MD inist ER’S Black VelL PARABLE Nathaniel Hawthorne Background Set in the 1600s, in a typical village of Purita reflects Hawthorne's deep awareness of his Puritan ancestry. The Puritans lived stern lives, emphasizing hard work and religious devotion. They believed that only certain people were predestined by God to go to heaven. This belief led Puritans to search their souls continually for signs that God had chosen them. At the same time, those who behaved unusually were often thought to be controlled by evil forces. This attitude contributed to the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692, during which at least twenty accused witches were executed. In this story, Hawthorne explores how such attitudes probably led to other, more commonplace acts of cruelty. 1 New England, this story ‘The sexton! stood in the porch of Milford meetinghouse, pulling busily at the bell rope. The old people of the village came stooping along the street. Children, with bright faces, tripped merrily beside their parents, or mimicked a graver gait, in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes. Spruce bachelors looked sidelong at the ee . maidens, and fancied that the Sabbath sunshine made them cua than on weekdays. When the throng had mostly streamed 7 prettier porch, the sexton began to toll the bell, keeping his eye on the ae e 1. sexton (seks ton) n. person in charge ofthe maintenance of a church, C 336. @ A Growing Nation (1800-1870)Reverend Mr. Hooper's door. The first glinip figure was the signal for the bell to c« “But what has good Parson Hooper sexton in astonishment All within hearing immediately turned se of the clergyman’s se its summor got upon his face?" cried the about blance of Mr. Hooper, pacing slowly his medit meetinghouse. With one accord they started, expressing more wonder than if some strange minister were coming and beheld the sem: ative way towards the to dust the cushions of ‘freading Check Mr. Hooper's pulpit. ‘Aa-the story begin flat “Are you sure it is our parson?” inquired Goodman? Gray of weekly event is about to the sexton. take place? “Of a certainty it is good Mr. Hooper,” replied the sexton. “He was to have exchanged pulpits with Parson Shute, of Westbury; but Parson Shute sent to excuse himself yestei funeral sermon: V.ritical Viewing yy, being to preach a Identify the elements or details of this painting that correspond to those = in Hawthorne’s story 2. Goodman ttle of respect similar to "Mister [Connect] “The Minister's Black Veil @ 3:| tly slight. ear sufficiently | amazement may AP ty, though ae meee eat oly dust from his 1 cause of so much ee a gentlemanly eae ot a pachelor, was dressed with due Cer wife had starched his band, and Brus Sunday's garb. There was but one Swathed about his forehead. and Jer hi 's to be shaken by his breath, Mr. Hoop 3s which entirely eae it seemed to consist of two folds of crap» i : robably did concealed his features. except the mouth and Crane ‘o all not intercept his sight, further than to give @ or ee pefore him, good ising and inanimate things. With this gloomy shade Perr me Mr. Hooper walked onward, at a slow and quiet pace, SI°P what, and looking on the ground, as is customary with abst 4 nen, yet nodding kindly to those of his parishioners who still waite tn the meetinghouse steps. But so wonderstruck were they that his greeting hardly met with a return. “1 can’t really feel as if good Mr. Hooper's face was behind that plece of erape,” said the sexton, “1 don’t like it,” muttered an old woman, as she hobbled into the meetinghouse. “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.” “Our parson has gone mad!” cried Goodman Gray, following him across the threshold. his face, so low ‘ad on a black veil. On @ A rumor of some unaccountable phenomenon had preceded Mr. Hooper into the meetinghouse, and set all the congregation astir. Few could refrain from twisting their heads towards the door: many stood Upright, and turned directly about; while os Several little boys clambered with @ general bustle, a rustling of the women’s men's feet, greatly at variance wit Sowns and shuffling of th ith that hushed He Of the ated the entrance of the master. a ease HER shoul «perturbation of his people. He entenea ng Pee ared Not to {ess step. bent his head milly tothe py ‘ntered with an es hioner, a wings yo” €2ch side, and bowed ag in his appearance. Literary Analysis Parable What does ts, : first detalled description the veil indicate about effect on the commuryy Venerable (ver 8 adj. commanding respe* Literary Analysis bel Parable and Symbol 1 Passage beginning mysterious emblem” “That is the first suggestion