When you wear a veil, it can be looked at in many different ways. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil," Mr. Hooper's veil is honest, sinful, and mysterious. One reader may believe the veil is used to symbolize his confession of his sins, and another reader may see it as a further obstruction to hide them.

Mr. Hooper's veil is obviously very sentimental to him. He sacrifices his engagement to a young woman named Elizabeth in order to wear his veil. It evidently stands for something he believes in. By Mr. Hooper wearing the veil, one may believe that he is showing everyone his sins. He is confessing and putting them out there for everyone to see. "The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even...