As I let you know last week, I am out on medical leave until exam week in January. Your substitute is Ms. Newland. She and I will be in frequent contact with lessons and grading. You may also reach me by school e-mail, as usual.
This week we are looking at a darker side of Romanticism with the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Please check out the reading and assignments below.
Monday, December 19: begin by reading the background information on Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil" (copy below); then commence with the text itself. (copy below) Both of these are class activities, If you are absent, please read independently.
Tuesday, December 20: finish reading the short story. This is your copy to mark up. Challenging words are defined for you.
Wednesday, December 21: Using your text as a reference, please write text-based responses to "The Minister's" questions that reflect both content and comprehension of the story. These are to be turned in to Ms. Newland. I will be grading these for both content and language conventions. (copy of questions below)
Thursday and Friday: Seven Deadly Sins writing assignment. (detailed instructions below)
Have fun with this! I will be grading these as a writing assignment (50% category) using the ELA writing rubric. Take your time. Be mindful of language conventions. Proof read!
BACKGROUND READING
Background information on Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”
(The dark
side of Romanticism)
Like many
writers of his time, Hawthorne emphasized man’s inner reality, and those thoughts and feelings which are not
immediately apparent. As he explored
this internal nature, he not only found the source of dignity and virtue,
but also certain elements of darkness and violence.
In The Minister’s Black Veil, these
elements are treated as real and inescapable forces in human existence. The unifying theme is the conflict between the
dark, hidden side of man and the standards imposed by his puritanical heritage,
and the psychological and practical implications of this conflict. Hawthorne
brings evil and unauthorized desire into the circuit of puritan life, and
thereby conveys a profound truth that is disturbing in its implication, namely
that we can never hope to know each other’s true selves. The themes in the story are suggested by the
veil-symbol, the tension between the minister and the community, and the
use of pro-Freudian psychological analysis.
The symbolic
significance of the black veil lies in
the physical and mental barrier that it creates between the minister and
his environment, and the guilt that it expresses. Many people believe that the
face provides information about a person’s underlying characteristics and,
therefore, about his or her probable behavior. Thus, by wearing the veil, the
minister takes away the basis on which people can predict his behavior. This is
the main cause of the minister’s isolation, although he is made unpredictable
already by the mere act of wearing the veil. Part of the frightening effect of
the veil derives from the knowledge that the person behind it can see everything
without being seen himself:
“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 this awful veil, and
discovered their hoarded inequity of deed or thought.”
Because the
members of the congregation cannot see where their minister is looking, they
imagine that they are being observed more closely than usual. This notion is
strengthened by the subject of the sermon, which “had reference to secret sin,
and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest”. Thus, the
minister takes on the role of “the Omniscient” (God), whose investigating
glance can penetrate even the deepest mysteries of the human soul. More
importantly, the wearing of the veil is a confession of guilt. Being a
traditional example for the community, the minister thus implies that everyone
should do the same. Important themes in relation to this are the problem of sin, and guilt which is admitted
openly vs. guilt which is hidden.
"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Name____________________________-
The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne
|
Name____________________________-
1.
The
sexton* stood in the porch of Milford meeting-house, 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 pretty maidens, and fancied that the Sabbath* sunshine made them prettier than on
week days. When the throng* had mostly
streamed into the porch, the sexton began to toll the bell, keeping his eye
on the Reverend Mr. Hooper's door. The first glimpse of the clergyman's
figure was the signal for the bell to cease its summons.
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2.
"But what has good Parson Hooper got upon his
face?" cried the sexton in astonishment.
All within hearing immediately turned about, and beheld
the semblance* of Mr. Hooper, pacing slowly his meditative way towards
the meeting-house. With one accord they started, expressing more wonder than if some
strange minister were coming to dust the cushions of Mr. Hooper's pulpit.
"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 yesterday, being to preach a funeral sermon."
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3.
The cause of so much amazement may appear sufficiently slight.