the! the veil is a symbol. might the veil symbo! jze?yet pethaps the palefaced congregation «, Tete minister, as his black eet WAS almost Mr. Hooper had the reputation of « sey getic one: he strove to win his people hae chet influences, rather than to drive them thither by the qe eae Word. The sermon which he now delivered was meet mers of the characteristics of style and manner as the fone by the same oratory. But there was something, either in the semeay op ae course itself, or in the imagination of the auditors, when weit’ greatly the most powerful effort that th: eee fi © ey had ever heard from thei pastor's lips. It was tinged, rather more darkly than usual, with the gentle gloom of Mr. Hooper's temperament. The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our near. est and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient* can detect them. A subtle power was breathed into his words. Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought. Many spread their clasped hands on their bosoms. There was nothing terrible in what Mr. Hooper said, at least, no violence; and yet, with every tremor of his melancholy voice, the hearers quaked. An unsought pathos came hand in hand with awe. So sensible were the audience of some unwonted attribute in their minister, that they longed for a breath of wind to blow aside the veil, almost believing that a stranger's visage ‘would be discovered, though the form, gesture, and voice were those of Mr. Hooper. AL the close of the services, the people hurried out with indecorot confusion, eager to communicate their pent-up amazement, ‘and con- scious of lighter spirits the moment they lost sight of the black vell. Some gathered in little circles, huddled closely together, with their mouths all whispering in the center; some went homeward Ge ‘rapt in silent meditation; some talked loudly, and profaned « Sabbath day with ostentatious laughter. A few shook their gosncions heads, intimating that they could penetrate the eae he a ‘wo affirmed that there was no mystery at al, but only me loper's eyes were so weakened by the midnight we a a shade. After a brief interval, forth came good Mr. ns to another, ‘far of his flock. Turning his veiled face from ont ede age 7 vet due reverence to the hoary heads, saide, greeted the i Kind dignity as their friend and spit! vf laid his hands on the je uth mingled authority and Toes SM aiways his cystom ontldten's heads to bless them. Such wa Te ie tor bewtliew .spired to the honor of occasions a8PA Mgubtless by a as fearful a sight but not an en avenward by hie cq, Sabbath day. Strange and ‘rtesy. None, as on former “aly n ing by their pastor's side. Old Squire « Omnis {Gen ny shant) all-knowing God: kk. The Minister's Blac Reading Strategy Drawing inferences About ‘Meaning Has Mr. Hooper truly changed? What inferences can you draw based on this description cof his sermon? Iniquity ( rik’ wi t@)n. sin indecorous (in dk @ ras) adj. improper ostentatious (i ton ti Shas) adj intended to attract notice sagacious (60 08 shes) adj. shrewd [Wreading check ‘What change has : Nceurred in Mr. Hooper's Sppearance? k Veil © 339fe Mr. Hooper £0 lected to invit bless the of memory, ne Elen celdentsl apse . eaiected we piss huis table, where the soo ga He Sunday since fond, alinont every the noment of closing tore, to the parmonage, and at the HOMEY OE hom theretore, to the pa -ople. tT 5 observed to look back een ea nile sleaed hae ie ed upon the minister. A sa ae eared. he disappear lack vell, su “that a simple black v ; that me should become such south, glnmering ‘ Howe srange,” sad aly, “ha a any worn ight wer on er bor a tere thing on Mr Hooper face tat “Serething se surely be ee ian of the village. “But lvtn”oierved er husband, the physician of te wa ee a tl a ea at onsite ere Sy an ene et ce ie ane er te tamer aly ou pao’ fae, throws ts infuence over Bis whole person, and makes him ghostlike from hea you not feel It 40?" Seen an pray orale th tad ard I wma nt one hhim for the world. I wonder he 1s not afrald to be a himsett™ “Men sometimes are $0,” sald her husband. The afternoon service was attended with similar circum- stances, Al its conclusion, the bell tolled for the funeral of a young lady. The relatives and friends were assembled in the house, and the more distant acquaintances stood about the ‘loot. speaking, of the good qualities of the deceased, when {heir talk was interrupted by the appearance of Mr. Hooper, nul tuvered with bis black veil. was now an appropriace Emblem. The clergyman stepped into the room where the agbMe was lald, and bent over the coffin, to take a last jiurwel of hls deceased