However, the surface conceals much murkier depths. It does not reveal the Salem Witch Trials. It does not reveal the excommunication of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams that lead to their former’s brutal murder. The Puritans were severely flawed just as all human beings are, and their strict religious beliefs may have, in fact, been their downfall rather than their salvation. In the fictional story of The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne the Puritan society is used as the community in the story. While fictional, it gives an accurate depiction of how judgmental the Puritans were. The minister in the story is a well-respected man in his town, that is, until he begins wearing a black veil over his face that he refuses to remove with no explanation for his reasons for the odd adornment. He will not even remove it in front of his wife, despite her pleading with him to lift it just once. Sermons are just as powerful as ever, but the people lose their respect for the minister and turn him into the community’s latest gossip topic. They wonder if it is a great sin he has committed
However, the surface conceals much murkier depths. It does not reveal the Salem Witch Trials. It does not reveal the excommunication of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams that lead to their former’s brutal murder. The Puritans were severely flawed just as all human beings are, and their strict religious beliefs may have, in fact, been their downfall rather than their salvation. In the fictional story of The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne the Puritan society is used as the community in the story. While fictional, it gives an accurate depiction of how judgmental the Puritans were. The minister in the story is a well-respected man in his town, that is, until he begins wearing a black veil over his face that he refuses to remove with no explanation for his reasons for the odd adornment. He will not even remove it in front of his wife, despite her pleading with him to lift it just once. Sermons are just as powerful as ever, but the people lose their respect for the minister and turn him into the community’s latest gossip topic. They wonder if it is a great sin he has committed