Evil In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter the tone is evil and creepy; this tone is connected directly to the character Chillingworth who displays these characteristics. Chillingworth is described as a weird and creepy man. Throughout the story he becomes older and viewed as evil and vengeful. Hawthorne of compared Chillingworth to the devil. The comparison and Chillingworth's action in the novel help portray the evil tone.

Roger Chillingworth’s character shows evil in many ways, one of those ways is through his thoughts. From the moment he sees Hester on the scaffold he begins to plot revenge on whoever the father of Pearl is. The first meeting Hester and Chillingworth have Hester says, “Why dost thou smile so at me? [...] Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the forest round about us? Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?”, then Chillingworth says, “Not thy soul, [...] No, not thine!” (Hawthorne 45). In this exchange between the once husband and wife the reader witnesses the first evil spark in Chillingworth. Every evil thought Chillingworth has stems from this moment in the story and everyone knows that thoughts generally lead to actions.

Throughout the story Roger Chillingworth slowly transforms and is comparable to the devil. There are phases to this transformation. The fact we learn Chillingworth trapped Hester in a marriage that she did not want be in shows that his evil transformation starts when we are first introduced to him. Later in this next phase, he uses his hatred and devotion to bring pain on Dimmesdale for seven years. Over the seven years, Chillingworth devotes his time to torment Dimmesdale with no remorse or compassion. While Dimmesdale and Hester had committed a high sin in Puritan life, Chillingworth’s conduct proves to be the greater evil. Hester and the “A” transition in the opposite direction. She was branded a

The Scarlet Letter is a novel that took place in the 17th century, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The heartbreaking story of the main character, Hester Prynne dispersed the reader's’ thoughts. Hester Prynne suffered from adultery, where she had a child without father’s presence and support. Hester also suffered from bullying, where she was conjectured by superior people in the Puritan Legacy. The Scarlet Letter illustrated many bullying examples throughout certain chapters of the book.

This motivation drove his evil deeds. The other characters, while having made bad decisions, were not motivated by destruction, but rather lust, perhaps even love. The intent of Dimmsdale and Hester’s relationship and behavior was not to intentionally harm anyone. Conversely, Chillingworth is evil at heart. Chillingsworth’s sin is revenge and he it is whole intention inflict the most damage possible upon Dimmesdale. The fact that Hollingsworth’s goal is to cause others pain shows that he is evil. Another example of Chillingworth’s true nature can be found in chapter 14 “in a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into the devil”(page 110). Chillingworth explains to Hester that his evil nature will not allow him to stop harming Dimmesdale. Perfect in his role as “The Leech”, Chillingworth is not only fueled by Dimmesdale’s suffering, but it is necessary for him to survive. Chillingworth's character cannot exist without causing others pain. Chillingsworth’s sadistic nature and the severe extent to which it controls and directs his life is a clear sign that Chillingworth is an evil person

Roger Chillingworth was sneaky and the most unfriendly spiteful character throughput the Scarlet Letter. Roger Chillingworth's sin was keeping Dimmdales alive to watch him suffer because i knew his secret about adultery. "What evil have I done the man?" asked Roger Chillingworth again. (250) In this quote he believes he not doing anything evil or sinister like. Roger Chillingworth was doctor in the Scarlet Letter. He used his skills and gifts for evil keeping Dimmesdale alive. “‘He therefore still kept up a familiar intercourse with him, daily receiving the old physician in his study; or visiting

The partner of sin with Hester, Dimmesdale is a young minister who is very popular for preaching his enlightening sermons. Although Dimmesdale is seen in the light, that light is dimmed through the constant physiological manipulation brought forth from Chillingworth. One cannot live with so much guilt so Dimmesdale deals with it by self harm. Hawthorne illustrates a change in the minister, “His inward trouble drove him to practices more in accordance with the old, corrupted faith of Rome than with the better light of the church in which he had been born and bred.”. A change indeed one that haunts Dimmesdale to his eventual