partshioner. As he stooped, are veil hung straight down from his forehea, wr aloned forever, the dead maiden might have seen his face. Coul MMe Mooper be fearful of her gance, that he = hastily caught back the black veil” A person who watched the interview Qeuntht srupled not to affirm, that, at the inst man's features were disclosed, the corpse had s| In cap, though the e ath, A superstitious From the coffin Mr, h ‘ant when the cler- lightly shuddered, “ountenance ‘the composure of de: tteM8 oF this prodigy amber of the net EOUrMETS, and thenee to the progen” ke the funeral prey Pree lll Of norton, yoy Craver It was uate of a heavens ‘avenly h, faintly to be heard People trembled. thou, Prayed that they, and Hooper passed into head of the stair. and heart-dissolvin, 1 hopes, that the : hime ant 4 © Acinmme Navan (gy) 1470) d, so that, if her eyelids had not The merics Jonathan £<0¥2rd, Purtany, ‘and Sermons of Fear The conaregstion’ fear of hy Hooper's veil recalls Jonatha" Edwards, one of the aveatest preachers of the Period Edwards used his setrrons to inspire fear of eternai carnation inthe minds of his tntonee insisted that the evidence they saw as proof of God's grace in their lives was false. According to Edwards, personal comfon, success, health, and a sense of being a good person were 10 proof that one was saved Rather, these satisfactions in the earthly realm were mere dis- tractions, providing comfort, but ‘no substance, to the ignorant. Though Hawthorne describes Mr. Hooper as a mild and beney. olent preacher—certainly no spouter of fire-and-brimstone like Edwards—his veil inspires a similar fear and trembling among the villagers. You can read an excerpt of Jonathan Edwards's “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” on page 106. vagary (vo ger’ 8) n. Id unpredictable occurrence between the dead old Woman was theaS ll as he trusted this young maiden had been, for the dreadful hour tha should snatch the veil from their faces, The bearers went heavily ms forth, and the mourners followed, saddening all the street, with the dead before them, and Mr. Hooper in his black veil behind, . “why do you look back?” said one in the procession to his partner. _ Reading Strategy had a fancy,” replied she, “that the minister and the maiden’s Drawing Inferences spirit were walking hand in hand.” About Meaning What “And so had |, at the same moment ingerenices can Veouaaes from this dialogue about the veil’s intensifying impact on the villagers? said the other. ‘That night, the handsomest couple in Milford village were to be joined in wedlock. Though reckoned a melancholy man, Mr. Hooper had a placid cheerfulness for such occasions, which often excited a sympathetic smile where livelier merriment would have been thrown away. There was no quality of his disposition which made him more beloved than this. The company at the wedding awaited his arrival with impatience, trusting that the strange awe, which had gathered over him throughout the day, would now be dispelled. But such was not the result. When Mr. Hooper came, the first thing that thelr eyes rested on was the same horrible black veil, which had added deeper gloom to the funeral, and could portend nothing but evil to the wedding. Such was its immediate effect on the guests that a cloud seemed to have rolled duskily from beneath the black erape, and dimmed the light of the candles. The bridal pair stood up before the minister, But the bride’s cold fingers quivered in the tremulous hand —_ tremulous ter yc ls) of the bridegroom, and her deathiike paleness caused a whisper that 34 characterized by the maiden who had been buried a few hours before was come from cee her grave to be married. If ever another wedding were so dismal, 4 was that famous one where they tolled the wedding knell.° After performing the ceremony, Mr. Hooper raised a glass of wine to his lips, wishing happiness to the new-married couple in a strain of mild pleasantry that ought to have brightened the features of the guests, Iike a cheerful gleam from the hearth. At that instant, catching 2 idimpse of his figure in the looking glass, the black veil involved his own spirit in the horror with which it versie oe 2. Hi fr ‘d, his lips grew white, he spilt the untas Co ck Veil. one nen fs ae ‘hole village of Milford talked of litte else than .d the mystery concealed behind Parson Hooper's black veil. That, am wstery 0 lecussion between acquaintances meeting in Xt, supplied a topic for { their open windows. It was the street, and good women gossiping % eae the frst item of news that the tavernikeeper (0¥d 10 Hit ews ‘ol, One imitative little imp» Waggery (wag' er)» children it on their way to scho wegen ws 9 covered aa 7 old black handkerchief, thereby so affright- ischi ing his playmates that the panic seized himself, and he well nigh lost a aac _— Why is the black vell on “Grn sory "Te We viate emblem for SIL Wiwrranas ara ony The Weng Ko A ka ee appropiate em knell rolerence to Hawthorne's a funeral? Slow ringing of a bell, as at @ funeral The Minister's Black Veil 341 neimperti inent nd impertine adi sae It was remarkable that of all the busybodies a question to eee Proper . : ventured to put the plain QUcS yeople in the parish, not one venture the Peeneve Mr Hooper. wherefore he did this thing. Hitherto, WITT iacked ference, p interred by their judgment. If f self-distrust that even different action es such appeared the slightest call for su ; advisers, nor shown himself averse to be guid v painful a degree he erred at all, t was by so painful a degree of Sor the mildest censure would lead him to consi naisple weak- as a crime. Yet, though so well acquainted with this am ake the black ness, no individual among his parishioners chose (0 mabe th i veil a subject of friendly remonstrance. There was a i peel neither plainly confessed nor carefully concealed, i ae to shift the responsibility upon another, till at length it Walt ON expedient to send a deputation of the church, in order 10 Mr. Hooper about the mystery. before it should grow info a Never did an embassy so ill discharge its duties. The minister received them with friendly courtesy, but became silent, after they were seated, leaving to his visitors the whole burden of introducing their important business. The topic, it might be supposed, was : swathed round Mr. Hooper's obvious enough. There was the black forehead, and concealing every feature above his placid mouth, on which, at times, they could perceive the glimmering of a melancholy smile, But that piece of crape, to their imagination, seemed to hang down before his heart, the symbol of a fearful secret between him and them. Were the veil but cast aside, they might speak freely of it, but not till then. Thus they sat a considerable time, speechless, confused, and shrinking uneasily from Mr. Hooper's eye, which they felt to be fixed upon them with an invisible glance. Finally, the deputies returned abashed to their constituents, pronouncing the matter too weighty to be handled, except by a council of the churches, if, indeed, it might not require a general synod.§ But there was one person in the village unappalled by the awe with which the black veil had impressed all beside herself. When the deputies returned without an explanation, or even venturing to demand one, she, with the calm energy of her character, determined to chen the strange cloud that appeared to be settling round Mr Tien fray moment more darkly than before. As his plighted wife 7 ooo : be her Privilege to know what the black vetl concealed. aries oult_‘biterary Analysis ters frst visit. therefore, she entered upon the sume ee mis Poca ehted simplicity, which made the task easier both for hie ene & direct ner ail for him and her, After he Mr. Hooper's fiancée: to the parable's mora” "No." said she aloud, and smilin, : “there is nothing Piece of erape, except that it hides a face which Foe i this am always glad t 10 8: synod (sin° ad), fi n. high governing 7, lighted wit tances” 99 POdy in certain Christan 7 ches, 342 @ Ar... ylook upon. Come + BOO sir, 1, st lay . = Tet the sur Furst iay aside your black veil thas “There oe slimmered fay i me in hour to come.” og wnty , , me. our veils. Take it not amie “when all crape till then.” S. beloved fr} of us " behind the cloud, WhY You put it on. —— is piece of away the veil ftom the 00." return : m, at least = ed the yo Elizabeth, 1 will,” said fase Young lady. “Take Reading Strategy Drawing inferences ere Out Meaning In his iends, Teply to Elizabeth, what does Mr. Hooper suggest . can nev er come behind about the veils meaning? - n hath befa 5 al that you should teen hah eft you se ane eves forever?” ae + “1. pethaps, like black veil.” dark enough to be typified by a “But what if the world will not believe cent sorrow?” urged Elizabeth. “Beloved ee of an inno- : cted as you are, there may be whispers that you hide your face under the conscious- = ee Secret sin. For the sake of your holy office, do away this The color rose into her cheeks as she intimated the nature of the rumors that were already abroad in the village. But Mr. Hooper's mildness did not forsake him. He even smiled again—that same sad smile, which always appeared like a faint glimmering of light, pro ceeding from the obscurity beneath