A Comparison of The Ministers Black Veil and the...

A Comparison of The Ministers Black Veil and the Birthmark Both of these stories revolve around a lot of symbolism. These stories, since they really dont make a lot of sense on their own, force the reader to look deeper in an attempt to understand the ideas that Hawthorne tries to get across. The first and most evident symbol is the faces of the people. Georgiana has the birthmark if the shape of a hand, and the black veil that Hooper wore. I think that Hawthorne chooses to focus on the peoples faces because a persons face is pretty much the center of their being. The face is where a person shows the majority of their emotions, and it holds the brain, which well, is where everything starts at. So, a persons face is very†¦show more content†¦This may represent the fact that we are born the way god wants us to be, and we really should accept people as they are. This acceptance was something that Aylmer could not handle because of his personality. In The Birthmark Georgiana is afraid of her husband, whereas the all of the people ended up being afraid of the minister. I think that these two stories represent the inner struggle that we all have in our endeavors to achieve perfection, and hide our own faults from the world. These efforts will eventually drag some of to our ends. I havent read The Ministers Black Veil but I have read The Birthmark. The basic idea there is that this scientist loved his wife, and thought she was perfect except for a birthmark on her face that other men had found endearing. He endeavours to remove the birthmark from her, and succeeds, but in doing so kills her, because she was too perfect to live on this earth. I think a parallel here is between the birthmark and the letter that appears on Dimmesdales chest; when Dimmesdale is finally able to confess that he was the fellow sinner and the father of Hesters illegitimate child, he brings himself nearer to his ideal of perfection by repenting not only to the town but to God. Like the wife, he too dies as he has reached a level of perfection that has no place on earth. Hawthorne writes puritanical allegories. The Ministers black veil and young goodman brown, are religious allegories where the mainShow MoreRelatedNathaniel Hawthorne: A Brief Biography1277 Words   |  6 Pageshim thither† (Arvin 199). This showed the guilt he carried over his shoulders from his ancestor’s choices. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† was a perfect example of sin, guilt, and repentance (â€Å"Nathaniel†). Like â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† also showed proof that Hawthorne was influenced by his life. Continuing with the theme of isolation, Hawthorne wrote, â€Å"He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face† (Arvin 11). Hawthorne most likely used this common themeRead MoreAnalysis Of `` The Scarlet Letter `` By Edgar Allen Poe892 Words   |  4 PagesEdgar Allen Poe. However, another writer around the same time also made an impact. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 to an old New England family who can be traced to old Salem. He is best known for his short stories like â€Å"The Birthmark† and â€Å"The Minister s Black Veil†; and the classic novel â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†. He died in 1864 on a tour of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Most of his stories takes place during puritan Massachusetts. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is such a story. It is about a