Hawthorne develops the
symbolism of the veil by slowly revealing more and more clues about its meaning. Early in the
story, the narrative focuses to a great extent on how the veil affects Mr. Hooper's life: that
it renders him somewhat of an outcast, that it makes him dread even his own reflection, that it
seems to connect him with something frightening and intangible. He will never explain explicitly
what the veil means; he only hints. His first sermon upon wearing the veil addresses the subject
of "secret sin" and how each of us attempts to conceal our own sinfulness from our
fellows. Its meaning and implications are slowly revealed.
In conversation
with his fiancee, Elizabeth, Mr. Hooper hints at possibilities, saying, "'If I hide my face
for sorrow, there is cause enough, [...] and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not
do the same?'" Here, the veil's symbolism becomes somewhat clearer, and we learn that not
even love can conquer its horror. Next, we learn that Mr. Hooper is especially helpful and
comforting to those whose souls are in "agony for sin"; again, the veil is connected
with sin as well as pain.
By the story's end, Mr. Hooper reveals, more
explicitly than he has done before, the veil's meaning. On his deathbed, he cries, "'When
the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does
not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin;
then deem me a monster [...]! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!'"
Thus, the symbolism of the veil is made clear, both to us and, we assume, to Mr. Hooper's
audience. They can no longer pretend not to understand, as they have done all
along.
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