Within a relatively small body of work, Nathaniel Hawthorne experimented with different forms and techniques of writing. Hawthorne's works are deeply concerned with the ethical problems of sin and punishment. His shadowy and unreal characters reveal the sense of guilt he felt about the roles that his ancestors played in the Salem witchcraft trials. For many years, Hawthorne secluded himself from the world. Those "twelve dark years," as he called them, had a profound effect upon him and his writing. Isolation and evil are major themes Hawthorne uses in his writings. In "The Minister's Black Veil" these themes are quite evident. .
From the beginning paragraph to the closing line, isolation plays a major part in this story. Reverend Hooper, a man described as gentlemanly person, arrives at the church one Sunday with a black veil draped over his face. No one quite knows the reason for this unaccountable phenomenon, and no one fancies it. Mr. Hooper has a reputation as a good preacher. But as a result of wearing the veil, Mr. Hooper becomes "a man apart, isolated from love and sympathy, suspected and even feared by his congregation." During his sermon, " even the most innocent girl felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded deeds and thoughts." With just the simple act of wearing this piece of crepe over his face, Reverend Hooper physically separates himself from his congregation. " How strange that a simple black veil such as any woman might wear on her bonnet should become such a terrible thing on Mr. Hooper's face!" With this example and many others, the reader has reason to believe that Mr. Hooper wears this black veil because he has done something that he is ashamed of. Whatever the veil signifies, its meaning seems to involve the congregation as much as it does Mr. Hooper.
Not only does Mr. Hooper isolate himself from his congregation, Elizabeth, his fiancée, is also pushed away by this symbol of evil.
