The Scarlet Letter is a narrative written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The narrative ’ s scene is in the 1850 ’ s during the puritan times in Boston, Massachusetts. Roger Chillingworth was one of the chief characters along with Hester Prynne and Author Dimmesdale.
Roger Chillingworth was a little, thin, and was somewhat deformed in visual aspect with one shoulder being higher than the other. He was described on page 56 by Hester Prynne as being “ singular intelligence in his characteristics, as of a individual who had so cultivated his mental portion that it could non neglect to model the physical to itself, and go manifest by unmistakable tokens. ” He spent so much of his clip deriving cognition he seemed to cut himself of from humanity.
He is a victim even before his reaching to the American Colony ’ s, foremost by being captured by barbarian Indians. While being held prisoner he was presumed dead his married woman Hester had a kid by another adult male out of marriage.
By the terminal of the book we see that Chillingworth ’ s wickednesss are far greater than either Hester ’ s or Author ’ s. This is first apparent in the fact that he married Hester cognizing she would ne’er love him and yet he made her marry him anyhow. He admits this piece speaking to her in the gaol cell. “ Mine was the first incorrect, when I betrayed thy budding young person into a false and unnatural relation with my decay. ”
His 2nd wickedness is leting himself to go haunted with retribution against Dimmesdale ] .
“ But, as he proceeded, a awful captivation, a sort of fierce, though still quiet, necessity seized the old adult male within its kick, and ne’er set him free once more until he had done all its command. He now dug into the hapless reverend ’ s bosom, like a mineworker seeking for gold ; or, instead, like a Sexton diging into a grave, perchance in pursuit of a gem that hour angled been buried on the dead man’s bosom, but probably to happen nil save mortality and corruptness. Alas, for his ain psyche, if these were what he sought!
Sometimes a light glimmered out of the doctor ’ s eyes, firing blue and baleful, like the contemplation of a furnace, or, allow us state, like one of those glows of ghastly fire that darted from Bunyan ’ s atrocious door-way in the hill-side, and quivered on the pilgrim ’ s face. The dirt where this dark mineworker was working had perchance shown indicants that encouraged him. ” ( Pg. 122,123 ) He uses Dimmesdale ’ s strong belief to destruct his saneness, Chillingworth tries to fault Dimmesdale for his devastation alternatively of taking duty for his ain actions and leting for a peaceable understanding to come between him and Hester.
Author Dimmesdale was a victim to his strong belief of his matter with Hester Prynne. This strong belief finally killed him by rupturing him apart from the interior out, but he was unable to acknowledge his wickedness publically because as a sermonizer it would destroy his repute. This fact is really apparent by how rough the puritan people were with Hester ’ s extramarital act and how they punished her for her wickedness. So this left him with two picks either to acknowledge to the settlement that he had sinned and be ruined publically or to maintain it to himself and allow it eat him alive. This ferocious hatred toward himself by his Acts of the Apostless of repentance were he would flog himself with a whip. After seven old ages of life in torment with his wickedness he triumphs over his wickedness in his election twenty-four hours discourse were he confesses to the whole settlement that he committed criminal conversation and calls Hester and his girl Pearl up on the scaffold. This aloud him to decease in Hester ’ s weaponries peacefully.
The secret plan coatings to demo how Roger and Author became victims to there wickedness and by seeking to conceal it, it led to there death. I feel the Hawthorne weaved this into his narrative to state us that we are to squeal our wickedness.