Mr. Hooper, a gentlemanly person, of about thirty, though still a bachelor,
was dressed with due clerical neatness, as if a careful wife had starched
his band, and brushed the weekly dust from
his Sunday's garb*. There was but one thing remarkable in his appearance. Swathed* about his forehead, and hanging down over his
face, so low as to be shaken by his breath, Mr. Hooper had on a black veil.
On a nearer view it seemed to consist of two folds of crepe, which entirely concealed his features, except the
mouth and chin, but probably did not intercept* his sight, further than to
give a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things. With this gloomy
shade before him, good Mr. Hooper walked onward, at a slow and quiet pace,
stooping somewhat, and looking on the ground, as is customary with abstracted men, yet nodding kindly to those of his
parishioners who still waited on the meeting-house steps. But so
wonder-struck were they that his greeting hardly met with a return.
"I can't really feel as if good Mr. Hooper's face was
behind that piece of crape," said the sexton.
"I don't like it," muttered an old woman, as she
hobbled into the meeting-house. "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.
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4.
A rumor of some unaccountable phenomenon had preceded Mr.
Hooper into the meeting-house, and set all the congregation astir. Few could refrain from twisting their heads towards the
door; many stood upright, and turned directly about; while several little
boys clambered upon the seats, and came down again with a terrible racket.
There was a general bustle, a rustling of the women's gowns and shuffling of
the men's feet, greatly at variance with that hushed repose* which
should attend the entrance of the minister. But Mr. Hooper appeared not to
notice the perturbation* of his people. He entered with an almost noiseless step,
bent his head mildly to the pews on each side, and bowed as he passed his
oldest parishioner, a white-haired great-grandsire,
who occupied an arm-chair in the centre of the aisle. It was strange to
observe how slowly this venerable man became conscious of something singular in the appearance of his pastor. He seemed not fully to
partake of the prevailing wonder, till Mr. Hooper had ascended* the stairs,
and showed himself in the pulpit, face to face with his congregation, except
for the black veil. That mysterious emblem was never once withdrawn. It shook with his measured breath, as he gave out the psalm;
it threw its obscurity* between him and the holy page, as he read the
Scriptures; and while he prayed, the veil lay heavily on his uplifted countenance. Did he seek to hide it from the dread Being whom he was
addressing?
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5.
Such was the effect of this simple piece of crepe*, that more
than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meeting-house. Yet perhaps the
pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his
black veil to them.
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 Word. The sermon which he now delivered was marked by the
same characteristics of style and manner as the general series of his pulpit oratory. But there was something, either
in the sentiment of the discourse* itself, or in the imagination of the auditors, which made it greatly the most powerful effort that
they had ever heard from their 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 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. 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.
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6.
At the close of the services, the people hurried out
with indecorous* confusion, eager to communicate their pent-up
amazement, and conscious of lighter spirits the moment they lost sight of the
black veil. Some gathered in little circles, huddled closely together, with
their mouths all whispering in the centre; some went homeward alone, wrapt in
silent meditation; some talked loudly, and profaned* the Sabbath day with ostentatious laughter. A few shook their sagacious heads, intimating that they could penetrate the mystery; while one or two
affirmed that there was no mystery at all, but only that Mr. Hooper's eyes
were so weakened by the midnight lamp, as to require a shade. After a brief
interval, forth came good Mr. Hooper also, in the rear of his flock. Turning
his veiled face from one group to another, he paid due reverence to the hoary* heads, saluted the middle aged with
kind dignity as their friend and spiritual guide, greeted the young with
mingled authority and love, and laid his hands on the little children's heads
to bless them. Such was always his custom on the Sabbath day. Strange and
bewildered looks repaid him for his courtesy. None, as on former occasions,
aspired to the honor of walking by their pastor's side. Old Squire Saunders, doubtless by an accidental lapse of memory, neglected to
invite Mr. Hooper to his table, where the good clergyman had been wont to bless the food, almost every Sunday since his
settlement. He returned, therefore, to the parsonage, and, at the moment of
closing the door, was observed to look back upon the people, all of whom had
their eyes fixed upon the minister. A sad smile gleamed faintly from beneath
the black veil, and flickered about his mouth, glimmering as he disappeared.
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7.