the vell “If | hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough,” he merely replied: “and if | cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?” a ‘And with this gentle, but unconquerable obstinacy did he resist all obstinacy i sn» her entreaties. At length Elizabeth sat silent. For a few moments she stl appeared lost in thought, considering, probably. what new methods might be tried to withdraw her lover from so dark a Fantasy) 10 ithad no other meaning, was perhaps a symptom of me own het Though of a firmer character than his own. the tears HK Ct ; new fee cheeks. But in an instant, as it wets on Ue black veil, when, like a sorrow: her eyes were fixed INSET 7 around her. She arose, and sudden twilight in the air, its terrors f© stood trembling before him. “And do you feel it then, at Jest wen with aed and reading. check lovered her She made no reply. but covers rs able d caught her arm. ‘Ae the vila ed forward an‘ 4 it .0 confront Mr. Hooper turned to leave the room. He ht cried he, passionately. ee Great about he val? “Have patience with al ie ist be between US here on eartl desert me, though this veil me cor why not? hall be no veil over ™Y face, no darkness Why mine, and hereafter there s! “The Miniter’ Black Vel @ 349t A Critical Viewing In what ways does the atmosphere in this painting reflect the nood of the story? [Connect] between our souls! It fs bul a mortal veil—it is not for eternity! O! you i Kew not how lonely Tam, and how frightened, to be alone behind my Hlack veil. Do not leave me in this miserable obscurity forever!" Litt the veil but onee, and took me in the face,” said she, Never! It cannot be!” replied Mr. Hooper f Then farewell!” said Elizabeth i She withdrew her arm from his grasp, and slowly dens , i * and slowly departed, pausing alysis AU the door, to give one fe shuddering Save, that seemed almost to Pane mess penetrate the mystery of the black e\ 7 ~ Parable \ penetrate the ‘ell But, even amid his grief, Me ‘ed by the ener sae to think that only a material emblecn had beeing “But him trom happi ough the ac separal jing “But, \ im trom happiness, though the horrors which it sh, arated beginning ‘adowed forth, amid his grief”? 44 © A Growing Nation (1800-1870) ETEEEE 'SC_SSS must be drawn darkly between the fondest of lovers. Fr ~ ‘s rom that time ir no attempts were made to remove Mr. Hooper's black vell of, by 4 eee direct appeal, to discover the secret which it was supposed to hide. Seer cl About Meaning What By persons who claimed a superiority to popular prejudice, it was can you infer about the a reckoned merely an eccentric whim, such as often mingles with the People in the community sober actions of men otherwise rational, and tinges them all with its Pased on their fear of own semblance of insanity. But with the multitude, good Mr. Hooper" Hooper’ vel? was irreparably a bugbear.§ He could not walk the street with any peace of mind, so conscious was he that the gentle and timid would turn aside to avoid him, and that others would make it a point of hardihood to throw themselves in his way. The impertinence of the latter class compelled him to give up his customary walk at sunset to the burial ground; for when he leaned pensively over the gate, there would always be faces behind the gravestones, peeping at his black veil. A fable went the rounds that the stare of the dead people drove him thence. It grieved him, to the very depth of his kind heart, to observe how the children fled from his approach, breaking up their merriest sports, while his melancholy figure was yet afar off. Their instinctive dread caused him to feel more strongly than aught else, that a preternatural® horror was interwoven with the threads of the black crape. In truth, his own antipathy to the veil was known to be so great that he never willingly passed before a mirror, nor stooped to drink at a still fountain, lest, in its peaceful bosom, he should be affrighted by himself. This was what gave plausibility to the whispers, that Mr. Hooper's conscience tortured him for some great crime too horrible to be entirely concealed, or otherwise than so obscurely inti- mated. Thus, from beneath the black veil, there rolled a cloud into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, which enveloped the poor minister, so that love or sympathy could never reach him. It was sald that ghost and fiend consorted with him there. With self- shudderings and outward terrors, he walked continually in its shadow, groping darkly within his own soul or gazing through a medium that saddened the whole world. Even the lawless wind, Literary Analysis it was believed, respected