American Literature

Nathaniel Hawthornes The Ministers Black Veil and Edgar Allan Poes The Black Cat are two of the most influential and well-recognized stories of both renowned authors. Both short stories were written by brilliant and important authors in the world of literature. However, more than being both good fictions, these two powerful stories also share a lot of significant things. The most potent theme of the stories is the way the events that unfold in the narration explores the capabilities of guilt and sin in humanity. Through their imaginatively written fictional events and larger than life characters, Hawthorne and Poe examine the conflicting effects that guilt and sin can impose to people.

The main characters of both stories, Mr. Hooper for the Black Veil and the narrator for the Black Cat, project in their tales the kind of madness that guilt and sin could possibly produce. In Poes story, the effect of guilt and sin takes a very negative note and produces ugly results. The narrator in Black Cat imparts to his readers that he recognizes madness creeping unto him. He repeatedly mentions in several parts of the story how the fury of a demon instantly possessed him to the point that he no longer knew who he was (Poe). His narration proves that he is aware of how he is slowly getting cynical but he cannot seem to stop it, and this leads him to commit his grave sins. He also blames a lot of things for his maddening, including the effect of alcohol.

In Hawthornes story, however, guilt and sin are projected differently by Mr. Hooper. While the narrator in the other story proves how guilt results in graver sins, the main character of the Black Veil highlights in his actions how guilt could encourage people to repent for their sins. The black veil Mr. Hooper is wearing all the time subjects him to ridicule for being mad while at the same time arousing curiosity from others as they speculate on what sin he could have possibly done that pushed him to wear the veil. Because of the veil, men avoid him, women show no pity, and children scream and flee from him (Hawthorne). Mr. Hooper faces the ugliness of sin by wearing it in his face and this makes him a more influential clergy.

The main characters of the story encapsulate in their personalities, beliefs, actions, and deeds the two possible ways of how man faces his guilty feelings and sins. The narrator in Poes story tries to hide his sins again and again and yet, they catch up with him. The first black cat that he hanged was found in part of their burned house and the body of his wife that he buried in their second house haunts him and makes him pay for murdering her. In the end, all the sins of the narrator are also revealed. On the other hand, to deal with his guilt for the sins he committed, Mr. Hooper shows his repentance outwardly by wearing the black veil that he never removed until his death. Though no one found out the real meaning of the veil in the end, Mr. Hooper dies guiltless while consistently wearing it even in his grave.

The two significant, black objects are very symbolic in their respective stories. In the case of Hawthornes story, the black veil symbolizes all the sins and hypocrisy of people that they keep in their lives. Mr. Hooper refuses to remove his veil even when he is near death already. He reiterates to the people that if people fear him and his veil, then they should tremble also with each other because everyone is a sinner (Hawthorne). The black veil has been a meaningful contribution to his career as a clergyman and continues to make the people shudder even it is already buried together with him.

On the other hand, the black cats in Poes story represent how guilt is inescapable. In one delirious moment of the author in the past, he hanged his pet cat on the tree beside their home. When they moved to a different home after their house was buried, the narrator finds another black cat that appears very similar and yet still different from his first cat. The clear distinction of the two cats is that the second one has thin, white markings on it. As the story unfolds, it turns out that the white line on the second cats skin marking is now the representation of an object that the narrator shudders to name because the white line turns out to be the spot where his first black cat was hanged upon (Poe). The guilt envelopes him, and he tries to kill the second cat again, but he ends up killing his wife instead who tries to defend the cat. He again attempts to hide this murder, but the twist of the events towards the end of the story proves that no sin goes hidden forever.

The black cat and the black veil represent the lessons on the themes of sin and guilt of the two stories. The consequences of sin and the effect of guilt are successfully delivered by the authors because of the objects they creatively used in their stories. The color of black is also a very important factor for the effectiveness of the objects because the veil and cat symbolize other realities such as death and mourning. The color makes the objects stand out more, and it nurtures the feeling of fear that the authors are implying to make the stories more successful in imparting their messages.

The two stories also fall under the category of Dark Romanticism. The authors, renowned for their other works that belong to this category, use the same writing style to make their main ideas more felt by their readers. The Black Cat and the Black Veil all revolve around very dark settings which prepare readers for the tone of suspense and terror. The dark environment depicted by the narrator in Black Cat based on his own perspective makes the reader terrified of his state of mind and the events that occurred such as the cat and his wife coming back to life to haunt him. The suspense in what lies behind the ministers black veil, on the other hand, makes readers feel the fear of the people towards Mr. Hooper. The extraordinary characters and events in the stories reinforce the terror depicted in the stories. Both stories are also depicted in a pessimistic tone, and the values and lessons of the stories are enveloped in this tone.

By using strong images that have deep symbolisms, both stories of Hawthorne and Poe delve into the ways in which humanity faces guilt and their sins. The two stories portray mans weakness to hide their sins in fear of being punished. The stories also successfully illustrate how maddening guilt could be for people who live in hypocrisy and who believe they could hide their sins forever. In conclusion, both Hawthorne and Poes stories creatively demonstrate the power of guilt and how the conflicts of right and wrong will always be in motion especially for humanity who consistently commits sin. The imperfections that are portrayed in the stories, like the cynical and murdering narrator and the weird minister, are the instruments that the authors used to describe the power of guilt on people and how man faces his sins.