"How strange," said a lady, "that a simple
black veil, such as any woman might wear on her bonnet, should become such a
terrible thing on Mr. Hooper's face!"
"Something must surely be amiss with Mr. Hooper's
intellects," observed her husband, the physician of the village.
"But the strangest part of the affair is the effect of this vagary*, even on a sober-minded man like myself. The black
veil, though it covers only our pastor's face, throws its influence over his
whole person, and makes him ghostlike from head to foot. Do you not feel it
so?"
"Truly do I," replied the lady; "and I would
not be alone with him for the world. I wonder he is not afraid to be alone
with himself!"
"Men sometimes are so," said her husband.
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8.
The afternoon service was attended with similar circumstances.
At 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 door, speaking of the good qualities of the
deceased, when their talk was interrupted by the appearance of Mr. Hooper,
still covered with his black veil. It was now an appropriate emblem. The
clergyman stepped into the room where the corpse was laid, and bent over the
coffin, to take a last farewell of his deceased parishioner. As he stooped,
the veil hung straight down from his forehead, so that, if her eyelids had
not been closed forever, the dead maiden might have seen his face. Could Mr.
Hooper be fearful of her glance, that he so hastily caught back the black
veil? A person who watched the interview between the dead and living, scrupled not to affirm, that, at the instant when the clergyman's
features were disclosed, the corpse had slightly shuddered, rustling the
shroud and muslin cap, though the countenance* retained the composure of
death. A superstitious old woman was the only witness of this prodigy*. From the coffin Mr. Hooper passed into the chamber of
the mourners, and thence to the head of the staircase, to make the funeral
prayer. It was a tender and heart-dissolving prayer, full of sorrow, yet
so imbued* with celestial hopes, that the music of a
heavenly harp, swept by the fingers of the dead, seemed faintly to be heard
among the saddest accents of the minister. The people trembled, though they
but darkly understood him when he prayed that they, and himself, and all of
mortal race, might be ready, as he trusted this young maiden had been, for
the dreadful hour that should snatch the veil from their faces. The bearers
went heavily forth, and the mourners followed, saddening all the street, with
the dead before them, and Mr. Hooper in his black veil behind.
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9.
"Why do you look back?" said one in the
procession to his partner.
"I had a fancy," replied she, "that the minister and the maiden's
spirit were walking hand in hand."
"And so had I, at the same moment," 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 their 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 crepe, 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 of the bridegroom, and
her deathlike paleness caused a whisper that the maiden who had been buried a
few hours before was come from her grave to be married. If ever another
wedding were so dismal*, it 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, like a
cheerful gleam from the hearth. At that instant, catching a glimpse of his
figure in the looking-glass, the black veil involved his own spirit in the
horror with which it overwhelmed all others. His frame shuddered, his lips
grew white, he spilt the untasted wine upon the carpet, and rushed forth into
the darkness. For the Earth, too, had on her Black Veil.
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10.
The next day, the whole village of Milford talked of little
else than Parson Hooper's black veil. That, and the mystery concealed behind it, supplied a topic for discussion between
acquaintances meeting in the street, and good women gossiping at their open
windows. It was the first item of news that the tavern-keeper told to his
guests. The children babbled of it on their way to school. One imitative
little imp covered his face with an old black handkerchief, thereby so
affrighting his playmates that the panic seized himself, and he well-nigh
lost his wits by his own waggery*.
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11.
It was remarkable that of all the busybodies and impertinent* people in the parish, not one ventured to put the plain question to Mr. Hooper, wherefore he did this thing. Hitherto, whenever there appeared the slightest call for such
interference, he had never lacked advisers, nor shown himself adverse to be guided by their judgment. If he erred at all, it was by so painful a degree of self-distrust,
that even the mildest censure* would lead him to consider an indifferent action
as a crime. Yet, though so well acquainted
with this amiable weakness, no individual among his
parishioners chose to make the black veil a subject of friendly remonstrance*. There was a feeling of dread, neither plainly
confessed nor carefully concealed, which caused each to shift the
responsibility upon another, till at length it was found expedient to send
a deputation* of the church,
in order to deal with Mr. Hooper about the mystery, before it should grow
into a scandal. 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 obvious enough. There was the black veil swathed round Mr.
