Unpardonable Sinners: Sin and Redemption in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Wakefield"

Often if one looks closely enough, or in some cases there is no need to dig very deeply at all, they are able to find connections or similarities between the multiple works of an author. The themes that run through the various pieces of literature written by an author generally focus on values or topics that were predominant during the time that the piece was written, or they are beliefs that the author holds particularly close to himself. Many times the stories that contain these recurrent themes or ideas are nothing alike and have very few similarities in the narrative and plot structure, but once one scratches beneath the surface it can be seen that the author is pushing the same agenda. This can especially be seen in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories. Throughout many of his tales, the reader can see that there is a recurrent set of themes within the structure of the narrative, specifically the idea of the Unpardonable Sin. The Unpardonable Sin had somewhat of a different meaning for Hawthorne and he saw it as ". . . divorcing one's head from one's heart and oneself from humanity (Harris 1). With the concept of sin also comes that of redemption, which goes hand-in-hand with sin in most Christian faiths. Although the protagonists and the plot of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Wakefield" are completely different from one another, they both express Hawthorne's belief that the Unpardonable Sin is committed when one breaks away from the "magnetic chain of humanity" and they both use women as symbols of redemption, although it is only Wakefield that is able to find redemption through his wife.

In both "Wakefield" and "The Minister's Black Veil" the protagonists are responsible for their own isolation and suffer from it as a result. Wakefield creates his own "self-banishment" when he one day decides that he will leave his wife. He does not appear to be an exciting individual with an exciting life, but he lives what could easily be termed as a relatively normal life. Just as his personality is drab so is his methodic, mediocre life. The narrator asks the question, "Who could have anticipated that our friend would entitle himself to a foremost place among the doers of eccentric deeds?" (Hawthorne 36). No one could, and quite possibly neither could Wakefield. Wakefield's isolation is by choice and perhaps a way to separate himself from the boring routine his life had become or as a test to see if anyone would notice, if anyone would miss him at all. What began for Wakefield as a separation from his wife and home turned into a separation from humanity. Father Hooper does not leave his community in the literal sense that Wakefield does. Instead, he separates himself from those around him by donning a black veil. While Hooper claims that the veil is there to symbolize some sort of sin committed by either himself or humanity, those who view it do not see the symbolism that Hooper wishes to project and instead only see the ugliness of the veil. This ugliness that they see in turn causes a rift between him and his community, which separates him from humanity.

This chosen ostracism, while on the surface appears to be due to very different circumstances, for both men relates back to the concept of sin. The sin that they are both committing by leaving behind their fellow man is for Hawthorne the Unpardonable Sin. Father Hooper openly admits that the veil he wears may be for either his own sin or those of humanity. "If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough," he merely replied; "and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?" (Hawthorne 18). By wearing this black piece of crape stretched across his face he is creating his own isolation. The townspeople fail to see any meaning that he is trying to create and instead shudder in his presence. Not only has it separated him from those who are a part of his parish but from the woman that he loves as well.

Like Father Hooper, Wakefield also separates himself from the woman that he loves, not by merely placing a piece of cloth between them, but by literally leaving her for years. Robert E. Moresberger states that, ". . . in his obsessive insistence on wearing the veil, he is as much guilty of driving away the companionship of his congregation as they are of reacting with ostracism" (461). This, too, can be applied to the story of Wakefield. He is so set on remaining in hiding that he excludes himself from everyday life. His own wife passes him on the street because he has caused her to believe that he is dead.

While Wakefield and Father Hooper both remain ostracized from society it is clear that Hooper has somehow created a connection between himself and his congregation, while Wakefield fails to make a connection with any member of the living. "Strangers came long distances to attend service at his church, with the mere idle purpose of gazing at his figure . . .