Ideology in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil Essay

Ideology in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Ministers Black Veil Bennett and Royle in their textbook, inception to Literature, Criticism and Theory, define political theory as representing the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence (161). The ideology of self, of personal identity, is represented by a persons perception of what is acceptable in their society. In Nathaniel Hawthornes short story, The Ministers Black Veil, the minister appears before his community with a black suppress covering his face. He gives no explanation for this apparel and the community becomes agitated that their minister refuses to remove it. The readers challenge is to discover wherefore the minister wears the veil and why he wont take it off. Hawthorne challenges the readers ideology of self with his choice of words, by showing how ideology is redefined by each subject, and by using as his form the technique of the parable. The parishioners expectations are burst by the appearance of their beloved minister wearing a black veil over his face. Children, with bright faces, tripped gayly beside their parents, or mimicked in graver gait, in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes. Spruce bachelors looked sidelong at the pretty maidens, and fancied that the Sabbath sunshine made them prettier than on weekdays (Hawthorne 1) These expectations are portrayed by the way the story begins. Hawthorne uses words that suggest gladness bright merrily pretty fancied and sunshine. But this happiness vanishes with the appearance of the minister. The expectations of what is socially acceptable are challenged by the appearance of the black veil. But what has good Parson Hooper got upon his face? c... ...o understand the parable. A parable is employ to explain something that is unexplainable and cannot be explained if the reader does not understand it. The reader is in constant danger throughout the reading of having his ideology of self shattered by the very real possibility that he wont get it. The entire story is as obscure and shaky as ideology itself. Hawthornes choice of words throughout the story set up the reader for a continual bombardment of his/her ideology of self and societal expectations. works Cited Bennett, Andrew and Nicholas Royle. Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory. 2nd Edition. New York Prentice Hall, 1999. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Ministers Black Veil. Crown College. Accessed 27 Aug 2003. http//www.crown.edu/humanities/ratledgw/ENG%20132/stories/ veilhawt.htm Miriam Webster Dictionary. Accessed 27 Aug 2003.