LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2010 final exam—Answers to Question B2

Mary Price

Questions of Christian Morality

          Any good writer has some clear purpose in mind, which generally moves beyond writing to entertain and promotes serious thought on one topic or another. The stories that stay with us are stories that cause us to think deeply. Hawthorne and Stowe are two such writers whose words provoke discussion that enters the realm of morality. Hawthorne considers the past lives of the Puritans and how they exhibit their own idea of a moral code, while Stowe more explicitly writes about the moral issues concerned with the institution of slavery. By reading their stories, one can glimpse the intricacies involved in morality and use it to turn inward and reflect on how they approach moral issues. Very often, moral issues are not easily solved, and there is never one “right” answer to the complex questions that morality raises.

Hawthorne’s story The Minister’s Black Veil follows the life of a simple Puritan preacher who shows up to church one day wearing a thin black veil over most of his face. Many members of his congregation were disturbed by this sudden change in appearance and could not understand why he would want to hide his face. Once he began wearing the veil, he never took it off, not even the day he died. Hawthorne notes that “the subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them.” This may indicate that perhaps the Reverend Hooper wears the veil as an outward sign of the secret sin that lies within all human beings. It could very well be a form of penance he imposed upon himself for one reason or another. In her 2008 final exam, Cheryl Romig remarks that the veil allowed Hooper “to see the dark heart of those around him as his wife, friends, and neighbors judged him daily.” Because of the veil, his fiancé leaves him, and the people of the village fear and distrust him. Yet he never wavers in his decision to leave the veil on at all times.

Christian communities believe in original sin, the idea that all humans are born with sin and must spend their lives in repentance. If Reverend Hooper wears the veil as an outward sign of the sin which lives in him, the people he interacts with are also reminded of their own sin. Cheryl Romig also stated in her final that “it seems appropriate that a minister should find a way to remind himself of his congregation’s moral failings.” Nobody wants to think of themselves as inherently bad, but many Christians believe that no good can be found in doing anything that does not praise God. Hooper’s veil probably raised many uncomfortable questions which the people did not want to deal with. If someone as pious as the Reverend feels the need to cover his face, should I be doing the same thing, as I am certainly no holier than him? Is my humanity really such a bad thing, that I should strive to cover it and reject it? Not everybody faces these questions, as they deal more with Christian morality, yet many people do. Most Christians have difficulty with the battle between the spirit and the flesh, and it can be very difficult to determine how to balance the two. This struggle lies at the center of Hawthorne’s story, with the man who wears an outward symbol of sin. The reader may also consider that Puritans may have taken their religion a little too far and the guilt which oppressed Puritans may have been a bit excessive. Regardless of how one chooses to view this story, it brings questions of Christian morality into clear focus. Though the story does not seek to answer these questions, it does induce the reader to do some serious soul-searching.

In Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the reader is presented with a different set of moral queries. Though Christian morality is indirectly involved, Stowe deals with the immorality of the slave trade. She seeks to create a sympathetic portrait of the African slaves as people who have feelings that deserve to be respected. Stowe introduces the reader to Eliza, a young woman who runs away from her masters in order to keep her baby. Rather than watch her son be sold, she risks her very life to prevent that tragedy. Stowe appeals greatly to women, especially mothers, who understand the pain of having a child taken from them. She reveals the ugly side of the slave traders, who treat the slaves as animals that do not have valid feelings.

Though slavery was very wrong, the institution had become so convoluted it was difficult to determine who was responsible. Stowe does not excuse the actions of slave owners and traders, but rather presents them as people who have misguided feelings towards slavery. Slavery made the production of certain crops faster, and massive amounts of money revolved around the slave trade. The way of life in the South depended heavily on slavery, but Stowe sought to show people how the ends do not justify the means. Many good characters in Stowe’s novel were blind to the inhumanity of the system in which they took part. Mr. Shelby was not a bad man; he was a kind master and treated his slaves as well as could be expected. Senator Bird helped create the fugitive slave laws, and yet could not abide by them himself. These were not bad men, but they lived under the illusion that slavery was a patriarchal system. However, under such a system, it was too easy to view slaves as property and treat them as such. Even the best slave conditions hid a very nasty institution. The time had come to show people the error of their ways and put an end to such an inhumane system.

In these writings, the reader can learn about the many complexities surrounding moral issues. When we see all of the considerations surrounding moral discourse, we can look at the way we deal with moral issues and determine if we are tackling them with the care and sensitivity which they deserve. Reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin helps one understand how difficult it was to remove the mindset which the institution of slavery inflicted upon many people. Moral issues provide a fantastic opportunity for critical thinking because one has to consider multiple viewpoints before arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. However, once a reader begins to understand a complex moral issue through literature, they tend to feel content with the knowledge they have gained rather than seeking further enlightenment on the subject. It is always important to read a number of texts, factual as well as fictional, in order to form a complete picture of the situation.