The Minister's Black Veil: The Parable's message and a personal moral lesson

 Hawthorne's short story The Minister's Black Veil, expresses a moral lesson in a very poetic way.  His main character, Reverend Hooper, is built to show in his parable how people must show their true colors and not be prejudiced against people based on superficial attributes.  As a way to illustrate this teaching to the reader, he gives Hooper a black veil to wear over his face save for the mouth area.  This single, insignificant strip of doubled-up cloth is all that is required to disturb the townspeople.  When they first see Hooper wearing the veil, they don't believe that it is their minister, but as he mounts the pulpit and begins the sermon, the people of the town start to think he has gone mad.  This scene is depicting exactly what Hawthorne is trying to express.

The townspeople are-- throughout the story-- judging Hooper for the donning of his piece of black cloth;  the men do not talk to him, the women stop whatever they're doing and stare at him, even the children stop playing their games and scream, running away.  Hooper's wife Elizabeth is the only one to stay loyal, but she leaves him after he refuses to take off his veil; she comes back to him in the declining days of his life as his maid of death.  On his deathbed, the new Reverend Clark begs Hooper to take off his veil.  Hooper refuses and scolds his visitors, telling them why he wears this veil.  "Why do you tremble at me alone?  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 crape 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!".

Hooper dies after he states his piece, but it leaves a deep moral lesson to his congregation, and the reader.  This parable definitely leaves a scoring mark on the idea of how easy it is to judge based on superficial traits.

I normally am the therapist of my social circles and family, and normally what I do is give them practical and moral advice and lessons.  There is one story that definitely stands out from the rest-- very similar to The Minister's Black Veil-- that I had taught a friend of mine.    Last year I met a freshman named Jeremias who had dressed a certain way, acted a certain way, listened to certain music, and talked to certain people.  I learned that this behavior was to try and "fit in" with other social circles; this sadly did not help at all.  He was chastised for how he looked and how shy he was around other people.  When he talked to me, I wasn't judgmental like my classmates, and I learned that he was an entirely different person who was far more interesting and colorful than he let most people know.

I worked on helping him let his actual self out so that he may gain new friends and live a happier life.  By this year he had fully embraced himself and that he need not hide himself and express who he truly is.  This is definitely a situation that had a more happier ending than Hooper's lifelong lesson of non-discrimination, which ended in a dark and angry theme.

RESPONSIBILITY 

Responsibility is the concept of executing one's duties of society, of the family, and to oneself; responsibility is also taking the effect of one's actions.  There are many people in this society that follow through with their duties as people, and sometimes atone for their occasional misguidance.  There are young adults who have to take care of their younger siblings, their pets, their sickly parents, among all their other chores.  There are people who have a duty to society, to save people from fires, violent individuals, legal issues, and much more.  There are even unwritten responsibilities that some people might have to abide by:  Keeping an eye on a friend in need, protecting loved ones and others, or quite possibly just making sure that someone is having a good day.  

Many people take their responsibilities seriously, making sure that whatever they are entrusted with is taken care of; however, there are people who don't take responsibility for a number of things.  There are people who don't take care of their families, who don't watch out for their siblings, who don't go to school, and possibly won't accept the consequences of their actions.  

I am one person who is responsible, I'm not a person who's one of the fold that don't do what they need to do.  I do what I have to do for others, and for myself to be the best  in my skill-set and my fields of expertise.  My biggest responsibility currently is going through school, cultivating my skills of art and writing, and being the male role model for my little nephews.  Two years ago, I had a conversation with my friend Whitney; she was a twenty two year old make-up artist for many new up and coming independent films.  We were talking about my future, and why it was so important to work as hard as possible in school.  She told me about her time in school when she was having a rough time at home, and that her grades were not looking so good.  She worked twice as hard, even went to court about her diploma, but to no avail.  The school we had both went to was not a college preparation school, and did not grade most of our work, which we had done repeatedly so that they would recognize it and put the marks on our report cards.  

