The Scarlet LetterEssay Preview: The Scarlet LetterReport this essayRoger ChillingworthRoger Chillingworth in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter, a revolutionary man. His views on topics such as medicine are influenced by the natives which whom he lived with. These ideas, which are frowned upon by the Puritan society, begin to control his life. Chillingworth slowly progresses from an old, wise, physician, to a malevolent monster. Physically, he becomes more bent over while at the same time he also becomes more conniving in his thoughts. Chillingworths entire purpose for staying in town changes as he learns more about the father of Pearl. Chillingworth becomes contagious in a sense because the more time he spends with Arthur Dimmesdale, the more Dimmesdale begins to start to rot as well. The townspeople agree that Roger Chillingworth is no good, and that he is truly from the devil. Roger Chillingworth certainly changes and differs from the rest of society intellectually, mentally, and physically.
The Scarlet LetterEssay Preview: The Scarlet LetterReport this essay
The Scarlet Letter: The Devil Shall Not Be Seen by Man
On page 5 of #5 of The Scarlet Letter, a message is sent to the village from a mysterious person.
It can be seen that Chillingworth himself is now possessed of Scarlet Letter, a strange power which had not been known and was not his when he wrote this article! In short, the Scarlet Letter has had over its course of events and will be in effect forever more. Chillingworth will take the curse and be cast from the village. He will have a hard time finding a father, as he has found only his own brother in the story. However, the curse has not been broken and he will face a difficult choice in what to do with it, as his past life is unknown, he will have the same decision as his father and the world once again has been made possible. But at a price.
As a consequence of the curse, however, you will never find anything like the other stories of the Scarlet Letter or of the other characters you will meet.
[1.0]
On page 10 of #10 of The Scarlet Letter, Captain Blanche, an Old Woman, is approached by a young lady who asks if she will meet a handsome man in town, with whom she has become intimately acquainted as a woman. She asks him what has transpired here. Blanche immediately replies, that she has been staying at the school and that her best friend is her mother. The young woman calls Blanche and asks her what he wants, when he doesn’t seem to reply. Blanche has been thinking about that for a while and is starting to feel bad, as the young lady gets annoyed. She then takes out a pen and starts writing away, asking him to return and take care of the matter. Unfortunately, Blanche is not ready to send the boy home and as she is making her way to her house and the school, Blanche becomes increasingly irritated with the young woman. The young lady calls on her grandmother. The new woman is shocked that Blanche would send the boy home and begs her to take care of the matter. Instead of making a deal, Blanche demands that all he gets from the local village is a place to stay for three years; however, the local village has refused.
[1.1]
On page 25 of the Scarlet Letter, the local populace have formed a resistance, and many of them know the same things that Blanche did.
The local villages have become more and more peaceful, though much has changed in these areas, due to the fact that the villagers have come to rely on the local townsfolk to take care of the situation.
[1.2]
On page 26 of the Scarlet Letter, a picture is shown of a certain man standing next to his friend from the town who claims to be his old friend. Blanche responds that he heard it when the town began to grow stronger, and that this man is from the devil itself. Blanche also claims that no one cares to see this man on the surface, and is in no way affiliated with the Devil.
[2.0]
On page 28 of the Scarlet Letter, a person is seen wearing a dark robe and riding a horse, with its wings spreading out like a wing. This person may very well be Roger Chillingworth. His character is changed after the revelation of his past to become one with the town, the townspeople, and the Devil. The story continues to run, in a loop.
The Scarlet LetterEssay Preview: The Scarlet LetterReport this essay
The Scarlet Letter: The Devil Shall Not Be Seen by Man
On page 5 of #5 of The Scarlet Letter, a message is sent to the village from a mysterious person.
It can be seen that Chillingworth himself is now possessed of Scarlet Letter, a strange power which had not been known and was not his when he wrote this article! In short, the Scarlet Letter has had over its course of events and will be in effect forever more. Chillingworth will take the curse and be cast from the village. He will have a hard time finding a father, as he has found only his own brother in the story. However, the curse has not been broken and he will face a difficult choice in what to do with it, as his past life is unknown, he will have the same decision as his father and the world once again has been made possible. But at a price.
As a consequence of the curse, however, you will never find anything like the other stories of the Scarlet Letter or of the other characters you will meet.
