Hawthorne evaluates a society that has found itself caught up in such cultural defiance that whether through pride, fear, or determination they've become tremendously constrained to strict adherence to the doctrine that has put them where they are. Adamant "antinomianism" reaches a point where this new town free of religious persecution has become a place where moral law is arguably just as violently enforced as in the countries they fled. .
Hawthorne creates a protagonist that is likely weary of such formal procedure domineering over the gospel dispensation of grace. Parson Hooper is driven to the point where he sees the ultimate calling of a minister is to reveal certain truths to the people that they would otherwise overlook. Hence, Hawthorne has created in Hooper what becomes the ideal minister for Puritan times, in that his behavior and relationship with the community has been utilized to the fullest potential, involving practical sacrifice of any worldly pleasures, innocent or not, that he might have enjoyed earthly, for the purpose of delivering his message gospel.
Hooper's background should first be assessed before evaluating his effectiveness as a preacher. His position as a minister holds him responsible for three key duties, to be described herein. His exceptional reputation that precedes his donning of the veil shows that he has come through in all of these tasks. Moreover, such eminence has been purchased not by simply using the force of harsh patronizations of "the thunders of the Word," but through gentle counsel and benevolence not common in Hooper's time. Following are descriptions of the three key elements of a minister's duties along with analysis of Hooper's fulfillment of them.
1. The minister's first obligation is to know the scripture chronologically, emotionally and philosophically, thereby cementing an ability to relay the word as clearly as possible.