his dreadful secret, and never blew aside Parable Wy the veil. But still good Mr. Hooper sadly smiled at the pale visages oats of the worldly throng as he passed by. wind, respects the veil? Among all its bad influences, the black veil had the one desirable Affect, of making its wearer a very efficient clergyman. By the ald e his mysterious emblem—for there was no other apparent cause—“he became a man of awful power over souls that were in agony for sin, His converts always regarded him with a dread peculiar to eee Selves, affirming, though but figuratively, that before he brought them to celestial light, they had been with him bein ick vel Us gloom, tneleed enabled him to sympathize with all dak affections . re foopel vould not yield their Dying sinners cried aloud for Mr. Hooper: and wou ‘wread How does Mr. Hooper feel about the vei?” i =~ _ HZ, Bear somaning causing needess 168 a ie retemnatural preter néch’ ar a) ad. supernatural The Minister's Black Veil @ 345 ———=— 2ae ee vhisper conso ‘as he stooped to whisper © preath ull he appeared; though ever. m, such were Ton they shred tthe weed face so near ther ow, Such the terrors of the black veil, even when Death had bared ee Strangers came long distances to attend service at his cnuvers 1" the mere idle purpose of gazing at his figure, because it WAS Sr den them to behold his face. But many were made to quake departed! Once, during Governor Beleher’s!° administration. Hooper was appointed to preach the election sermon. Coveree Wit his black veil, he stood before the chief Bag aes 1 by all the gloom and the representatives, and wrought so deep lative measures of that year were characterized piety of our earliest ancestral sway. - In this manner Mr. Hooper spent a long life, ward act. yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving, though unloved, and dimly feared; a man apart from men, shunned in their health and joy, but ever summoned to their aid in mortal anguish. As years wore on, shedding their snows above his sable veil, he acquired a name throughout the New England churches, and they called him Father Hooper. Nearly all his parishioners, who were of mature age when he was settled, had been borne away by many a funeral: he had one congregation in the church, and a more crowded one in the churchyard; and having wrought so late into the evening, and done his work so well, it was now good Father Hooper's turn to rest. Several persons were visible by the shaded candlelight, in the death chamber of the old clergyman. Natural connections!! he had none. But there was the decorously grave, though unmoved physi cian, seeking only to mitigate the last pangs of the patient whom he could not save, There were the deacons, and other eminently pious members of his church. There, also, was the Reverend Mr. Clark, of Westbury, a young and zealous divine, who had ridden in haste to Pray by the bedside of the expiring minister. Theré was the nurse, no hired handmaiden of death, but one whose calm affection had cadured thus long in secrecy, in solitude, amid the chill of age, and would not perish, even at the dyi there lay the hoary head of good Father Hooper upon the death pillow, with the black veil still swathed about his brow, and reaching down over his face, so that each more difficult gasp of his faint brecen caused it to stir. All through life that piece of crape had hn between him and the world: it had separated him from cheerful brotherhood and woman's love, and kept him in that saddest Prisons, his own heart; and still t lay upon his face. 2 if cae the gloom of his darksome chamber, and shade him free teu Pe i sunshine of eternity. pe i/peuoee eproachable in out- Literary Parable What is Hawthorne 10. Governor Belcher Jonathan Belcher (1852-175, wor, 1787), the royal gove Massachusetts Bay Colony, tram 1730 to 1741.” "® "V8 Governor of the 11, Natural connections relatives 346 © A Growing Nation (1800-1870)8 A A For some time previous, his mind had been ¢ ed, wav doubtfully between the past and the pe eee as it were, at intervals, into the indistinctnes: Terhdoenee waeee and wore away what little strength he had. But in his most convulsive struggles. and in the wildest vagaries of his intellect, when no other thought retained its sober influence, he still showed an awful solici- tude lest the black veil should slip aside. Even if his bewildered soul could have forgotten, there was a faithful woman at his pillow, who, with averted eyes, would have covered that aged face, which she had last beheld in the comeliness of manhood. At length the death-stricken old man lay quietly in the torpor of mental and bodily exhaustion, with