Hooper's 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 crepe, 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*
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12.
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 chase away the strange cloud that appeared to be
settling round Mr. Hooper, every moment more darkly than before. As his plighted wife, it should be her privilege to know what the black
veil concealed. At the minister's first visit, therefore, she entered upon
the subject with a direct simplicity, which made the task easier both for him
and her. After he had seated himself, she fixed her eyes steadfastly upon the veil, but could discern nothing of the
dreadful gloom that had so overawed the multitude: it was but a double fold
of crepe, hanging down from his forehead to his mouth, and slightly stirring
with his breath.
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13.
"No," said she aloud, and smiling, "there is
nothing terrible in this piece of crepe, except that it hides a face which I
am always glad to look upon. Come, good sir, let the sun shine from behind
the cloud. First lay aside your black veil: then tell me why you put it
on."
Mr. Hooper's smile glimmered faintly.
"There is an hour to come," said he, "when all
of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of crepe till
then."
"Your words are a mystery, too," returned the young
lady. "Take away the veil from them, at least."
"Elizabeth, I will," said he, "so far as my vow
may suffer me. Know, then, this veil is
a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and
darkness, in solitude* and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with strangers, so with my familiar friends. No
mortal eye will see it withdrawn. This dismal shade must separate me from the
world: even you, Elizabeth, can never come behind it!"
"What grievous affliction* hath befallen you," she earnestly inquired,
"that you should thus darken your eyes forever?"
"If it be a sign of mourning," replied Mr. Hooper,
"I, perhaps, like most other mortals, have sorrows dark enough to be
typified by a black veil."
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14.
"But what if the world will not believe that it is the
type of an innocent sorrow?" urged Elizabeth. "Beloved and
respected as you are, there may be whispers that you hide your face under the
consciousness of secret sin. For the sake of your holy office, do away this
scandal!"
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, proceeding from the obscurity beneath the veil.
"If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause
enough," he merely replied; "and if I cover it for secret sin, what
mortal might not do the same?"
And with this gentle, but unconquerable obstinacy* did he resist all her entreaties*. At length Elizabeth sat silent. For a few moments she
appeared lost in thought, considering, probably, what new methods might be
tried to withdraw her lover from so dark a fantasy, which, if it had no other
meaning, was perhaps a symptom of mental disease. Though of a firmer
character than his own, the tears rolled down her cheeks. But, in an instant,
as it were, a new feeling took the place of sorrow: her eyes were fixed insensibly on the black veil, when, like a sudden twilight in the
air, its terrors fell around her. She arose, and stood trembling before him.
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15.
"And do you feel it then, at last?" said he
mournfully.
She made no reply, but covered her eyes with her hand, and
turned to leave the room. He rushed forward and caught her arm.
"Have patience with me, Elizabeth!" cried he,
passionately. "Do not desert me, though this veil must be between us
here on earth. Be mine, and hereafter there shall be no veil over my face, no
darkness between our souls! It is but a mortal veil--it is not for eternity!
O! you know not how lonely I am, and how frightened, to be alone behind my
black veil. Do not leave me in this miserable obscurity* forever!"
"Lift the veil but once, and look me in the face,"
said she.
"Never! It cannot be!" replied Mr. Hooper.
"Then farewell!" said Elizabeth.
She withdrew her arm from his grasp, and slowly departed,
pausing at the door, to give one long shuddering gaze, that seemed almost
to penetrate the mystery of the black
veil. But, even amid his grief, Mr. Hooper smiled to think that only a
material emblem had separated him from happiness.
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16.
From that time no attempts were made to remove Mr. Hooper's
black veil, or, by a direct appeal, to discover the secret which it was
supposed to hide. By persons who claimed a superiority to popular prejudice, it was reckoned merely an eccentric whim, such as often mingles with the sober actions of
men otherwise rational, and tinges them all with its own semblance of
insanity. But with the multitude, good Mr. Hooper 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 crepe.
