The Black Veil

The Black Veil had many good examples of Dark Romanticism in it. It used human nature, psychology, and fear to bring about the author's message in the style typical of the era, and I would definitely recommend that everyone read this.

The story is about a preacher who, in accordance with the title of the story, wears a black veil over his face (Hawthorne). He does this suddenly and for no apparent reason and ends up frightening his congregation and friends (Hawthorne). This fear that they feel is the major component of the story that makes it so characteristic of Dark Romanticism.

The fear does not just begin, however. First, the townspeople are curious about their pastor wearing this veil (Hawthorne). They do not mention it to him, but they whisper among themselves and figure that it is only a temporary thing, a stage that the preacher is going through (Hawthorne). When the veil does not come off, however, the fear grows a little bit. They wonder if the pastor hides his face because of some secret sin he has committed, so that God cannot look upon his guilty face (Hawthorne). When they find no answer to this plausibility, they find themselves deeply affected by his sermon, beginning to feel "as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought" (Hawthorne). After a long enough period of time, people begin to avoid him entirely (Hawthorne). Children are afraid of him and the secrets that his veil might hide (Hawthorne). This building up of a pathos towards the preacher not only exhibits fear, a common theme in Dark Romanticism, but a look into the nature of the human mind, which tends to escalate things beyond their proportion when they remain a mystery.

On a lesser note, the author also used imagery and certain situations to create a dark atmosphere. For instance, the veil that the preacher wears is black (Hawthorne). Black insinuates evil, mystery, fear, and suspicion. It casts a dark shadow upon the preacher's character, which, even though he did not change very much at all, made the townspeople fear him all the more. Also, the fact that the only time they ever begged for him to be someplace was when a person was dying (Hawthorne). Also, the preacher liked to visit the graveyard in his evening walks (Hawthorne). This then associates the preacher with death and increases the curiosity and suspicion lurking around the veil. It was a very clever use of imagery and plot device in order to create an effect on the rest of the story.

While it was a bit dark, this story's mood is not a bad thing at all. At the end, it delivers a powerful message to the audience that I will not spoil here for avid readers' sakes. The characteristics of it and Dark Romanticism are what bring about the final message of the story, though, and thus make them more than just characteristics of a writing period. It makes them characteristics of life.

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Black Veil." Twice-Told Tales. 1837. Eldritch Press. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. .