The Minister

1
The Ministers Black Veil

• A Parable
• by
• Nathaniel Hawthorne

2
Nathaniel Hawthorne

• 1804 1864
• Born in Salem, Massachusetts
• Descended from a prominent Puritan family
• Believed that evil was a dominant force in the
  world.
• His fiction expresses a gloomy vision of human
  affairs.

3
Inherited Guilt

• One of Hawthornes ancestors was a Puritan judge
  who played a key role in the Salem witchcraft
  trials.
• Another ancestor was a judge known for his
  persecution of Quakers.
• Both Hawthornes character and focus as a writer
  were shaped by a sense of inherited guilt.
• He was haunted by the intolerance and cruelty of
  ancestors.
• He was not a Puritan and was born 112 years after
  the Salem witchcraft trials.

4
Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Master of symbolism and allegory
• He wrote throughout his life.
• After graduating from Maines Bowdoin College in
  1825, he wrote a novel, Fanshawe.
• Soon after the books anonymous publication in
  1828, he was seized by shame and abruptly burned
  most available copies of his book.

5
Nathaniel Hawthorne

• During the nine years that followed, he honed his
  writing skills working in a room he called the
  dismal chamber.
• This resulted in a collection of stories entitled
  Twice Told Tales published in 1837.
• Although the book sold poorly, it established him
  as a respected writer.
• Gave him sufficient resources and encouragement
  to continue his writing.

6
Nathaniel Hawthorne

• In 1850, he published his masterpiece The Scarlet
  Letter, a powerful novel about sin and guilt
  among early Puritans.
• This book was extremely successful.
• Earned him international fame
• He soon wrote two more novels, The House of the
  Seven Gables (1851) and The Blithedale Romance
  (1852).

7
Nathaniel Hawthorne

• When his friend Franklin Pierce became president,
  Hawthorne was named American consul at Liverpool,
  England.
• He spent several years in England and traveled
  through Italy before returning to Massachusetts.
• Used his Italian experiences in the novel Marble
  Faun (1860).
• Hawthorne died four years later.
• He left four unfinished novels among his
  belongings.

8
The Ministers Black Veil A Parable

• Parable a simple, usually brief , story that
  teaches a moral lesson.
• A type of Allegory which is a story with both a
  literal and a symbolic meaning.
• In subtitling this story A Parable, Hawthorne
  indicates that the moral lesson it conveys is
  important.

9
Connecting Literary Elements

• The veil that Mr. Hooper vows never to remove is
  a symbol something that has meaning in itself
  while also standing for something greater.
• To understand the message expressed, analyze
  veils symbolic meaning.
• Revealed through responses of parishioners
• Revealed in ministers own deathbed explanation.

10
Reading Strategy

• Draw inferences about meaning.
• When message of work of fiction is conveyed
  indirectly through symbols, the reader must draw
  inferences, or conclusions.
• Look closely at details, especially descriptions
  and dialogue.

11
Inference

• Drawing inferences is a way of interpreting a
  characters behavior, statements, or an authors
  message.
• Description Dialogue
• He has changed himself into something awful,
  only by hiding his face.
• Inference Villagers are frightened by the veil.

12
Vocabulary

• venerable adj. commanding respect p. 342
• iniquity n. sin wickedness (p.343)
• indecorous adj. improper (p. 343)
• ostentatious adj. intended to attract notice
  showy (p. 343).
• sagacious adj. shrewd perceptive (p. 343)

13
Vocabulary

• vagary n. unpredictable occurrence p. 344
• tremulous adj. characterized by trembling (p.
  345)
• waggery n. mischievous humor (p.345)
• impertinent adj. not showing proper respect (p.
  346)
• obstinacy n. stubbornness

14
Connecting to the Literature

• A secret, when kept too long can take on a
  mysterious significance.
• It can cause people to fill in the missing story
  and draw their own untrue conclusions.
• In The Ministers Black Veil, a Puritan parson
  keeps a secret from an entire village for his
  whole life.