Dimmesdale regards Chillingworth, with distrust and even loathing. “...the minister, thought that he had constantly a dim perception of some evil influence watching over him...:,” it can be implicated that Dimmesdale is alluding to Chillingworth as the evil watching over him; This shows that Dimmesdale has started to see Chillingworth to be

Roger Chillingworth has been cast in bad light ever since his very first appearance, in which “A writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them” (Hawthorne 42). Use of the biblical snake metaphor and of inhuman imagery lets the reader know that Chillingworth’s soul has been corrupted and that, by becoming vengeful, he has lost the fundamental humanity that might salvage it. Chillingworth is a one-dimensional character. He is so deeply obsessed with exacting his revenge over his wife’s lover that it subsumes him completely. By refusing to end his quest for revenge—either by exposing Dimmesdale or letting him go—he denies himself the opportunity for catharsis and remains firmly entrenched in the past, unable to move on, grow, or do anything but carry his plot to term.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, is set in Puritan times, following the lives of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth after Hester’s crime of adultery. While Hester Prynne successfully processes her emotions and refuses to cave in on herself, the men in the novel resort to revenge. When one devotes themselves to vengeance, they become consumed by it. Reverend Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth both spend the novel taking revenge on themselves and someone else, respectively, leading to their decline of life and character.

However, as the story continues, Chillingworth experiences a substantial transformation as his bright minded and non-violent character began shifting to a darker spirit. After it was so clear to Chillingworth about Hester’s unfaithfulness, he began to develop the feeling towards vengeance against Dimmesdale, the man Hester had the affair with. The theme revenge in the novel is when the character Chillingworth truly depicted an obscure persona with his violent actions of attempting to murder reverend Dimmesdale several times. The ultimate desire of damaging Dimmesdale’s reputation became Chillingworth’s main focus and it completely changed his respect for others and his ability to make rational choices. His change from representing a morally intelligent man internally to developing a depraved personality was effectively demonstrated when Chillingworth used medical expertise and practices for attempting to poison Dimmesdale and manipulate him to confess the crime he felt guilty about. Hawthorne also manages to use imagery to portray Chillingworth’s transformation to an evil

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel about guilt and innocence in Boston, Massachusetts during the 1640s. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the novel, is a beautiful married woman who has committed adultery and had a child while her husband was lost at sea. She is now forced to bear the scarlet letter on her chest to let the public know what sin she has committed. Roger Chillingworth is Hesters lost husband who has returned back from seas to learn that his wife has been unfaithful to him. He has devoted himself to finding who Hesters lover is and seek revenge on him, even if it wreaks him. Arthur Dimmesdale is the town’s reverend and Hesters secret lover. He is in continuous conflict against himself since he is supposed to be

The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows many themes as the book continues. The Scarlet Letter tells the journey of a young woman named Hester Prynne after she commits adultery and has a child named Pearl. The novel addresses the views of Hester, Roger Chillingworth- her husband, and Arthur Dimmesdale- her lover, and how guilt has impacted their live after the sin. Through the reading of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, readers learn that guilt changes over time.

The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel that takes place in the town of Boston, Massachusetts in 1642. Hester Prynne, the main character of the story, commits the sin of adultery. Because of this sin, she is "blessed" with a child named Pearl. Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter “A" on her chest for the rest of her life, which affects the way the townspeople look and act around her. Also, she must stand on the scaffold in the town for three hours for the whole town to recognize her grave sins. The man who should be standing upon the scaffold along with her and Pearl is the town minister, Dimmesdale. He is presented as a weak character because of his fear of losing his beloved reputation as such a holy

They continue to using their citizenship in positive ways. Hawthorne describes Hester as a humble woman that is caring and helpful to anyone in their society, and Dimmesdale’s profession is a high-level pastor in Boston. The theme of good is represented in how everyone treats one another. Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays evil in other characters throughout the novel. One of the main antagonists in the novel is Roger Chillingworth.