Quotation Response 10/3

Nathaniel Hawthorne: "The Minister's Black Veil" p. 58

1. "Beloved and respected as you are, there may be whispers that you hide your face under the consciousness of secret sin. For the sake of your holy office, do away this scandal!"

Elizabeth, Hooper's wife-to-be, says this. From Hooper's first sermon to the wedding of the couple, the parish has been gossiping about the veil. The people deemed that the reason for the veil may be from shame (or "consciousness) from some secret sin. Elizabeth begs of Hooper to remove the veil if he hopes to keep his job as a spiritual leader.

Nathaniel Hawthorne: "The Minister's Black Veil" p. 58

2. "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?"

Mr. Hooper says that he hides his face from the world, separating it from the negative aspects of the world. In this quote, he attempts to justify his wearing of the veil. Hooper says that if he feels sorrow and that is what he is hiding his face for, that others have felt the same sorrow. If he covers his face for secret sin, others have shamed themselves with secret sin just as he has. He is simply justifying the use of the veil.