Black Veil

Gustavo Quintero
English 48A
November 15, 2007
Journal #21 Nathaniel Hawthorne

Quote:
"Mr Hooper had the reputation of a good preacher, but not an energetic one:he strove to win his people heavenward by mild persuasive influences, rather than to drive them thither, by the thunders of the world"( Hawthorne 1313).


Summary:
Hawthorne is describing Mr. Hooper's personality. He is a very quiet mild mannered man who spreads the word of God by mild persuasions. He is not the fore and brimstone type of preacher. Rather he is very calm, collect and unimposing.


Response:
I want to start this journal off by saying how intriguing this short story was. As mentioned in our class discussion, the beauty of this story is that it can be read and interpreted so many different ways. For me it is the subtleties throughout the text that I find the most fascinating. Just how does the black veil come to symbolize so much? First it is important to peer into the personality of Mr Hooper, as the above quote says Mr Hooper would try to win people over by mild influences. This is where the subtlety comes into place. The black veil acts as the mild influence that Mr. Hooper wants to put onto people. At first glance when the people in the story see Mr. Hooper with the black veil on they do not pay much mind to it. Later as the story progresses on the people of the community become weary and scared of the veil. Mr. Hooper uses this mild expression as a way to communicate a larger message. The larger message could be many things, but to me it seems like Mr. Hooper wears the black veil as a way of showing people that everybody's sins are falling on his shoulders. This seems likely because he was a very quiet man who kept to himself. Just as Jesus Christ died for our sins Mr. Hooper wears the sins of everybody. After discussing this story in class this is the conclusion I have come up with. People are always afraid of what they do not know. If people knew what the true purpose of the veil was than maybe they would not be so afraid of Mr. Hooper and the black veil.