She did not get her diploma until she had turned twenty one the year before, which I thought was awful.  I pledged that I would work twice as hard as any of my classmates from then on, so that I could show her my diploma, and how hard I worked to obtain it; I haven't stopped working hard since. But my responsibility doesn't stop there.  My responsibilities stretch as far as being the male influence in my three nephews' lives.  I was twelve when they were born, and they are five years old today, going on six in May.  My sister did not know who the father was, so my nephews were fatherless, and only had a grandfather and me as their only role models of their own gender.  

My mom's first husband, Ernie, was getting re-married to a new woman, and would have to be working extra hard on his construction jobs, even after his knee surgery which he recently underwent.  Ernie rarely has time these days to make visits to my nephews, so I fill in the gaps, even though I have a busy schedule.  I make sure they enjoy the day when I visit them, or they visit me, spending quality time with them.  I give Devon, Jayden, and Corey happy memories when I see them because then they can go back to their own homes and recollect when I spent time with them, when a male influence was in their life for a day.  

Sometimes I have to be responsible to myself as well, because artists can't neglect their artistic side.  An artist has a creative child in them, just wriggling to burst out.  I was a colorful story-teller when I was a child, always making up these miraculous tales and worlds while playing by myself.  I had little friends growing up, so I forged fantastical tales from my own imagination.  In the seventh grade, I drew elaborate stick figures and stories to go with them, and eventually was taught to properly draw the human body by a comic artist who worked for Marvel.  I consumed whatever information I could, reading books on drapery and wrinkles on clothes, to dynamic poses, and an entire book devoted on hand positions.  This summer I went to a pre-college art program.  It tested and stretched my artistic abilities, the way I operate, and the way I think as an artist.  Nurturing the creative side is a definite responsibility because if it is neglected, I could lose my identity as a human being, and become cold and bitter.

Responsibility is not only a sociological need by a community, it helps condition individuals and strengthens them as a whole, so that they can be the best person they can be.  

Assertion final

Anne Bradstreet uses dramatic words and phrases to illustrate the creed that the Puritans live by.  She paints a mental picture of the burning of her house, whether it be real or figurative, no on knows.  Her use of the verses "Then coming out, behold a space/ The flame consume my dwelling place".  These verses depicts the fire.  "And when I could no longer look/ I blest his grace that gave and took.  These verses tell about how Anne begins to change her thoughts on what is happening, and realizes that the fire is God's doing.   "That laid my goods now in the dust/ Yea, so it was, and so 'twas just"; these verses are displaying how absolute the Puritan tenets are, especially the plain lifestyle of the group.  "It was his own; it was not mine/ Far be it that I should repine", this part of the poem indicates how everything is God's and that Anne should not be worried about her loss.  "He might of all justly bereft/ But yet sufficient for us left", these verses correlate to God burning Anne's house, and how it was justly done, but also how he leaves the bare essentials of life so that she may live simply.  Anne's reaction is to, for a moment, sink into sorrow, but then realize that God had punished her for not living simply.  She continues to reinforce her views  in the verses, "Adieu, Adieu, All's Vanity", "Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust", "Thou hast a house on high erect", and "There's wealth enough; I need no more".  These verses convey the Puritan ideals of simple living, that all material objects are worth nothing in the end, and that God gives them all that they need.

Assertion Paragraph

In Anne Bradstreet's confessional poem, "Upon the burning of our house", she is expressing her sorrow, and how it is connected with God punishing her. Anne writes about this "Fire" that is occurring in her poem, which is evident in the verses, "Then coming out, behold a space/The flame consume my dwelling space/And when I could no longer look/ I blest his grace that gave and took".  The first two verses describe a fire at her house, and the last two describe how she feels about the incident, and how it is connected to God.  The last two verses stand out the most because of her controversial reaction to the fire, which is gratitude for supposed punishment by God.  She continues to express how her house is the element of frivolous living, instead of how God wants her to live:  "Adieu, Adieu, All's Vanity/ Then straight I 'gin my heart to chide:/ And did thy wealth on earth abide/ Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust,/ The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?/ Raise up they thoughts above the sky/ That dunghill mists away may fly/ Thou hast a house on high erect/ Fram'd by that mighty Architect".  She's conveying to the reader that all material objects are worthless in the eyes of the Lord.  This is the tenet of simple living that the Puritans chose to live by, believing that this was what their God wanted, and this is the tenet that Anne Bradstreet wrote of.

