Essay --

â€Å"Minister’s Black Veil† and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† both written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are representations of sin that linger in our world. Mr. Hooper, the minister, has secret sin and wears a black veil over his face until the moment he dies, while Young Goodman Brown walks alongside the devil himself. Through these two dark and somewhat uncomfortable story lines, we can see how evil affects these two men and how their view of the world changed after their encounter with sin. Hawthorne uses dark and mysterious settings to explain how evil lingers everywhere and any man could be a victim of its psychological effects, which could dramatically change his character. In both short stories, Hawthorne uses tone and characters to show the nature of evil. In â€Å"Minister’s Black Veil,† Hawthorne creates a scene where the minister shows up to a wedding with the black veil. The presence of sin symbolized by a simple object â€Å"portends nothing but evil to the wedding.† A ceremony so sacred and pure, and blessed by God, can be contaminated with the dark existence of evil. Similarly, words such as â€Å"dark,† â€Å"awful,† â€Å"evil,† â€Å"shudder,† and â€Å"wicked† are used throughout both stories and show how evil lingers everywhere we go. Along with tone, Hawthorne uses characters to show how evil works within us. The old man with the staff in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† can be interpreted as the devil. Like all evil, the devil tempts and torments us. The old man uses his staff, frequently referred to as a serpent, to tempt Young Goodman Brown, in the same way that the ser pent tempted Adam and Eve in to eating the apple of good and bad, as told in the Bible. Evil not only lingers in all places, but also works its way into everyone. The victims of evil in b... ...at the minister and young man experience ins the two short stories causes psychological discomfort and change in character. Hawthorne wrote the â€Å"Minister’s Black Veil† and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† to display the nature of evil. He uses dark words and mysterious and uncomfortable settings to show the presence of evil lingering everywhere. The two stories display how evil is capable of attacking anyone, no matter how righteous and innocent he/she seems to be. Knowledge of evil and people’s sins can have a significant psychological effect on an individual, which can change his/her character entirely. In our world today, we encounter many trials concerning evil and sin each day. Even the people we love so dearly could be a victim, without us knowing, like Goodman Brown and his wife, Faith. The nature of evil works its way into every human being; it is inevitable.