an imperceptible pulse, and breath that grew fainter and fainter, except when a long, deep, and irregular inspiration seemed to prelude the flight of his spirit ‘The minister of Westbury approached the bedside. “Venerable Father Hooper,” said he, “the moment of your release is ering sent, and hovering forward, Literary Analysis, at hand. Are you ready for the lifting of the veil that shuts in time Parable and Symbol from eternity?” What does the minister Father Hooper at first replied merely by a feeble motion of his cof Westbury’s question head; then, apprehensive, perhaps, that his meaning might be doubt-_ S¥9gest about the veils ful, he exerted himself to speak. symbolic meaning’ “Yea,” said he, in faint accents, “my soul hath a patient weariness until that veil be lifted.” “And is it fitting,” resumed the Reverend Mr. Clark, “that a man so given to prayer, of such a blameless example, holy in deed and thought, so far as mortal judgment may pronounce: is it fitting that a father in the church should leave a shadow on his memory, that may seem to blacken a life so pure? I pray you, my venerable brother, let 7 yur triumphant not this thing be! Suffer us to be gladdened by your triu aspect as you go to your reward. Before the veil of eternity be lifted, st aside this black veil from your face!” prc thus speaking. the Reverend Mr, Clark bent forward to reveal the mystery of so many years. But, exerting a sudden energy, ‘hat, vide al the beholders stand aghast, Father Hooper snatched bot his h beneath the bedclothes, and pressed them strongly ee agle, if the minister of Westbury on the black veil, resolute to struggle, tend with a dying man. : oer the veiled clergyman. "On earth, never! one ed the affrighted minister, “with what “Dark old man!” exclalhi’™ are you now passing to the judgment?" horrible crime upon You! Se eit rattled in his throat: but, with Father Hooper's breath heaved: ds, he caught hold of forward with his ham : te ond oan eee ile should speak. He even raised himself in [Afreading check life, and held it ba around him, n his deathbed, does shivering wih the arms of dean inthe. wr ooper hh el bed: and there he sat. snr fal, at that last moment, tn the oliajecher gathered terrors of ‘The Minister's Black Veil 347 —— eee’ ger on there, now seemed (o glinmer from its obscurity, and lings Father Hooper's lips. hy do you tremble « alone?” crie vee ils clo soe Tremble also at each other! Have nildren screamed ad he, turning his veiled face round the circle of pale spectators, "3 men avoided mie, and women shown no pity, and c n crea and fled, onty for my black veil? What, but the mystery cae the obscurely typilles, has made this piece of crape so aan oe triend shows his inmost heart (o his friend; the ie to ee beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his beloved: when man does not vainly nr Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his si mie a monaten for the Symbol beneath which Ihave lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” While his auditors shrank from one another, in mutual affright, Father Hooper fell back upon his pillow, a veiled corpse, with a faint smile lingering on the lips. Still veiled, they laid him in his coffin, and a veiled corpse they bore him to the grave. The grass of many years has sprung up and withered on that grave, the burial stone ts moss- grown, and good Mr. Hooper's face is dust; but awful is still the thought that it moldered beneath the Black Veil! Review and Assess Thinking About the Selection 1. Respond: How would you have reacted to the veil if you had been (a) a member of Mr, Hooper's congregation or (b) another Puritan clergyman? (a) Recall: How dd his congregation regard Mz Hooper before he began wearing the veil? (b) Analyze: In what ware toes te veil affect Mr. Hooper relationship with his congregation? (a) Recall: What is the subject of Mr. Hooper's sermon on the day he first wears the veil? (b) Compare and Contrast: What emotions does Me. Hooper evoke in his congregeg wan never dl eft? (e) Draw Conclasionse Tovehec de ateibute Mr Hooper new found ability to alee Ne hese) (2) Recall, Acconing othe nator, what ithe veils lesirable effect”? (b) Infer: Why does the y a Hooper a mote effective minister? yell make Mr, (a) Interpret: Why does the veil hs on people! (b) Sythesze: Hanthorme sugges eel ct people carry secrets they choose not ro ren that all Do you agree or disagree with this suggestion? ey one 6. Take a Position: At some poi on I . ‘ beings will feel guilty abouts in oUF liv guilt is ever beneficial? Explain You think thar + 5 ut something. Do 348 ® A Growing Natio (1800-1870)