While officiating a wedding, Reverend Hooper catches a glimpse of his own reflection. For the first time, he sees what others see when they look at him, and is instantly afflicted with terror at the sight of his own face. Hawthorne uses vivid imagery—or language that appeals to the five senses, in this case sight—to show how out of place the minister is at the wedding:
Mr. Hooper raised a glass of wine to his lips, wishing happiness to the new-married couple in a strain of mild pleasantry that ought to have brightened the features of the guests, like a cheerful gleam from the hearth. At that instant, catching a glimpse of his figure in the looking-glass, the black veil involved his own spirit in the horror with which it overwhelmed all others. His frame shuddered, his lips grew white, he spilt the untasted wine upon the carpet, and rushed forth into darkness. For the Earth, too, had on her Black Veil.
The wedding is a celebration of life, but the minister, in his black veil, looks like a harbinger of death. The start of the paragraph uses imagery to evoke life and vitality. The glass of wine in the minister’s hand symbolizes life and joy. The image of cozy firelight flickering on the faces of the wedding guests evokes a sense of warmth, celebration, and community. However, once the minister catches a glimpse of his reflection, the imagery in the paragraph shifts from warmth and brightness to cold and darkness. Reverend Hooper’s white lips suggest the cold bloodlessness of a corpse, and when he spills his wine upon the carpet, it suggests an image of spilled blood—as if the minister is an agent of death, sucking all the life out of what should be a joyful celebration. Realizing the effect he must be having on the people around him, the minister rushes out into the cold darkness of the night, where he at least doesn’t stand out: the night, like him, is cold and dark, shrouded behind its own “Black Veil.”
The minister is associated with death many times throughout the story. He is described as “ghostlike,” takes regular walks through the town cemetery, and is often called to the bedside of “dying sinners” as they take their final breaths. This association could be read as a critique of Reverend Hooper’s choice to prioritize the afterlife over his life on Earth. Rather than taking off the black veil so that he can live his current life to the fullest, he chooses to keep the veil on and await the reward for his moral purity after death, in Heaven.
