Madness in the context of Vandover seems to be rooted in his carelessness and lack of self-accountability, and it’s interesting how that ‘madness’ is conflated with misogyny and toxic masculinity. It his, as well as his friends’, harmful beliefs that the lack of patriarchal policing of women (along with their vices such as excessive self-indulgence via drinking and eating) is what contributes to their “wildness” or “bruteness.”

Things to consider:

I love The Minister’s Black Veil because it confronts one of our greatest fears: the fear of the unknown. There is a hyperobsession and speculation among the town residents regarding Hooper’s veil — what is its purpose? will he keep it on forever? This obsession and surveillance is deeply rooted in the fear of the unknown, in which we emphatically attempt to ascribe meaning to everything as we want to understand ourselves and the world around us. What if things are left not to be understood, not to be known? Can things merely exist?