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 intimated. 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 said 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, it was believed, respected his dreadful secret, and never blew
aside the veil. But still good Mr. Hooper sadly smiled at the pale visages of
the worldly throng as he passed by.
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17.
Among all its bad influences, the black veil had the one
desirable effect, of making its wearer a very efficient clergyman. By the aid
of 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 themselves, affirming, though but figuratively, that, before he brought them to celestial* light, they had been with him behind the black
veil. Its gloom, indeed, enabled him to sympathize with all dark affections.
Dying sinners cried aloud for Mr. Hooper, and would not yield their breath
till he appeared; though ever, as he stooped to whisper consolation*, they shuddered at the veiled face so near their own.
Such were the terrors of the black veil, even when Death had bared his visage! Strangers came long distances to attend service at his
church, with the mere idle purpose of gazing at his figure, because it was
forbidden them to behold his face. But many were made to quake ere they departed! Once, during Governor Belcher's
administration, Mr. Hooper was appointed to preach the election sermon.
Covered with his black veil, he stood before the chief magistrate, the
council, and the representatives, and wrought so deep an impression that the
legislative measures of that year were characterized by all the gloom and
piety of our earliest ancestral sway.
In this manner Mr. Hooper spent a
long life, irreproachable in outward 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.
18.
Several persons were visible by the shaded candle-light, in
the death chamber of the old clergyman. Natural connections he had none. But there was the decorously* grave, though unmoved physician, 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. There was the
nurse, no hired handmaiden of death, but one whose calm affection had endured thus long in secrecy, in solitude, amid the chill of
age, and would not perish, even at the dying hour. Who, but Elizabeth! And
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 breath caused it to stir. All
through life that piece of crepe had hung between him and the world: it had
separated him from cheerful brotherhood and woman's love, and kept him in
that saddest of all prisons, his own heart; and still it lay upon his face,
as if to deepen the gloom of his darksome chamber, and shade him from the
sunshine of eternity.
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22.
For some time previous, his mind had been confused, wavering
doubtfully between the past and the present, and hovering forward, as it
were, at intervals, into the indistinctness of the world to come. There had
been feverish turns, which tossed him from side to side, 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 solicitude* 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, and breath that grew fainter and
fainter, except when a long, deep, and irregular inspiration seemed to prelude the flight of his spirit.
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23.
The minister of Westbury approached the bedside.
"Venerable* Father Hooper," said he, "the
moment of your release is at hand. Are you ready for the lifting of the veil
that shuts in time from eternity?"
Father Hooper at first replied merely by a feeble motion of
his head; then, apprehensive*, perhaps, that his meaning might be doubtful, he exerted himself to speak.
"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 not this thing
be! Suffer us to be gladdened by your triumphant aspect as you go to your reward. Before the veil of eternity be
lifted, let me cast aside this black veil from your face!"
And thus speaking, the Reverend Mr. Clark bent forward to
reveal the mystery of so many years. But, exerting a sudden energy, that made
all the beholders stand aghast*, Father Hooper snatched both his hands from beneath
the bedclothes, and pressed them strongly on the black veil, resolute to struggle, if the minister of Westbury would contend with a dying man.
________________________________________________________
24.
"Never!" cried the veiled clergyman. "On earth,
never!"
"Dark old man!" exclaimed the affrighted minister,
"with what horrible crime upon your soul are you now passing to the
judgment?"
Father Hooper's breath heaved; it rattled in his throat; but,
with a mighty effort, grasping forward with his hands, he caught hold of
life, and held it back till he should speak. He even raised himself in bed;
and there he sat, shivering with the arms of death around him, while the
black veil hung down, awful at that last moment, in the gathered terrors of a
lifetime. And yet the faint, sad smile, so often there, now seemed to glimmer
from its obscurity*, and linger on
Father Hooper's lips.
25.
"Why do you tremble at me alone?" cried he, turning
his veiled face round the circle of pale spectators. "Tremble also at
each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children
screamed and fled, only for my black veil? What, but the mystery which
it obscurely typifies, has made this
piece of crepe so awful? 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!"
