The Minister’s Black Veil pages 316-327

Answer these questions with complete sentences.

An allegory is a literary work in which characters, events, details of setting, and other story elements have a symbolic meaning. For example, the minister’s veil in Hawthorne’s story is a symbol of the secret sins of all humanity.

1. List three details or events in the story that hint at the veil’s symbolic meaning. Explain the meaning of all three details.

a.)

b.)

c.)

2. Through the use of symbols such as the minister’s veil, allegories teach a moral lesson. What is the moral lesson that Hawthorn’s story teaches?

3. How do the other characters react to Pason Hooper?

4. What do these reactions suggest about human nature?

5. How does the veil affect Parson Hooper’s perception of the world?

a.) does it isolate him?

b.) does it make him a more effective minister?

6. What does Parson Hooper mean when he tells Elizabeth, “There is an hour to come… when all of us shall cast aside our veils”?

7. Why do you think Hawthorne does not reveal the reason Parson Hooper begins wearing the veil?