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Chillingworth: A Chilly Fiend

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Chillingworth: A Chilly Fiend Logistically, in any literary piece, the need for an antagonistic presence is a key component for a successful text. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, he displays antagonism through a vengeful persona called Roger Chillingworth. A wife to Hester Prynne, the main character of the text, of whom committed an act of adultery with the town minister Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, Chillingworth (as he will be so forth mentioned) becomes the seeker of true revenge for the irrevocable act that has preceded the text as an antecedent action. Chillingworth thus establishes himself as a prime example of a compelling spiteful being by leeching off Dimmesdale for information, stopping Dimmesdale and Hester from exiling …show more content…

Planning the ship exile, the situation’s reaction is expressed when “…at that instant [when Hester is informed of Chillingworth’s residency on the schooner], she beheld old…Chillingworth, himself, standing in the remotest corner of the market-place, and smiling on her, a smile which…conveyed secret and fearful meaning” (210-211). Chillingworth could have let exile be punishment enough, in his eyes, for the sinister actions that Hester and Dimmesdale partook in, he decides that the illegitimate couple should pay recompense for their actions by annihilating them in America, where he can do such in a facile manner. Chillingworth also joins the ship adherence in order to spawn consternation, specifically on Hester Prynne. When Hester becomes informed of a third entity being incorporated with the ship, she slyly states “‘What mean you?’ inquired Hester, startled more than she permitted to appear. ‘Have you another passenger?’” (210). Hester becomes alarmed by this revelation, therefore proving Chillingworth’s fearful glow by eliciting the bemused and perplexed concern of Hester, a reaction that displays extreme precaution in order to make sure Chillingworth does not slaughter Dimmesdale in his pursuit for

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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,

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Basically, Chillingworth wants to keep Dimmesdale from confessing of Chillingworth’s pleasure. Through his interactions with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth shows the vengeful aspect of his

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Therefore, the role Chillingworth obtains influences the plot of the story more so than other characters. Chillingworth seems to be a nice and genuine person throughout the beginning of the novel. He becomes Dimmesdale’s friend and helps take care of him throughout his illness. However, while he is being this nice person on the outside, on the inside he plots revenge against Dimmesdale and Hester.

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When Chillingworth visits Hester in prison, he claims that “his [the adulterer] fame, his position, his life, will be in my hands” (53). Chillingworth makes a vow to Hester that he will find the man who enticed her and will destroy the individual’s life and soul. As the novel progresses, Chillingworth establishes himself as the town doctor and Dimmesdale develops a mysterious illness that perplexes and worries the townspeople. His illnesses leads to Roger Chillingworth becoming his medical advisor, “as not only the disease interested the physician, but he was strongly moved to look into the character and qualities of the patient, these two men...came gradually to spend much time together” (84). Chillingworth takes advantage of the fact that Dimmesdale needs medical attention and establishes himself as a friend, with the intention of finding out personal information about Dimmesdale.

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They both attempt to put plans to action that are hateful and deceitful, Abigail with trying to curse Elizabeth, and Chillingworth with torturing Dimmesdale. However, Abigail is jealous of elizabeth for getting to keep John, while Chillingsworth is angry at dimmesdale for having the affair. Throughout both stories the two characters are both act evil but it has come from their

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(125). Chillingworth was not always a bad man, as he says. Hester’s scandal and betrayal hurt Chillingworth deeply, to the point where he became evil and sought revenge. Chillingworth was humiliated, and Dimmesdale and Hester were the two people that had made him that way, which is why he sought

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In Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain used satire to ridicule different aspects of American society during that time. This satire allowed for a humorous take on major events through the eyes of the author. To start off, the family feud between the Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords represented the foolish behavior of the North and South during the Civil War. Next, Mark Twain mocked slavery and anyone who condones it, such as Miss Watson. Lastly, the fact that the towns people would rather blame a black man for the supposive death of Huckleberry then a white man.

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While both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale were living together so Chillingworth can conduct laboratorial exams, the narrator makes

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On various occasions, he causes Dimmesdale to become paranoid by being ever-present and never giving him space. There is a clear connection between the amount of time Chillingworth spends with Dimmesdale and Dimmesdale’s worsening health, but the Puritan people become blinded by the

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Hester and Dimmesdale each are equivalent in the sin that they commit, but their lives and fates are different because Hester had to repent for her crimes while Dimmesdale bottled up his guilt inside. The indirect result of Dimmesdale’s concealment of the truth was Chillingworth’s torture, which played a large role in Dimmesdale’s untimely death. Chillingworth snapped when Hester did not reveal Dimmesdale’s crimes. Hester, in part, helped Dimmesdale in

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Eventually, he comes aware of what he has done and leaves his property to Pearl and Hester. “Nothing was more remarkable than the change which took place, almost immediately after Mr. Dimmesdale’s death, in the appearance and demeanour of the old man known as Roger Chillingworth” (253). It is obvious that Chillingworth develops an understanding of his sins after Dimmesdale’s death which made Chillingworth’s life without a purpose. To conclude, revenge and sin are one of the most disturbing crimes a man can commit; therefore, symbolism, figurative language, and imagery were used to verify the awful character of

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Throughout the history of literature, forests or woods were used to symbolise a lost in morals or spirituality. The devil or The Black man was used to symbolise corruption or evil. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses forests and The Black Man to embody the spiritual and moral struggles of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in his novel The Scarlet Letter. The first time Roger Chillingworth appears to the readers, is during the first scaffold scene. He was deformed and hunchbacked.

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Inhyeok (Daniel) Lee Mr. Soldi CP English III October 17, 2014 Bloodthirsty Revenge portrayed through Roger Chillingworth In his novel Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes several allegories throughout the story. Allegory is a literary technique that Hawthorne uses to connect the characters with symbolic presences. It gradually builds up the tension between characters, and also arouses curiosity of readers.

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(pg. 70). Later on, Chillingworth vows seek her lover, “I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books,” Chillingworth vows to Hester. “Sooner or later, he must needs be mine!” (pg.70). Hester realizes that Chillingworth means to enact revenge, saying, “thy acts are like mercy...but thy words interpret thee as a terror!”

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1322 Words | 6 Pages

He disappeared for a period of time and Hester didn´t know if he was even alive. All this time Chillingworth had been captured by Indians and was living with them. When he came back to Boston, Chillingworth finds Hester on the scaffold holding a baby that´s not his and wearing a scarlet “A” on her chest. Chillingworth talks to Hester and asks her who is the child´s father, but Hester refuses to tell him. In that moment Chillingworth swears revenge, but not towards Hester, since he thinks that the scarlet letter and Pearl is punishment enough and that she has received what she deserves.

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