Ray Hawthorne Blog

The unpardonable sin, according to Hawthorne, is the violation or deception of the human heart. This occurs in the stories we’ve read, by a voluntary article of clothing, a physical defect, and through personal associations with unsavory company. The violation of hearts and the subsequent harm done to both the victim and perpetrator is evident throughout Hawthorne’s work. I now examine this dynamic theme in the stories Young Goodman Brown, The Minister’s Black Veil, and The Birthmark. 

The story of Goodman Brown begins with his deception of his own wife. While they clearly love each other, Brown must leave her alone for the night to fulfill his end of an agreement he made with the older male character. He denies her request that he stay, and does not tell her why.  He violates the trust his wife felt, and thus violated her heart which she’d reserved for him. It is interesting to me that he only violated her trust to be honest to someone else. However, the consequences of his deception of his wife are soon realized when he and the older gentleman venture into the woods, a place Brown shares the Puritanical “barbarism” attitude towards nature: 

”Whither, then, could these holy men be journeying so deep into the heathen wilderness? Young Goodman Brown caught hold of a tree for support, being ready to sink down on the ground, faint and overburdened with the heavy sickness of his heart.” (Young Goodman Brown, p.8)

Within this heathen wilderness they find an evil ritualistic gathering taking place. Here, the barbaric nature of the wilderness is personified by this meeting of many familiar townspeople participating in taboo activities. The violation of his wife’s trust has led Mr. Brown right into the dwelling of the devil; he does not go unpunished for his lie. After the traumatic trip into the wild, his emotions, faith, and daily life never returned to normal. 

Aylmer from The Birthmark, also violates his wife, but this time due to a physical imperfection rather than the desire to remain an honest person, like Mr. Brown. He violated her thoughts by telling her that her birthmark is not a "charm" as she thought, but the one thing that stands in the way of her perfection. Aylmer further violates her by subjecting her to toxic elements without her knowledge: 

"These questions had such a particular drift that Georgiana began to conjecture that she was already subjected to certain physical influences, either breathed in with the fragrant air or taken with her food. She fancied likewise, but it might be altogether fancy, that there was a stirring up of her system--a strange, indefinite sensation creeping through her veins, and tingling, half painfully, half pleasurably, at her heart." (The Birthmark) 

The consequences of Aylmer's actions are all too severe-he not only acted unethically, but also killed his beloved wife. While he successfully removed the birthmark, he lost something much more important. He is obviously parted with his wife by death, and on the macrocosmic side of that coin, he sacrificed his future for some petty detail of the present. The imperfection of Georgiana's skin was the vivid sign of her humanity. The short-sightedness, the vanity, and the veil of secrecy created on the part of her husband is ultimately what lead to Georgiana's death. 

A tangible object is also involved in The Minister's Black Veil. While a physical attribute in Georgiana's case, it is a veil worn voluntarily in the minister's case. The congregation feels betrayed and frightened by the Minister's veil; thus violating their relationship with their religious leader, proclaiming things like "Our parson has gone mad!". The community not only has to live with this fear, but the minister is ostracized. The minister's identity is ultimately what makes the obstruction of his face so upsetting; the community believed that there must be some grave reason for the hiding of his face. From the minister the community expects truth and transparency, but instead the black veil interrupts (i.e. violates) this open relationship: 

"How strange," said a lady, "that a simple black veil, such as any woman might wear on her bonnet, should become such a terrible thing on Mr. Hooper's face!"

The veil darkened joyous occasions, caused interpersonal distance, and offended the minister's wife. "Love or sympathy could never reach him" as he grew old with his secret. In the end we never truly know what the minister's secret was, or if he even truly had one. We are left to consider the black veils that plague everyone in some way or another.