Chillingworth: A Sinful Man Essay, Research Paper
Chillingworth: A Sinful Man
From the beginning of Nathaniel Hawthorne s novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger
Chillingworth is a man that is capable of love, and slowly emerges into a man that is
capable of evil. Chillingworth s first initial sin is marrying Hester who was a
generation younger than him. His second sin is betraying Minister Dimmesdale. In this
case of Roger Chillingworth, two sins control his destiny.
Chillingworth s first sin causes Hester to be unhappy. Her unhappiness was due
to the mismatched matrimony. Chillingworth then says: I ask not wherefore, no how,
thou hast fallen into the pit, or say, rather, thou hast ascended to the pedestal of infamy
on which I found thee. The reason is not far to seek. It was my folly, and thy weakness
(78). He is trying to say that he does not blame her for committing the sins. He blames
himself because he never gave her affection and he was the one that caused her to
commit adultery. I think it was Hester s fault for committing her sin, because she is
responsible for her own actions. Chillingworth represses his inborn emotional response
to the situation. He seeks revenge. Chillingworth is disappointed that his hope of
gaining his wife s affection upon arrival was destroyed. The person he despises the
most (Dimmesdale) is the one who gave Hester the affection she needed.
Chillingworth suspects that Dimmesdale is the one who committed adultery
with Hester. He starts to suspect this when Hester is put under trial. Dimmesdale says
For Hester Prynne s sake, then, and no less for the poor child s sake, let us leave them
as Providence hath seen fit to place them! (114) In this case, he is trying to defend
Hester, and to just leave them be. Chillngworth responds, You speak, my friend, with
a strange earnestness. (144) At this point Chillingworth is wondering why
Dimmesdale is defending Hester all of a sudden; and says in the quote that he is being
quite peculiar, and that s when his suspicion begins. Chillingworth s quest to find out
of his suspicion is, in fact, reality, he wants to become closer to Dimmesdale. He finds
a new special interest in Dimmesdale and becomes his leech (doctor). The leech
wants to delve deep into his patients bosom, delving among his principles, prying into
his recollections, and probing everything with a cautious touch, like a treasure-seeker
in a dark cavern. (122) Meaning that, he wants to go deep into the very core of
Dimmesdale s heart and ruin it, just like he ruined his. Chillingworth s torment toward
Dimmesdale increases when he finds out his relation to Pearl. Chillingworth s
degeneration is now transformed into Evil. He makes Dimmesdale s health deteriorate
through physiological stress. Chillingworth commits his second sin; which Hawthorne
portrays, through Dimmesdale s words, that it is the worst sin of all in the novel:
Violating the sanctity of the human heart.
The sins that Roger commits causes major damages to the people whom he was
suppose to be devoted to. The effect of his first sin leads Hester to be unhappy. It
causes her to commit adultery; and to wear the scarlet letter for all eternity. The
narrator tries to explain her embarrassment by saying haughty as her demeanor was,
she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see
her, as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample
upon. (62) Which Hester is trying to say that everytime someone makes a mockery of
her, her heart feels like it has been trampled on. I think this is a good quote because it
helps to understand how hurt she became when someone ridiculed her. The effect of
his second sin causes Dimmesdale to become out of control like the Black man in
the forest. Then he goes around and teaches little children execrations and tortures
himself. He doesn t gain back his control until after he makes his confession to the
town. Although he gained back control, it is too late for him to gain back his health.
Chillingworth s second sin causes death to Dimmesdale.
Roger Chillingworth evolves from a man that is capable of love, into a devil
who is only capable of revenge. He commits two sins; the result of his first sin leads to
the second; marrying a spouse with a great age difference causes his wife to suffer; her
suffering results in adultery; her adultery causes Chillingworth to suffer and during his
suffering he appears to be Satan himself, or Satan s emissary ; he then violates the
sanctity of a human heart. Which proves to believe suffering results from sin, and sin
results from suffering.
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