Journal #8

Michelle Romero
Eng. 48, Dr. Scott Lankford

Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne

"In this manner Mr. Hooper spent a long life, irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving, though unloved, and dimly feared; a man apart from men" (1318).

This passage discusses how Mr. Hooper went about the town and lived his life with a black veil upon his face, separated from the men around him.

To support my earlier theory that Mr. Hooper represents the internal struggle ministers and other religious leaders face in refraining from sex, I point to this passage. Here, the reader begins to have sympathy for the minister and identify him as a man.

It is sad to think that others can give and receive love, but Mr. Hooper can not. No one loves Mr. Hooper back, although he is always giving of himself. It goes along with my first quote in journal #7, in that Hawthorne is describing how closely sex is related to a man's identity. In fact, here as Mr. Hooper stands unloved, he is described as a "man apart from men." It is almost like he is or feels like less of a man for not experiencing love....and of course, sexual intimacy is one of the highest forms of love communicated.

I almost wonder if Nathaniel didn't know some minister or religious official who struggled with abstinence or who even tried to resist sexual molestation or relations with a minor. I say this because of the news coverage that the Catholic church has received in past years, of priests having inappropriate sexual relations with young boys. I wonder if this text isn't one proof that this problem stems far back.