“The Minister's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story that was first published in the 1836 edition of the Token and Atlantic Souvenir and has reappeared over time in Twice-Told Tales, a collection of short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The novella recounts the events following Reverend Mr. Hooper's decision to begin wearing a black veil that obscures his entire face except for his mouth and chin. Mr. Hooper simply arrives at the meeting room one day wearing the semi-transparent black veil and refuses from that point on to remove it, resulting in the loss of his fiancée and isolation from the world. Mr. Hooper even goes so far as to insist on burial under a black veil. Yet what is crucial to note are Mr. Hooper's final words to those surrounding his deathbed. Mr. Hooper angrily tells them that they are all wearing black veils: “I look around, and there it is!” on each face a black veil! (Hawthorn). This statement highlights the significance of the veil in history as a symbol of sin, darkness, and duality within human nature. Thus, “The Minister's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a work of literary art that demonstrates the author's use of allegory to highlight the psychological angle of the story and characters by using agents of symbols, settings, characters, and actions coherently to represent nonliteral and metaphorical meanings about human character (Abrams 7). The most powerful and important symbol is undoubtedly the black veil itself. The black veil comes to represent the darkness and duality of human nature, thus adding a certain undeniable psychoanalytic angle to the short story. The black veil represents the sin and sadness that all men carry secretly in their hearts as Mr. ....... middle of paper ...... Mr. Hooper and his wearing of the veil reflects the true nature of the humans around him. him. Only when the true nature of life and the freedom of truth are observed can the veil be lifted. Works Cited Abrams, MH A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. Bell, Millicent. "New Essays on Hawthorne's Major Tales". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., 1993 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The minister's black veil." 1836. "The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym et al. 7th ed. Vol. B. New York: Norton, 2007. 1311-1320. Print. “How Symbolism Works: “The Black Veil of Hawthorne's Minister.