Could one small choice to not forgive change a man’s life so much that he turns into a completely different man? In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth, once a man of study and education, turn into a devil seeking to destroy. Though Chillingworth had not been a man of warm affection, his home in Amsterdam with his wife Hester Prynne was at one time a happy time (203). Chillingworth was deformed and misshapen (83). However Chillingworth was not looked down on by others, a townsman in Boston said Roger Chillingworth was, “ A certain learned man, English by birth, but who had long dwelt in Amsterdam, whence, some good time ago was minded to cross over and cast in his lot with us of Massachusetts” (68). However …show more content…
After hearing this, Chillingworth is furious with Hester Prynne but also with the man who has done this. He decides to find the man who had done this and seek revenge, yet he does not reveal his relation to Hester Prynne and forces her to keep it a secret as well or the man she had committed adultery with would be destroyed. One small choice to not forgive but instead seek revenge changes Chillingworth into an evil physician an a devil who seeks to destroy. Roger Chillingworth is first seen in The Scarlet Letter by Hester Prynne while she is standing on the scaffold with her child, Pearl (66-67). Hester recognizes him and he notices her reconciliation and motions for her to remain silent and not acknowledge him (67). Chillingworth does not know what his wife has done and enquires of a townsperson what she has done (67). He learns that she has committed adulty and is refusing to reveal the man’s name. Chillingworth was not pleased an seeks for an opportunity to speak with his wife Hester Prynne. After standing all day on the scaffold Hester and Pearl are distressed and a physician is called. Roger Chillingworth however is a physician is is
Chillingworth came to Boston to dig up who impregnated Hester. He seemed to have very little interest in Hester, his main goal was to find out the truth about Pearl’s father. As he does this, he twists the mind of Reverend Dimmesdale and becomes toxic. He becomes obsessed with trying to get vengeance on Dimmesdale for impregnating Hester. As the years go on, even the physical
In the moment he sees her on the scaffold, he chooses to change his name and to never reveal his authentic identity. Instead, he uses the alias of a doctor named ‘Chillingworth’. Though not formally a doctor, his background in alchemy and knowledge of herbal remedies allow him to mislead the Puritans. He takes on the job of caring for the town reverend, Dimmesdale. Eventually, he learns this is the man who impregnated his wife, and Chillingworth begins to seek revenge.
Roger Chillingworth is speaking to Hester in this quote about how much her cheating affected him. Since the author did not give very much information about Roger before he returned to Boston, it was difficult to measure exactly how he had changed since learning of the scarlet letter. Through his previous words and actions regarding Hester and especially Reverend Dimmesdale, Roger depicts himself as a man filled with hatred and focussed on revenge. Before mentioning his old self, Roger Chillingworth told Hester about Reverend Dimmesdale’s suffering since he had become somewhat of his personal physician. Roger says that the reverend sensed “an eye was looking curiously into him,” which, undoubtedly, represents the presence of Roger Chillingworth,
Hester finds community service, whereas the minister's sin-related repercussions cause him immense distress and a physical and emotional breakdown. Chillingworth steps in as the go-between to help Hester and Dimmesdale realize what they are going through. He evolves into someone even nastier than he was before. He devises a plan to undermine Hester's reputation, which was already in jeopardy. Tarnishing Hester’s reputation was Chillingworth’s way of getting back at Hester for the humiliation that she caused him.
Even if one make a regret able mistake, should that person be shamed for a past human error? Scarlett Letter takes place in Salem Massachusetts around the time frame where if something seemed strange to others you were accused of being a witch by all the Puritans and Quakers. If a person was accused of such accusations they were usually hung or stoned. Miss Hester Prynne’s is an independent mother who is doing all she can to make sure she keeps her child since it her against the world. In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's book, “The Scarlett Letter” the story ranges from compassion to forgiveness with Little Pearl as the symbol of savior in Miss Hester Prynne’s life.
After Hester is publicly humiliates with the scarlet symbol, Chillingworth reveals to be “a better physician of [him] than many that claim the medical degree” in the prison (54). His knowledge of medicine helps take care of the baby who was not feeling well as well as Hester Prynne. This evidently shows Chillingworth is a loyal physician when it comes to medical problems. Also, there was that time when Chillingworth and Dimmesdale “came gradually to spend much time together” and eventually became “close friends” (93). Obviously, the truth is Chillingworth did it to find out the truth of Dimmesdale’s secret and later on to ruin him.
One main event that happens throughout the whole book, “The Scarlet Letter,” is the revenge that Roger Chillingworth wants to wreak on whoever impregnated his wife. The first time that Chillingworth talks about his revenge is with Hester when he says, “Tthere are few things hidden from the man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery” (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 52). In this passage, Chillingworth is implying that he will put all of his personal time and resources to finding the man, and getting his revenge. Another time when Chillingworth
At the beginning of the novel, Roger Chillingworth comes back from being incarcerated by Indians. He comes to find that his wife, Hester Prynne, has committed adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, which results
The physician was doing the job of treating his patient, but after he realizes Dimmesdale is the man he was searching for treatment continued, although, the” medicine” given to him only prolonged his failing health and lead to the accumulation of his guilt. Not only is Dimmesdale and Chillingworth’s relationship changed, Chillingworth and Hester Prynne’s connection faces the most drastic but also expected transformation. The change is displayed through their first interaction after Chillingworth is informed about her other relationship from a townsmen. When the two finally meet the author describes the scene as full of fear and
Hawthorne immediately corrects himself, and says that Chillingworth is more like “a sexton delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man’s bosom” (125). These comparisons of Chillingworth to a miner and a sexton, and the truth to gold and a jewel emphasizes this obsession that Chillingworth must finding the truth. Chillingworth is “the leech” and he 's by Dimmesdale’s side making him sick. The longer Chillingworth stays with Dimmesdale, the worse Dimmesdale’s condition gets. This is his newfound passion and his persistence won’t allow him to end this hunt for the truth.
However, this character changes to a more sinister and deleterious one as the chapters move on. The other characters develop assorted opinions of Chillingworth, too. His development in the story will be traced as with the way others perceived him. In the first place, Roger Chillingworth arrives to Boston and is soon to be of medical assistance to Dimmsdale since he is almost deathly ill.
Chillingworth pretends to be a doctor and says he will attempt to heal the reverend from his sickness. He never has the intention of healing Arthur because he holds a grudge against him for having a child with his wife. So vengeful is Roger, that he sins against his roommate by purposefully harming him. “Roger Chillingworth’s aspect had undergone a remarkable change while he had dwelt in town…” (Hawthorne 117).
While both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale were living together so Chillingworth can conduct laboratorial exams, the narrator makes
Chillingworth shows no restraint in persecuting Dimmesdale to achieve his ends. When he arrives in the town he finds that a man has committed adultery with his wife, which “[leads] him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy.” From that moment, Chillingworth swears to exact his retribution. He forms a plan which will only satisfy his selfish desire to destroy the man that wronged him.