In Hawthorne's enigmatic story, "The Minister's Black Veil," the main character is the Reverend Mr. Hooper, his fiancee is named Elizabeth. No other character is named other than "Goodman Gray," who is symbolic of all the Puritan men and Mr. Clark. At the end of the story as Mr. Hooper dies, the Reverend Mr. Clark of Westbury arrives; he is "a young and zealous divine, who had ridden in haste to pray by the bedside of the expiring minister." In the congregation of Mr. Hooper, there are people referred to in common noun identity as "a faithful woman at his pillow," or "one of the procession," or "a superstitious old woman," or "an old woman."
This use of few names by Hawthorne suggests the lack of individuality in the congregation; they are but types of Puritans. Because they lack individuality, they lack the individual strength to respond to the wearing of the veil by Mr. Hooper. No one will step forward and acknowledge his/her sins. In fact, they are frightened by the veil that Mr. Hooper has donned. Perhaps he knows one of their secrets.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment