Arthur Dimmesdale vs Roger Chillingworth Essay example

He,(Dimmesdale), is “a rare case…I must search this matter to the bottom” (Hawthorne, 158). When Chillingworth overheard Dimmesdale having a bad dream, he entered his quarters and “laid his hand upon his bosom, and thrust aside the vestment, that, … had always covered it even from the professional eye” (Hawthorne, 159). What Chillingworth saw there, no one knows, but we know that he saw Dimmesdale’s sin on his chest. “… With a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror … (with) the extravagant gestures with which he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor” (Hawthorne, 159). When Chillingworth becomes the Devil, he is doing many strange things. Chillingworth is keeping himself secluded, and is seen lurking around town in a creepy manner. Roger secluded himself from everyday life to keep his plot for revenge focused. His plot is working too, Dimmesdale’s “… soul shivers … at the sight of the man” (Hawthorne, 240). Chillingworth is also spending a great deal of time in the “forest trees … searching for roots and twigs, for his strange medicines” (Hawthorne, 145). The townspeople even see that Roger Chillingworth is pure evil. When the town first meets Chillingworth, they think he is a kind old doctor that would not harm a soul. “ At first, his expression had been meditative, scholar like” (Hawthorne,

He describes Chillingworth as malformed and stooped. He compares Chillingworth to weeds and portrays his business as resembling witchcraft. Chillingworth’s shady and sinister characteristics all portray him as the monarch of hell.

In Chapter 9, Chillingworth 's evil nature starts to show. As Dimmesdale suffers with the guilt of being Pearl 's father, Chillingworth acts as a physician who seems to be taking the life out of Dimmesdale even more. The townspeople are beginning to notice that there is"something ugly and evil starting in his face" (Hawthorne, 124). In chapter 10, this theme of evil continues with Chillingworth, for he continues to get worse. In this chapter, it is clear that Chillingworth 's goal of revenge is to increase Dimmesdale’s inner pain. Hawthorne describes Chillingworth as a "thief entering a chamber where a man lies only half asleep" (Hawthorne, 126) as a way to further symbolize his evilness. Chillingworth harasses Dimmesdale constantly about his secrets asking, "why not reveal them here?" (Hawthorne, 128). But even with all the nagging, Dimmesdale refuses to reveal what 's been making him sick on the inside. In chapter 11, Dimmesdale 's suffering only increases. His sermons hint at his sinful nature, but everyone is being mislead by them for they seem to think that Dimmesdale is even more holy. Dimmesdale is "tortured by some black trouble of the soul"(Hawthorne, 137) and yet, his hidden public confessions are misunderstood. However, Dimmesdale is aware of this, for "the minister well knew- subtle, but remorseful hypocrite- that he was"(Hawthorne, 141). In chapter 12, during the night, Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold, in which it can clearly be seen that

Chillingworth is a man whom at first was a stranger to the town’s people whom later accepted

"Hester looked at the man of skill, and even then, with her fate hanging on the balance, was startled to perceive what a change had come over his features, --how much uglier they were, --how his dark complexion seemed to have grown duskier, and his figure more misshapen..." (Pg.103).  Hester is not the only person to notice the change in Chillingworth; many of the townspeople recognize the changes in him as well, "At first his expression had been calm, meditative, scholar-like. Now there was something ugly and evil in his face, which they had not previously noticed, and which still grew more obvious to sight the oftener they looked upon him" (Pg. 117). Slowly but surely Roger Chillingworth is changing from a man with normal interests, to a man with an evil obsession; every day he is getting closer and closer to the dark side.

When Dimmesdale committed adultery with Hester, he did not come forward as the father and let Hester take the sole blame. The young reverend had become rapidly ill, as the town had noticed, despite his age. He is known to have his hand over his chest, where Hester’s “A” lies on her bosom, and to look sickly, as if he were “burdened with the black secrets of his soul” (135). Not once until the very end of the novel does Dimmesdale attempt to spout the truth of Pearl’s heritage and take responsibility for his sin, and as a result he is wracked with guilt and the illness that befalls him. He even goes so far as to torture himself, and yet still does not profess his mistakes. “Mr. Dimmesdale, conscious that the poison of one morbid spot was infecting his heart’s entire substance” (132) remains silent. At the end of the novel, Dimmesdale comes to see he must atone for his mistakes and says “‘Let me make haste to take my shame upon me!’” (241). When Dimmesdale finally owns up and takes blame, he dies. Not facing and taking fault for his actions killed Arthur

The setting is in Boston, Massachusetts, It's cold and a heavy rain is falling down from the sky almost as if god himself was crying over the sinful actions he has seen come from his so called wonderful creation. A minister whose purpose in life was to spread the faith that has given his life meaning, has become a sinner, and his so called companion; a physician who has drained his body of every single piece of energy for the sole purpose of torturing this minister. These characters are known as Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale, they play a key role in the Scarlet letter, both known for their iconic symbiotic relationship filled with a sinful background.

Chillingworth stands with Hester Prynne in the prison. they talked about how he is going to find her lover. He told to her, "I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books; as I have sought gold in alchemy. There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him" pg70. As any man who found their spouse to be having an affair, Chillingworth reacted with a normal answer although an angry upset and wanting revenge, he did not act on good thinking. After this talk with Hester Prynne in the walls of prison, Chillingworth makes a goal to find Hester's love; no change had occurred with inside Chillingworth, though over a couple months his behavior begins to change.

Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale appear very similar in how they act, how their actions influence them, and how they respond to these actions. They both untruthfully seem like honorable men to the townspeople, and act as if they truly do conduct themselves in this way. By behaving like this, they delve further into sin and suffering; however, instead of divulging who they really are, they both continue making these mistakes of dishonesty. For example, when Chillingworth comprehends that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, he decides to take revenge, but this choice causes “a terrible fascination, a kind of fierce, though still calm, necessity [to seize] the old man” (Hawthorne, 120). Dimmesdale, too, suffers from deteriorating health

In the history of books, novels, and literature, in general, there is no shortage of unique characters. This is also especially true for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. It is also true that The Scarlet Letter is full of complex characters and situations. We, for example, can take Roger Chillingworth, examine him as a whole, and break down his speech and actions to see his true self. Shall we begin?

Hawthorne frequently refers to Chillingworth's genius and diction, but purposely fails to have Chillingworth show any slight sign of compassion. This lack of compassion is what made him the monster that he is. He treats people like a mathematical problem analyzing only the facts, caring nothing about the harm that he might cause. 

On the surface, Roger Chillingworth is a common villain; however, digging deeper it can be determined that he is more than a

Realizing his horrid thoughts, Dimmesdale claimed to have “yielded himself with a deliberate choice, as he had never done before, to what he knew was a deadly sin. And the infectious poison of that sin had been thus rapidly diffused throughout his moral system. It had stupefied all blessed impulses, and awakened into vivid life the whole brotherhood of bad ones. Scorn, bitterness, unprovoked malignity, gratuitous desire of ill, ridicule of whatever was good and holy, all awoke, to tempt even while the frightened him…[His old] self was gone! Another man had returned out of the forest; a wiser one; with knowledge of hidden mysteries which the simplicity of the former never could have reached. A bitter kind of knowledge.” (152-153) Following this conversation with himself, Roger Chillingworth enters Dimmesdale’s study in hopes of administering more “aid” in preparation for his upcoming Election Sermon. Dimmesdale respectfully declines his offer, but Chillingworth persists. Suspicious, the narrator describes Chillingworth’s reaction: “All this time, Roger Chillingworth was looking at the minister with the grave and intent regard of a physician towards his patient. But, in man’s knowledge, or, at least, his confident suspicion, with respect to his own interview with Hester Prynne. The physician knew, then, that, in the minister’s regard, he was no longer a trust friend, but his bitterest enemy.” (153) Chillingworth realizes that Hester broke their vow and that DImmesdale

Along with the escalation of Chillingworth’s obsession the severity of his actions followed he turned from his good self consciously into the bad guy whose ideals were the opposite of the puritan culture. This can be applied as an indirect moral teaching that once you start down a path of evil you will eventually become what your actions are. This is again displayed in Chillingworth with him driving Dimmsdale to death, but actually being distressed as Chillingworth dies because he needed Dimmesdale to leech off

Chillingworth doesn’t appear to be guilty about what he’s doing to Dimmesdale at all, he’s out seeking revenge. Keeping a secret is affecting Dimmesdale physically he’s becoming very ill and his health is failing. Chillingworth is appearing