Understanding Hawthornes In The Thesis Statement English Literature Essay

In “ The Minister ‘s Black Veil: A Parable ” and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the curates, Arthur Dimmesdale and the Reverend Mr. Hooper, trade with a great trade of sorrow and heartache. The work forces have something that weighs them down and suppress their day-to-day lives. In these two narratives, Hawthorne takes two well-respected, knowing Puritan work forces and easy destruct their lives throughout the class of their several narratives to turn out a point to his audience. Hawthorne is thought to be one of the most influential authors in American History. He is credited with utilizing a great trade of symbolism and subject in his authorship. Many of the subjects he normally deals with in Puritan New England are guilt, disaffection, and secret wickedness. Hawthorne wrote many dateless narratives such as The Scarlet Letter, The Blithedale Romance, and The House of Seven Gables, where he uses many of these subjects and symbols ( Reuben ) . Both Arthur Dimmesdale and the Reverend Mr. Hooper are both good liked, successful work forces, but are tormented because both work forces choose to let their agony to go on.

In the beginning of the narratives, the reader is introduced to two really of import Puritan curates, Arthur Dimmesdale and the Reverend Mr. Hooper. Hooper is a really good liked adult male. Every Sabbath twenty-four hours, after his discourse, many people from his fold converse with him, and some invite him to eat dinner at their places. Dimmesdale portions these same qualities. He is looked upon as a well-respected Puritan curate. He is looked on as one of the cardinal leaders of the community ( Telgen 310 ) . Hawthorne chooses a well-respected adult male to do his point that much stronger ( Martin, Nathaniel Hawthorne 75 ) .

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In “ The Minister ‘s Black Veil ” , Hooper is tormented by his disaffection due to the fact that he is have oning this cryptic head covering. Peoples who used to love him and speak to him and ask for him to dinner will no longer prosecute him in conversation. Children who used to recognize him when they passed him on the street now run off in fright as if he were some sort of monster. Besides, as a consequence of his obstinacy directed toward the enigma of the head covering, he loses Elizabeth because, even when she asks him to, he will non take the head covering. The head covering transforms him into person who is wholly apart from his community ( Martin, Nathaniel Hawthorne 75 ) . Hooper wears the head covering to typify secret wickedness. He claims that everyone wears the head covering of secret wickedness because they have sin that they have n’t confessed, and besides says that he sees the head covering on all of his fold ‘s Black Marias ( Martin, Nathaniel Hawthorne 75 ) . The same applies for Arthur Dimmesdale. Sing the vermilion missive on Hester ‘s thorax every twenty-four hours torments him. He feels an tremendous sum of sorrow and sorrow over the fact that she must travel through everyday with the shame of the vermilion missive ‘s symbolism. At the same clip, he feels awfully guilty over the fact that she has confessed her wickedness whereas he has pinned it all up indoors. Hester has confessed, therefore she no longer has any sort of compunction or guilt built up. Dimmesdale on the other manus, has so much of all of these things that it ‘s thought that he even resorted to penance.

In both of these narratives, the work forces who have this built up compunction and sorrow, who have been suffering from the twenty-four hours of their shaping act, until, literally, the terminal of their lives, choose to allow all of their hurting and heartache continue. In “ The Minister ‘s Black Veil ” , Hooper puts the head covering on out of his ain free will. He could hold taken it off at any clip over the many old ages he kept it on. Even after he loses his bespoken, Elizabeth, he still

bears the mask. Hooper will non take the head covering. He becomes separated from any sort of emotion. The veil Acts of the Apostless as a kind of barrier to maintain his emotions in and maintain others ‘ emotions wholly out. Readers tend to believe that the Reverend Mr. Hooper puts on the head covering because he is guilty of some sort of secret wickedness. However, many people in his fold give their premises as to his ground for have oning the black head covering. Some say he strained his eyes, some say it is a symbol of insanity. Some even go every bit far to state that it is a symbol of heartache and bereavement for person who had passed on. His parish and his community leave him wholly and absolutely entirely. Whatever the critics may state, Hooper ne’er gives a true ground for have oning the head covering. Whenever person, including his betrothed, asks why he every bit chosen to maintain the head covering, he replies with a vague, opaque reply, fundamentally stating that there are many grounds that he has kept the head covering. Some critics, one being Edgar Allan Poe, hold given their assorted guesss on why he chose to hide his life in secretiveness. ( Martin, Nathaniel Hawthorne 74-5 ) . In The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale replicates the same behaviour. Dimmesdale agonizes for old ages over his ultimate failure and his guilt and anguish that resulted. He knows that he could squeal and his heartache would be extinguished like Hester ‘s. However, despite all this, he continues to bear this grade on his psyche and unrecorded with all his hurting and dishonour built up inside and leaves it buried within him until he uses his concluding breaths to squeal it. He volitionally lets the remainder of his life be ruined because he can non cite the bravery to cleanse his psyche by stating the truth. In the terminal, Dimmesdale is the instigator of his ain ruin.

Both of these work forces go through so much to turn out one of Hawthorne ‘s most celebrated

subjects. Hawthorne uses these work forces to demo how the mass bulk views the dangers of secret wickedness, and how non squealing your wickedness will take you down a way of hurting and agony.

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