Verified Document

Nathanial Hawthorne: The Ministers Black Essay

Mr. Hooper states that he is no better or worse than the other members of his community, who he believes also harbor secret sins, even though they act as though they do not. The anti-Transcendentalist concept, like Transcendentalism, suggests that society harbors a false surface, but it believes this is due to an innate sinfulness of humankind, not because human beings outside of society are better.

Anti-transcendentalists believed that humans are hypocrites, and removing social constrictions will not heal the sins of humanity. Mr. Hooper, unlike Emerson's joyful sense of solitude in nature also experiences his isolation as a penance. He chooses to punish himself, not to gain a more positive sense of his inner self, but to fully understand and apprehend its sinfulness. Another key concept of Transcendentalism is the idea that a person's inner life is more important than their social, outer life. However, in Mr. Hooper's estimation, there is a clear need for the individual to suffer social consequences, even for a private sin. Of the first sermon that he gives after donning the veil: "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" (Hawthorne 874).

Hawthorne's anti-Transcendentalism, like Transcendentalism states that there is a discrepancy between the social and the...

But that 'true' secret self can be darker and more sinful than the 'bad' social self that Transcendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau were attempting to escape. Mr. Hooper also seems to believe in a need for some formal, religious structure of atonement for human beings to be pardoned for their sins. "Transcendentalists called for an independence from organized religion; they saw no need for any intercession in the relationship between God and the individual man. Divinity is self-contained, internalized in all beings" (Brulatour 1999). Mr. Hooper's belief in organized religion, even though he disdains human hypocrisy, is manifest in the fact that he still continues to preach from the pulpit. Because of his belief in the universality of sin, he does not believe that his action -- whatever it may be -- precludes him from the ministry. He never abandons his faith, even though he has chosen to submit himself to a punishment that is not specifically specified in the guidelines and the strict dogma of his Puritanism.
Works Cited

Brulatour, Meg. "Heaven on Earth: The Legacy of 19th Century Transcendentalism as an Ecumenical Philosophy of Nature." American Transcendentalist Web 1999

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." E-text available from http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawMini.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Brulatour, Meg. "Heaven on Earth: The Legacy of 19th Century Transcendentalism as an Ecumenical Philosophy of Nature." American Transcendentalist Web 1999

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." E-text available from http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawMini.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Black English Isn't a Language,
Words: 1017 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

He uses alliteration and repetition to continue his argument throughout. While doing this his word choice is very intellectual with words containing more than two syllables. He uses this word choice to convey the power of language. He does this because as a Black man, he wants the white world to see different context is possible. In this respect, he establishes his argument by applying a strong tone along

Black Picket Fences
Words: 3033 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Black Picket Fences Sharlene looked at me with her big, watery brown eyes. "No," she said emphatically, with a definite doleful tone in her voice. "I have never felt like I fit in here." Sharlene, who is 31 years old and has two children, is a black woman that falls into what Mary Patillo-McCoy calls the "black middle class." However, unlike the men, women, and children that Patillo-McCoy interviews for her

Black Vernacular English
Words: 1808 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

African-American Vernacular English can be described as an assortment of American English that is mostly used by urban-working class and mostly bi-dialectical middle-class black Americans. The language is also commonly known as Black Vernacular English or Black English. In some cases, particularly outside the academic community, it is referred to as Ebonics given its distinctive features and similarities with other non-standard English varieties. The similarities with other varieties are evident

Black Slaves in North America
Words: 538 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Once they arrived, they were brought to a slave market and usually auctioned off to the highest bidder just as cattle and horses were auctioned off. The slaves then spent their lives of servitude helping white farm and plantation owners in their agricultural operations. The slaves weren't typically compensated and lived in deplorable conditions. Slavery helped many white land owners become rich, and the southern colonies, which turned into

English Have Learned Valuable Communication
Words: 631 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

A appreciate the fact that this English course also included sections on writing effective narrative papers. I found narrative papers to be fun to write because they involve storytelling and rich descriptive language. I feel more creative writing narrative papers, which is why I prefer writing them, as opposed to research papers. When we write narrative papers, I can draw from personal experience, which makes the writing process easier than

English Poems the Problem Regarding Racial Equality
Words: 1004 Length: 3 Document Type: Thesis

English Poems The problem regarding racial equality can be traced as far back as the African-American slave trade of the 1400s. But even after the Civil War and the Reconstruction of the United States, there is no denying the fact that a racial tension still exists between "whites" and "blacks." Many authors, artists, and poets have portrayed this tension, sometimes even going as far back as inspiring their audience through language

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now