Episode 5: The Dark Spiritual Lesson of "The Minister's Black Veil"

This episode reviews another short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne that may be more disturbing than the previously-reviewed "Young Goodman Brown," at least to a spiritual-minded person. "The Minister's Black Veil" recounts the reaction a pious Puritan community has to the sudden and unexplained appearance of a "black veil" covering their parson's face one Sunday, and thereafter. The reactions of all parties to its sinister effect reveal their inner thoughts and guilt, group think, paranoia and repressed secrets, and the gravity of lives and communities lived behind veils. These ideas will be considered, and their relevance today. This episode was originally broadcast by WRFN on Feb. 2, 2023. (c) Joseph Michael Bennett 2023