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Post by wireman on Jan 26, 2022 13:31:47 GMT
Today we will discuss The Minister's Black Veil by Nathanial Hawthorn
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Post by wireman on Jan 26, 2022 16:26:02 GMT
A fascinating tale with many questions and no answers. 
The biggest question in this story is why did the reverend wear the veil? I kind of thought it was because he committed a bad sin no one else knew about. But if you read the study guide (link at top of story), a footnote is referenced that was in the collection Twice Told Tales that is not in the story we read and it is this:
"Another clergyman in New England, Mr. Joseph Moody, of York, Maine, who died about eighty years since, made himself remarkable by the same eccentricity that is here related of the Reverend Mr. Hooper. In his case, however, the symbol had a different import. In early life he had accidentally killed a beloved friend, and from that day till the hour of his own death, he hid his face from men."
So, it sounds from that footnote that Hooper had a different reason.
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Post by wireman on Jan 26, 2022 17:43:21 GMT
It is interesting how the veil seemed to make him a better pastor.
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Post by spideyman on Jan 26, 2022 18:40:28 GMT
I think that for Hooper the veil represents the hidden sin everyone carries around with them, based on the Puritan belief-- we are all sinners.
This thought came when reading Hooper's first sermon:
"The subject had reference to secret sin and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest 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."
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Post by Wicked Esther on Jan 26, 2022 19:16:04 GMT
It is interesting how the veil seemed to make him a better pastor.
Would you say that the veil was a symbol of humility? I kept thinking that if a pastor tried this nowadays, the congregation would be totally distracted by it and probably make him some sort of instagram celebrity — the total opposite of humility. |
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Post by wireman on Jan 26, 2022 19:47:05 GMT
It is interesting how the veil seemed to make him a better pastor.
Would you say that the veil was a symbol of humility? I kept thinking that if a pastor tried this nowadays, the congregation would be totally distracted by it and probably make him some sort of instagram celebrity — the total opposite of humility. |
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Post by wireman on Jan 26, 2022 19:50:55 GMT
I copied this from the study guide about Hawthorne's writing about the Puritans:
Hawthorne, and many other authors who embraced the genre of Dark Romanticism, cast judgement of their own on Puritans' treatment of sin, judgement, and human fallibility. Their stories often revealed the hypocrisy or failure of these religious and cultural institutions to perpetuate, rather than eradicate, the sins they were trying so forcefully to admonish.
The Scarlett Letter and Young Goodman Brown fall into that category
BTW - Did you notice there was a character named Goodman Gray? I thought of Goodman Brown and wondered if Hawthorne has other Goodman characters with different color last names. |
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Post by spideyman on Jan 28, 2022 18:10:52 GMT
Any suggestions for next week?
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Post by wireman on Jan 29, 2022 21:50:36 GMT
Wednesday, we will discuss The Mortal Immortal by Mary Shelly
Should be interesting as the only thing I've ever read by her is Frankenstein
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Post by wolf on Jan 29, 2022 22:02:26 GMT
Wednesday, we will discuss The Mortal Immortal by Mary Shelly
Should be interesting as the only thing I've ever read by her is Frankenstein
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