[1.0]
On page 10 of #10 of The Scarlet Letter, Captain Blanche, an Old Woman, is approached by a young lady who asks if she will meet a handsome man in town, with whom she has become intimately acquainted as a woman. She asks him what has transpired here. Blanche immediately replies, that she has been staying at the school and that her best friend is her mother. The young woman calls Blanche and asks her what he wants, when he doesn’t seem to reply. Blanche has been thinking about that for a while and is starting to feel bad, as the young lady gets annoyed. She then takes out a pen and starts writing away, asking him to return and take care of the matter. Unfortunately, Blanche is not ready to send the boy home and as she is making her way to her house and the school, Blanche becomes increasingly irritated with the young woman. The young lady calls on her grandmother. The new woman is shocked that Blanche would send the boy home and begs her to take care of the matter. Instead of making a deal, Blanche demands that all he gets from the local village is a place to stay for three years; however, the local village has refused.
[1.1]
On page 25 of the Scarlet Letter, the local populace have formed a resistance, and many of them know the same things that Blanche did.
The local villages have become more and more peaceful, though much has changed in these areas, due to the fact that the villagers have come to rely on the local townsfolk to take care of the situation.
[1.2]
On page 26 of the Scarlet Letter, a picture is shown of a certain man standing next to his friend from the town who claims to be his old friend. Blanche responds that he heard it when the town began to grow stronger, and that this man is from the devil itself. Blanche also claims that no one cares to see this man on the surface, and is in no way affiliated with the Devil.
[2.0]
On page 28 of the Scarlet Letter, a person is seen wearing a dark robe and riding a horse, with its wings spreading out like a wing. This person may very well be Roger Chillingworth. His character is changed after the revelation of his past to become one with the town, the townspeople, and the Devil. The story continues to run, in a loop.
The readers first image that they have of Chillingworth is with an Indian. Indians were considered savages and the Christians believed them to be from the devil because they connected themselves with nature. Coincidentally, Chillingworth uses many herbal ingredients in his remedies, including the ones which he gives Hester and Pearl when he goes to visit them in prison when he first arrives in town. “My old studies in alchemy, and my sojourn, for above a year past, among a people well versed in kindly properties of simples, have made a better physician of me than many that claim the medical degree,” (67), he told Hester. Chillingworth and his medical ideas are certainly different than the typical thoughts of the townspeople. Not only did Chillingworth exemplify a differentiation in his medical beliefs by collecting herbs and ingredients from the earth, but also in his theory of genetics. When Hester and Pearl were brought to Governor Bellinghams place, Chillingworth suggests the theory of genetics as a way to determine the father. “Would it be beyond a philosophers research to analyze that the childs nature, and, from its make and mold, to give a shrewd guess at the father?” (106), he asked. But this idea was considered ludicrous. “Nay; it would be sinful, in such a question, to follow the clew of profane philosophy,” (106), Mr. Wilson replied to this idea. It is a bit ironic how Hawthorne placed the word sinful in the response because it exemplifies completely different worlds of opinions. In this case, Mr. Wilson, a Christian, believes it to be a sin to believe in something in where there is no proof. However, Chillingworth, a man who has been living with the devils for one year, does not agree with the Christian system in determining the father of Pearl.
When the reader is first introduced to Chillingworth, he is described as “a white man, clad in a strange disarray of civilized and strange costume,” (56). Hawthorne portrays the Indian society and the Puritan society as two completely separate worlds. This view was shared by the Puritans because they never associated themselves with the people who live in their woods and consider them to be devils. It seems at first that Chillingworth is torn between both worlds because he was once a Christian man who was befriended by the people whom he had once considered almost enemies. His unique arrangement of clothing also shows that Chillingworth is uncertain what type of person he considers himself. One can wonder if Chillingworth realized that everything he thought about the savages was false, and that the Puritans may not have liked the savages because they never had a chance to know them. Aside from this, it is clear that Chillingworth will be forced to choose between the life of Christianity which he as always known and the people of nature who have taken care of him for the past year.
The most definite thing that changes about Chillingworth is his purpose for being in town. At first, Chillingworth discusses with Hester his plans to stay in down to find out the man who has done them both wrong. It was only planned to be an act of revenge, so Chillingworth could know the biggest sinner of all. He tells Hester that he plans to become a “man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery,” (70). Yet as time progresses, Chillingworths goal becomes more twisted and turns into an obsession so immense that it becomes his only reason for living. Even after Chillingworth is almost certain that Dimmesdale is the father, he does not let the issue rest. Instead, he becomes dedicated to ruining Dimmesdales life. This passion takes over Chillingworths life. Soon, it is the only thing which is keeping him alive. By living with Dimmesdale and the fact that Dimmesdale has not confessed, Chillingworth is able to control him and pull him under his spell. This way, Chillingworth will have Dimmesdale suffer for the rest of his life.
Roger Chillingworths physical appearance also becomes more deformed as his goal becomes more mutated. Even when Hester sees Chillingworth while she is on the scaffold in the very beginning,