Reverend Hooper – The protagonist of “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Hooper is a young, mild-mannered preacher in the town of Milford. However, one day, without giving an explicit reason, he begins wearing a black veil that covers his face from his forehead down to just above his mouth. While Hawthorne never reveals exactly why Hooper decides to wear the veil, Hooper suggests that he does so to teach the townspeople to consider their own sins, to consider the way that they hide or are separated from each other and from God. Despite his somber appearance, Hooper is a kind, loving man and hates the isolation he endures when the town assumes that he must wear the veil as atonement for having committed a serious sin. Whether or not Hooper is atoning for a specific crime, his character is difficult to understand: while he exhibits great humility by cutting himself off from his society in order to deliver his message, he could be considered a proud, arrogant character, too, since the wearing of the veil is such an overt or even ostentatious way to communicate his message (a message that isn’t even understood by the town until he reveals it on his deathbed).