Anne Bradstreet's "Upon the burning of our house" uses its unpleasant diction of words, such as "Piteous shrieks of dreadful voice", "That fearful sound of 'fire' and 'fire'", and "And to my God my heart did cry".  This use of words is showing a very raw and harsh attitude about how the author is feeling.  This poem, a confessional poem, is conveying a Puritan tenet, which is the law of simple living.  According to Puritan belief, everyone must live simply and not frolic in material possessions.  This belief that Bradstreet is trying to deliver to the audience, is evident in the verses, "There's wealth enough; I need no more/Farewell my pelf; farewell, my store/ The world no longer let me love/ My hope and Treasure lies above".  

"Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come.  The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation:  let every one fly out of Sodom:  "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed."~ Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

This quote is telling people to repent from their evil ways, and start fearing the Lord.  The first sentence is saying that everyone that is not with Christ, start following the word of God, and ergo avoid his wrath.   The second sentence is straightforward:  God's hand of judgement is looming over you, and the only way to escape calamity is to do what he wants you to do, and that is to follow his word.  The first part after the colon is where Edwards is telling his congregation to get out of their sinful ways.  the second part after the colon is Edwards telling his congregation to flee from sin quickly, don't look back at your trail, and go to the mountain (a very symbolic element in the Bible as a refuge from evil) or you will be taken back into sin.

I believe that these words and phrases are important to this quote:  Christ, wrath, Almighty God, congregation, Sodom, Haste and escape for your lives, mountain, and consumed.  

Starting with Christ, this is the area where every puritan, or just Christian in general wants to be.  "Christ" is the main figure of Christianity, and he is the savior of them.  Edwards uses his name to emphasize how out of line the sinners are, that they are not following Christ, and therefore God.  

Wrath is a very main theme in this quote.  Wrath is another word for "God is going to kick your ass and then burn you alive".  This is what Edwards' entire sermon is based upon.  He's telling his audience, his congregation, that unless you follow God's laws, then you are sinning, and are subject to some hardcore punishing by God.

Almighty God is what the Christians think of their deity:  Almighty.  His word is absolute, his laws are what you follow, and it co-supports the punishment of sinners if you don't follow his laws.

Congregation is important because this is Edwards' audience, the people he's warning of God's wrath.  His descriptive words are his way of trying to tell them that they are sinning, and they must repent and reform their ways.  

Sodom is very vital in the phrase, because this is another way of symbolizing sin, evil, and straying from God.  Sodom was a city in which it was supposedly destroyed by flaming brimstone falling from the sky, and that God had a hand in it.  The reason that Sodom was destroyed was that it's residents were sinners, and therefore were subject to doom by God's will.  This word is placing the sinners of Edwards' congregation in that idea, that they are sinning and they ought to be changing their ways before they are doomed.

"Haste and escape for your lives" is Edwards saying that you better stop sinning, and stop fast, for God has no patience and he will strike you down quickly if he wants.  

The word, "mountain"  is the symbol of the Christian refuge from evil.  If one is "flying out of Sodom", then where does a Christian go?  To the mountain.  That is where they achieve salvation and are safe from sin and all things bad to a Christian.

The word "Consumed" is basically Edwards telling his congregation that they will be devoured by their own vices, and that unless you follow the tenets of the Puritans, you're going straight to Hell, one way or another.

This quote is Edwards' way of saying "Follow God's word, or go to Hell".