At the beginning of the story, the people of Milford are metaphorically compared to a single body thinking and acting as one. After Reverend Hooper gives his first sermon wearing the black veil, his congregation rushes out of the meeting-house, eager to gossip about him:
At the close of the services, the people hurried out with indecorous confusion, eager to communicate their pent-up amazement, and conscious of lighter spirits the moment they lost sight of the black veil. Some gathered in little circles, huddled closely together with their mouths all whispering in the centre […] After a brief interval, forth came good Mr. Hooper also, in the rear of his flock.
In this passage, the crowd is portrayed as a single creature with many mouths, all speaking about the same thing at once. This metaphoric comparison highlights the fact that the townspeople are in this moment participating in herd mentality, or groupthink, a psychological phenomenon in which people make decisions based on what they see the majority of other people doing. This behavior tends to discourage creativity and independent thinking—and in this passage, it is what leads the townspeople to close their minds to the lesson Reverend Hooper hopes to teach them by wearing the veil. Instead of turning inward and examining themselves more deeply, as he is trying to encourage them to do, they collectively judge him for his unusual appearance, shunning him for being different, and, in their minds, probably sinful.
At the end of the passage, the townspeople are described as a “flock,” likening them to a herd of sheep. Though this biblical metaphor is often used to describe a church congregation, here it further suggests that they are participating in herd mentality in this moment, making decisions based not on thoughtful consideration, but rather on what they see their peers doing.
Throughout the story, Reverend Hooper’s black veil is compared to heavy, gloomy clouds. This metaphor serves to illustrate the emotional effect the veil has on everyone around him, sucking the joy out of any room that he walks into:
Thus, from beneath the black veil, there rolled a cloud into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, which enveloped the poor minister, so that love or sympathy could never reach him […] With self-shudderings and outward terrors, he walked continually in its shadow, groping darkly within his own soul, or gazing through a medium that saddened the whole world. Even the lawless wind, it was believed, respected his dreadful secret, and never blew aside the veil.
The use of the word “ambiguity,” and the comparison of the veil to a cloud obscuring the sun, highlights the fact that it is the mystery behind the veil that others find so horrifying, rather than the veil itself. Since the veil is meant to represent the sins that people hide not only from one another but also from themselves, their fear could be directed at not only the fundamental unknowability of others, but also the unknown and unexamined parts of their own psyches.
However, in contrast with the veil-as-cloud metaphor, Reverend Hooper’s smile (which remains visible beneath the short black veil covering his eyes and nose) is described at many points in the story as “glimmering” from beneath it. This comparison suggests that, if the veil is a cloud in this metaphor, his smile is sunlight peeking out from behind it. Light symbolizes truth and goodness in the Bible. Given this association, Hooper’s smile being compared to sunlight suggests that it is meant to represent a truth hidden behind the veil.
Both metaphors—that of the veil as a cloud (and the townspeople’s fear of the unknown) and Reverend Hooper’s smile as the light of truth—suggest that, if the townspeople were only brave enough to push past their fear and discomfort of things they didn’t understand, they might be able to discover some truths about others and themselves. But because they are so afraid, they end up learning nothing at all. Terrified of the possibility of secret sin lurking within themselves and others, they ignore what Reverend Hooper tries to teach them with his veil, choosing to focus on surface appearances over truth.
