The theme of this short story addresses the subject of sin and the fact that each of us is a sinner, though we all attempt to conceal our sinfulness from one another. The subject of Mr. Hooper's first sermon after he begins to wear the veil is this "secret sin," and every single parishioner, hearing his words, feels as if he had "discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought." In other words, from the innocent young maiden to the oldest and most "hardened" man, not a one feels him or herself to be without sin, though, as Mr. Hooper suggests, we "would [all] fain conceal" this from our fellows, ourselves, and even God. He wears the veil, then, as a symbol of the way in which we attempt to hide our true sinful natures from the world; we each hold up a figurative veil before our real selves, and this is an incredibly sad state of affairs for the minister. We seem to care more about the appearance of sinlessness than actually becoming sinless.
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