The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the poems “Not Waving but Drowning”
Isolation is common between the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the poems “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, “Miniver Cheevy” and “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson. Society, in broad, tends to judge people based on appearances and first impressions and rarely to take the effort to get to know an individual in-depth. Many people judge and fear what they do not understand and that alters their perception and judgment. While individuals make choices that lead them down a particular path, they can be heavily impacted by how they are judged and perceived by the people surrounding them.
In the poem “Not Waving but Drowning,” the author Stevie Smith says a lot about the drowning man’s life in very few words. The reader receives an excellent idea of what the man’s life has been when he says, “I was much too far out all my life (Smith 11).”
The statement shows that the man has spent his life never fitting in. Individuals judged and made assumptions about him, considering only the outside and not making an effort to know what he was.
Those assumptions played a part in his death. It is possible that the onlookers’ opinion that “he always loved larking (5)” led them to believe that his waving and thrashing about was him being playful or larking. However, the dead man’s words “it was too cold always (9)” contradict their perception of him as they do not reflect a life of joy and fun.
The main characters in the poems “Miniver Cheevy” and “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson are in very distinct economic situations. Still, they are moving along much the same path in life because they are different from what society deemed normal.
Miniver Cheevy is obsessed with his love of medieval times, as shown when the author states, “Miniver thought, and thought, and thought, / and thought about it (Robinson 27-28).” This obsession would make it hard for Cheevy to bond with the society in general or get into any friendship or relationship because his desire for something he can never achieve is the most crucial thing in his life. The people around him would find his obsessive behavior strange and intolerable in a short time. Because of his toxic fixation, other people would avoid his presence and perceive him as odd while, in reality, he was just lonely, having only his dreams of the past to keep him company. This lack of understanding from society, as well as his lack of happiness for not having what he desires most, leads him to drown deep in his feelings as shown by the ending “Miniver coughed and called it fate, / And kept on drinking (31-32).” It can be assumed that his drinking will eventually lead directly to his demise.
The picture Richard Cory needs everybody to see is of an affluent man who has everything, and that is the thing that others see: “He was a gentleman from sole to crown (Robinson 3)” and “In fine, we thought that he was everything (11).” Because of his appearance, the individuals who meet him structure a supposition without setting aside an effort to become more acquainted with the real man. They are so in awe of him that they are astounded that “he was always quietly arrayed, and he was always human when he talked; (5-6).” Envy of what they accept he has that they don’t just as well as sentiments of insufficiency and dread of their perceived picture of him keep anybody from connecting and discovering who he truly is. Looks are deluding, and money can’t bring happiness are both old sayings that can be applied to Richard Cory.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Minister’s Black Veil,” the main character Reverend Hooper chooses to don a black veil creating a significant scene in the community. The assemblage never understands nor acknowledges Mr. Hooper’s purposes behind wearing the cover; in reality, after a short measure of time, they stop to try and look for clarification and run with their conclusions. From the ministers’ first appearance in the veil, the spectators make decisions before hearing what he needs to state, as evidenced by their remarks: “I don’t like it….He has changed himself into something awful… (Hawthorne 3)” and “Our parson has gone mad (3)!” Their fear of him is evident throughout the story as they refer to him as a “bugbear (10)” or something causing needless fear. That fear carries through the minister’s entire life as “…Mr. Hooper spent a long life, irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving though unloved, and dimly feared (11).” The whole community makes their inferences dependent on the veil’s outward appearance and feelings of trepidation and convictions. Although the veil’s wearing doesn’t lead to Mr. Hooper’s demise, it legitimately influenced the way his life took, in any event, removing his opportunity to have a family. The paradox in this story is that Mr. Hooper’s religious affinity undoubtedly shielded him from falling into the emotions that lead to compulsion or self-destruction; however, it is his spiritual affinity that put him on the way that set him apart from every other person.
The principal characters in all three poems and the short story are isolated and shunned by society because of what those around them perceive them to be. None of the characters have a positive result in their account. Elaine Barry in the article “Beyond The Veil: A Reading of Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” comments on the community’s isolation of Mr. Hooper that he does nothing to bring it about “What does so is the projection of their fears and their imaginative blindness (Barry 3).” This remark could be applied to all of the readings talked about this. Society decides individuals on appearances. When somebody acts or appears to be unique from what has been considered “normal,” they are judged, dreaded, and ordinarily evaded and set apart from the entirety. This isolation from others, as a rule, leads down a way that makes further disengagement through alcohol and drug abuse misuse or even self-destruction.