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 is moss-grown, and
good Mr. Hooper's face is dust; but awful is still the thought that it moldered beneath the Black Veil!
|
sexton-
a person who looks
after a church and churchyard
Sabbath- holy day
throng- large group
semblance- the
apparent form o something
pulpit- platform,
podium
garb- clothing
swathed -wrapped
to intercept – to
interfere
perturbation-
anxiety, mental agitation
repose- state of
rest
to ascent- to climb
obscurity-mystery
crepe- 1.a light,
thin fabric with a wrinkled surface
discourse-
discussion
Omniscient- the All
Knowing
iniquity- sin
pathos- emotional
sadness
unwonted- unusual
visage- face
indecorous- improper
to profane- to swear
hoary- white
vagary- quirk,
oddity
countenance- facial
expression
prodigy- a wonder
to imbue- to fill
disposition-temperament,
character
to portend- to
foreshadow
dismal- depressing
knell- sound of a
bell announcing a funeral
waggery- silly
behavior
impertinent- rude,
ill mannered
censure-expression
of disapproval
remonstrance-
reproach
deputation-
committee, delegation
placid- calm,
even-tempered
abashed-
embarrassed, ashamed
synod- an assembly
of the clergy
*unapplalled- not
dismayed
solitude-state of
being alone
affliction-something
causing pain or suffering
intimated- made
known
obstinacy-
stubbornness
entreaties- requests
obscurity- the state
of being unknown
impertinence-
rudeness
antipathy-a
deep-seated feeling of dislike
plausibility-having
an appearance of truth
fiend- an evil
spirit or demon.
celestial- heavenly
consolation-comfort
received by a person after a loss or disappointment.
sable- black
decorously- politely
mitigate- to ease,
lessen
solicitude-care or
concern for someone or something.
venerable- accorded
a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character.
apprehensive-anxious
or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen.
aghast- filled with
horror or shock.
obscurity- the state
of being unknown, inconspicuous, or unimportant.
loathsomely- causing
hatred or disgust; repulsive.
molder- slowly decay
or disintegrate
|
Accompanying questions for "The Minister's Black Veil"
If you are absent, please send the responses along.
Name________________________________-
Please respond to each of the
following questions from “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In
order to receive credit, you must have complete sentences and weave in textual
evidence.
1.
How does Hawthorne describe the veil?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2.
How does wearing the veil affect the funeral and
the wedding?
_________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
3.
What is the significance of the topic of the
first sermon Mr. Hooper gives with the veil on?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4.
What is Elizabeth’s relationship to Hooper? What
eventually happens to her?
________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
5.
How does the world outside react to the veil?
________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
6.
What is with Mr. Hooper’s “sad” or “melancholy smile? Hawthorne mentions this many times. Why is he
smiling like this and so frequently?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
7.
How do you think the community would have
reacted if a non-authority figure had worn the veil?
_______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8.
A parable is moral or spiritual lesson. In what
way is “The Minister’s Black Veil” a parable?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
SEVEN DEADLY SINS WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Name_________________________________-
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story
“The Minister’s Black Veil” explores the nature of sin. Although the seven
deadly sins are NOT listed in the Bible, they are alluded to. Pope Gregory in
the 600 CE (common error) first listed them, along with the 7 virtues that
serve as their antidotes: kindness, temperance, charity, chastity, humility,
zeal and patience.
Here is the list of the seven deadly
sins.
1. envy- a feeling of discontented or
resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck.
2. gluttony- habitual greed or excess in
eating.
3. greed- intense and selfish desire for
something, especially wealth or power
4. lust- very strong sexual desire.
5. pride- a feeling or deep pleasure or
satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those
with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are
widely admired.
6. sloth- reluctance to work or make an
effort; laziness.
7. wrath- extreme anger
ASSIGNMENT: You are to write a short story of
approximately three pages that tells the tale of an individual who is afflicted
with one or more of the deadly sins.
Parameters: well-developed character- physical
characteristics, attitude towards ???
Well-developed setting-
time, place---make sure the reader understands / feels the environment
Plot- follow standard
plot structure-
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