Within a work of literature there may exists a pair of characters that rely on each other to express their traits in full. They are called foil and Arthur Dimmesdale and Robert Chillingworth are an example of this. Although the story centers around Hester there exists struggle between other individuals. Hawthorne wonderfully alludes to the doctrine of Satan accusing the sinner using these two characters and bring forth a suspenseful conflict. This is also called a juxtapose since they wonderfully contrast showing the extremes of character. It is as intertwined as yin and yang. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale need each other almost. Chillingworth makes him or the alleged father of Pearl his life 's ambition. He goes as far as to change his name and pose as a friendly doctor. He uses this to get close to Dimmesdale and now he cannot think of anything else. He neglects his wife and doesnt even care for her. He just wants the man to be shamed as well. He mentally tortures the Reverend and all with glee. It is clearly made known that after he completes his deed he will have no …show more content…
He knows what is right and wrong but one example has been haunting him in his life. Now in a Puritan society, sin had to have been confessed publicly and they must bear their shame. This however goes against what the Word actually says and this is what created Arthur Dimmesdale as a character. He most likely has already repented to God but his guilt will not leave until he confesses it to his congregation and it leads him to other “ways” of repentance. Being reminded of his guilt 24/7 causes his his health to deteriorate to the point of death, possibly alluding to the fact that the wages of sin are death. So finally when he is about to pass he confesses his sin publicly, and is saved from the torment and presumably from Hell itself. Now Satan or Chillingworth cannot fathom that his victim is now gone, out of reach, in a place where he isn 't going, now
Dimmesdale is the biggest jerk of The Scarlet Letter. From the beginning of the book, Dimmesdale is a hypocrite. Although it is implied that he preaches against premarital sex as a Puritan pastor, Dimmesdale commits adultery with Hester. After getting Hester pregnant, he avoids visiting Hester and his daughter for seven years.
Chillingsworth works day in and day out making Dimmesdale sick with work that people will find out what he had done. It's so bad that Dimmesdale starts to do self harm. Chillingworth even goes about so that hester knows what she had done was wrong too and he makes her life like she is walking on
A quote in the novel exposes the outcome of sin committed among the characters, “…relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow,” (Hawthorne, 1850, p. 60). Through Dimmesdale’s self-torment, the reader is able to recognize the amount of guilt he feels from the affair. It was a crime of passion, and the sin he committed in his moment of weakness ultimately led to his destruction. Chillingworth is instrumental in expressing another theme, the lust for revenge is due to his “hatred, by a gradual and quiet process…a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility,” (Hawthorne, 1850, p. 256). Chillingworth’s one-sided intentions get him nowhere and being drowned in hatred ultimately leads to his death.
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.
Guilt is in everyone. Guilt is often to be seen within everybody, for it is a force that does not fail to capture even the mightiest of people. Guilt behaves as a reminder to let one know privately that he/she has committed a bad deed, after awhile people begin to give in and confess. However, there are those who refuse to accept the actions they have previously taken and hide it. Similarly, the act of act of concealed guilt apparent in the supposed antagonist, Roger Chillingworth, of The Scarlet Letter.
He knows that if he reveals what he has done, then his followers will lose their respect for him. He is burdened with his sin; therefore, he inflicts pain upon himself for his wrongdoing. Dimmesdale goes as far as having vigils all night, being tortured by “diabolic shapes,” and emaciating and whipping himself. Dimmesdale punishes himself because he wants to repent for the sin that he has committed.
There’s always that one family member that nobody else likes. Whether it be that weird uncle, that crazy aunt, or that annoying cousin - almost everyone has one. Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, takes this idea to the extreme. John Hathorne was a judge during the Salem Witch Trials and the great-great grandfather of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hathorne is also known to be the cruelest judge during the Salem Witch Trials - people began referring to him as “the hanging judge.”
and yet he ambitiously seeks further torture. As his antipathy amplified, Chillingworth perpetually imbued Dimmesdale with a fiery warmth of regret for the scandalous iniquity he had wrongfully commit; Yet, Chillingworth’s “righteous” acts are not righteous at all, in fact he commits sin tenfold that of Dimmesdale just through these acts. Chillingworth poses himself as a kind man attempting to heal the Reverend, but this is a lie, a lie directly to the face of God. Chillingworth does not care for the health of the Reverend, his true underlying intentions are to seek information from
In the book The scarlet letter , Nathaniel Hawthorne questions the reader by questioning whether it is okay to punish sinners since we all have committed sins. Scarlet letter takes place in massachustes in new england in the time of colonization of the new world.at the time massachustes is very religious and the church has alot of power over the people, they control almost evry aspect of their life and punish thoose who commit sins. Dimmesdale is the head of the church in salem massachusetts and he is defined by how people admired him and how people liked him, this traits affect the theme and other characters in the story because it makes dimmesdale look pure and sin free making people make wrong assumption and decisions when it come to dimmesdale. At the beginning of the book Dimmesdale is liked by his community and is well respected.
Dimmesdale and Chillingworth both have secrets that make them look and act differently, their secrets affect their character and how they do their job. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl but he doesn 't want to face the same humiliation as Hester did for his sins. Because of his secret he self punishes and fasts, he also preaches better than he did before although his health is failing. Chillingworth’s secret is that he was the husband of Hester while he was away, before she cheated on him. Chillingworth gets uglier and uglier driven by the need to get revenge on Pearl’s father.
In his plot of vengeance, Chillingworth wants to systematically destroy the Reverend, not allowing him the closure of outing himself to the public. This cruel and unusual punishment shows just how far the infidelity of his wife has pushed him over the limit, possibly into the realm of
Chillingworth seeks revenge but doesn't quite know how to go about it. The minister feels something negative is coming his way, but does not suspect it to come from a trusted colleague. One gesture that I believe foreshadows the presence of something beneath Dimmesdale’s vestment is when he would often grab his chest in stressful experiences would arise. One example from the text
Chillingworth came back into town and learned his wife had conceived a child with someone. He then made up his mind to find the other adulterer and seek revenge on him. When Chillingworth learned that Dimmesdale was the other adulterer, he did everything he could to make Dimmesdale feel worse. This crime was directed at causing pain and suffering to another, making this a terrible sin (“Who”). Chillingworth and Dimmesdale committed two completely different sins.
When Roger Chillingworth sees the ‘A’ on Dimmesdale’s chest, is any “man [had] seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment in his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself”(135). Because Dimmesdale sinned against Chillingworth, Chillingworth becomes a shadow of his former self, often compared to a leech that sucks the essence of Dimmesdale. This satanic alteration of Chillingworth is solely due to the act of adultery that Dimmesdale performed, and all of the negative acts of Chillingworth are also traced back to his act of adultery. Because of the alteration of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale’s sin also has negative consequences on the townspeople. In the town, the opinion that Chillingworth was “[either] Satan himself, or Satan’s emissary”(124).
He was the last person that people would think as a sinner. Dimmesdale was sin when he was committed adultery with Hester. He broke the law of church, but he was afraid to face the punishment and indifferent attitude from he masses. As a faithful follower, Dimmesdale also afraid the punishment of God, so he flog himself with a whip. The physical and spiral torture and the control of Chillingworth stranded him in a world that he cannot contact with others.