lessons that are clear to me: the first one being the fear we have in ourselves and how we cover it, and the second, how we use the mechanism of judging others to try to hide our fears.
One of the lessons in my opinion is that everyone has their own “veil” that hides the fact that they have secrets and they sin and Mr. Hooper just chose to admit that he does sin and he does have secrets. The veil is a sort of “barrier” hiding people’s true colors. “‘When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!’” (par 23) Mr. Hooper says this whilst on his deathbed.…show more content… Hooper was faced with the backlash of the townspeople when he decided to wear a black veil one day. People didn’t agree with him wearing it, and even judged him for it. In this story, I could see two different lessons that weren’t too different at all. The first being that everyone has their own “veil” hiding things that they don’t want others to see about them, and the second, that people will jump to judging those around them before really getting an explanation. People are afraid to admit that they have a veil because they want to seem perfect, but everyone has one. Society would be easier if people could admit that they have this veil and didn’t judge each
