"By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every person. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation. (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1599)".
Because of this belief, Puritans lived their lives our purely and justly in order not to angry God and deserve any just punishment. .
Hawthorne's views on Puritanism deviate from this a little but are still for the most part accurate in my opinion. In The Minister's Black Veil , The members of Father Hooper's congregation were uneasy to see a Religions figure like Father Hooper the way he was. Physically, the black veil itself was just a simple piece of crape. But mentally, it is a visual representation of the wall we put between our sins and society. Though society can not see through that veil, God can and that scared the people at that time. .
" "How Strange," said a lady, "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!".
"Something must surely be amiss with Mr. Hooper's intellects," observed her husband, the physican of the village. "But the strangest part of the affair is the effect of this vagary, even on a sober-minded man like myself." " (Hawthorne 2197).
Deep down, the people of Father Hooper's congregation knew what the black veil stood for, and it scared them. .
" "There is an hour to come." Said he, "when all of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of crape till then" " (Hawthorn 2200).
This line caught me off guard and I could not understand it at first. But then I realized what hour Father Hooper was talking about. The hour to come when all of us shall cast aside our veils is the hour of death. .
Though they were afraid of the Black Veil and what it represented, they were more afraid to feel outrage or to speak out about it.
