One day, Parson Hooper, the reverend of Milford, arrives at mass on the Sabbath with a black veil covering his eyes. The townspeople immediately begin to gossip; some say that he has gone mad, while others believe he is covering a shameful sin. The Minister, however, acknowledges neither his own strange appearance nor the shocked and curious whispering of the townspeople. An energetic preacher, Hooper delivers a sermon that was as powerful as the rest – but, due to his veil, the people felt a certain sadness and mysteriousness in his words. Following the sermon, the townspeople continued to gossip about the mystery of the veil. Mr. Hooper continued to act as always, greeting the children and saluting his neighbors. But, he was met with bewildered looks as the crowd avoided him. As he turned, a sad smile crept from underneath his veil.
His lover, Elizabeth, attempts to uncover the mystery that none had yet been able to solve. In response to her questions, though, Hooper only maintains that the veil is a symbol that he is bound to wear day and night, and that no mortal shall ever see it withdrawn. Even Elizabeth, he says, cannot see his face. She inquires as to whether the veil is to demonstrate sorrow or sin. He replies that “if I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough, and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?” He asks Elizabeth not to desert him, and tells her that he is lonely behind the veil. She asks him to lift the veil just once, but he refuses. At her departure, Hooper smiles sadly again.
For the rest of his life, Hooper was conscious of the fear his veil instilled in the townspeople. He as “irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicious; kind and loving, though unloved and dimly feared; a man apart from men, shunned in their health and joy, but ever summon to their aid in mortal anguish.”
At Hooper’s deathbed, Reverend Clark prays that Hooper allow the veil to be lifted. But Hooper resists with surprising strength. Still bearing his sad smile, Hooper accuses the rest of the crowd, asking why they tremble at him alone. All the townspeople have avoided him and show him no pity, he says. They are all hypocrites, as they all wear “black veils” and shield their eyes from God when they confide in others. Hopper dies and is buried with his black veil, his eyes forever covered.
