Hawthorne's Ribbons and Veils

Nathaniel Hawthorne has a brilliant method of connecting his works. When closely examining the stories, Young Goodman Brown and The Ministers Black Veil. one can see these similarities. Hawthorne uses colors, secret sins, and gloomy deaths to carefully tie a bow with the ribbons of these stories. The first similarity between Young Goodman Brown, and The Ministers Black Veil is the obvious color usage. Hawthorne uses the color’s symbolic meaning to convey subliminal ideas or thoughts toward objects and characters in his stories.

In Young Goodman Brown, the color brown is used to give one a feeling of gloom or uncleanness toward the main character, Goodman Brown. Hawthorne casts this awareness to his readers in the very beginning contrasting the character’s actions. Goodman Brown is portrayed as a good person, trying to fight the evils by, sitting himself down on a stump of a tree. and refusing to go any further.

Brown tells the too far, too far! as they walk deeper into the forest.

He states that he and his ancestors are,a race of honest men and good Christians. Unfortunately, in the end, the brown in him or the dirtiness in him surfaces when he precedes With the devil. And maddened with despair, so that he laughed loud and long, did Goodman Brown grasp his staff and set forth again. Brown later rejects God saying, what God doth the wizard pray to7. His brownness appeared in the author’s words when describing him as becoming a darkly meditative man.

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Such gloom and uncleanness is portrayed in, The Ministers Black Veil through the color black, The black veil that Reverend Hooper wore is described as a gloomy shade. Hawthorne uses this new apparel to show changes in the reverend himself. The story spoke ot how his sermon was, tinged, rather more darkly as usual, with the gentle gloom of Mr. Hopper’s temperament.

The words dark and gloom are prevalent in both works and in each of the works, the colors, brown and black, are used to help portray this dreariness. There is yet another similarity between Hawthorne’s two works, This similarity is the mysterious secret sins. The secret sins in The Ministers Black Veil are obviously mentioned several times throughout the story. The topic of the minister’s first sermon while wearing the veil was regarding secret sins. 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. The minister wile asks him. What grievous affliction half befallen you… He responds saying that he has. sorrows dark enough to be typified by a back veil when the reverend is confronted with the gossip of a secret sin, he reacts saying if I cover my face for secret sin. what mortal might not do the same.

Secret srns are also a destructive force in Young Goodman Brown. The secret sins of the townspeople. and later Goodman Brown himself, are exposed when Brown happens upon the witch meeting in the forest. The next morning. Brown is separated from the community because of secret sins. When his family would pray, Brown would glare at her and then, turn away. The dramatic ending of both stories are the most obvious similarity. Both of these men were so affected by the sins of themselves and others that they died in very dreadful spirits. Goodman Brown was portrayed as a happy man in the beginning when speaking of his wife. He reefers to her as his. sweet. pretty Wife. He contradicts this in the end when Faith comes skipping down the street to greet him and she most kissed her husband before the whole village. But goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting.

The story ends emphasizing Goodman Brown’s unhappiness in saying, for his dying hour was gloom, Minister Hooper also died in grief because of the happenings in his life. He never lifted the veil of darkness from his life. Upon his death bed, he had a, faint, sad smile on his face. His veil was an outward symbol of his grief and it was reported that he died, a Veiled corpse. Although Hoppers veil was visible, one could say that Brown died with a veil of his own, the invrsible veil of gloom. Hawthorne has many works that he has constructively tied together in a unique bow. Hawthorne ties this now With the similarities of the color usage. secret sins, and gloomy deaths in the stories, Young Goodman Brown and The Ministers Black Veil. These are two example ribbons intertwined into a beautiful bow of connecting stories.