Glass Menagerie

4 Pages 1067 Words

Coping with Sin

The first mention of sin in the bible is mentioned in the fifth chapter of Romans, written by Paul. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). According to Paul, humanity was cursed because Adam sinned when he ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Since the creation of Adam, all is guilty of sin. Every living soul will have to face judgment on the second coming of Christ, and not everyone handles sin in the same manner. Lucky for us all we have a loving and forgiving father. A fictional story titled The Minister’s Black Veil was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in the year 1836. Mr. Hawthorne illustrates how a clergyman deals with his guilt of sin. This remarkable story features a main character, Reverend Hooper, who is deemed a mysterious man because he wears a black veil to conceal his sin(s) from others until his death. Reverend Hooper was a good preacher because his veiled face was of a physical symbol for his parishioners to concentrate on, although he was not overly energetic to help influence his parishioners. Reverend Hooper demonstrates his inability to cope with sin by hiding his face, by not conveying a needed reason for wearing a veil, and by using the veil as a tangible presence to cover his physical fear of others.
The first way Reverend Hooper displays his inability to deal with sin is by concealing his face from everyone. The piece of crape that formed the veil was always in place even as he performed his religious duties or regular daily activities of his life. His parishioners thought something must be wrong with Mr. Hooper’s mentality because of the point of view that was created by the people who observed the veil. One example of this is when an elderly woman muttered, “I don’t like it. He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his ...