Chillingworth's Journeys In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a classic American novel that explores many themes including society, religion, and personal growth. The main characters of the novel include Hester, a shamed adulteress; Dimmesdale, a guilty preacher; Roger Chillingworth, a vengeful husband; and Pearl, an innocent child. Each of these characters experience their own journeys that fundamentally change themselves and their morals. Hester’s journey is one of shame to strength while Dimmesdale’s is one from a moral figure to tortured sinner. Roger Chillingworth, an intelligent scholar becomes an insidious, vengeful villain. Pearl grows from a symbol of sin to one of forgiveness and redemption. Nina Baym and Katherine Harrison analyze the growths

Hester Prynne emerges from the jailhouse with her infant, Pearl. Hester with a “burning blush and yet a haughty smile” (page 50) chooses not to cover the tokens of her shame, both the brilliant “A” embroidered on her breast and the small infant. Hawthorne describes how Hester’s “beauty shone out and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy” that surrounded her ( Page 51). Hester travels through the town towards the scaffold while being punished by the harsh stares and stern expressions of the people of her Puritan community . Upon reaching the scaffold, Hester appears to be the “image of Divine Maternity” as she stands upon the scaffold alone with no one to comfort her except her child. Pearl cries in her arms as if she too, can feel the deep humiliation that her mother feels. Hester takes the shame of her sin upon herself and endures “the weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes” as a punishment for her sin (Page 54). Her gaze into the crowd does not falter and she is held by a degree of personal dignity and courage that prevents her from crumbling in front of her community. Nina Baym in her Introduction to the Scarlet Letter, believes this dignity and self respect is “because she did not believe that she did an evil thing” and “to her the act was inseparable from love, love for Dimmesdale, love for Pearl” (Baym). Hester is very vulnerable upon the scaffold. The people who had once stood beside her,

Dimmesdale delivers his most powerful sermon and after “showering golden truths upon [the people]” he makes the choice to ascend the scaffold for the final time. He calls Hester and Pearl to stand with him in the bright sunlight. Roger Chilligworth emerges from the crowd with a “dark, disturbed, and evil look.” Chillingworth rage and obsession with revenge consumed what once was an intelligent, rational scholar, reducing him to a old devilish man whose only solace was the pain he inflicted. The “temptor” tries to kep Dimmesdale from revealing his sin but is unsuccessful. Dimmesdale, a dying man, summons his strength and with help from Hester announce to the townspeople that he is the true sinner and reveals the scarlet letter emblazoned on his chest. In his last moments, Dimmesdale achieves catharsis and with a kiss from little Pearl, “the spell was broken.” Dimmesdale dies, his sin revealed to the eyes of everyone. Hester survives and moves on. Katherine Harrison in her introduction to the Scarlet letter states that, “Hester’s evolution reveals a deeply held faith in the possibility of rending the fabric of ordinary experience to perceive a new order, a spiritual truth.” Hester’s transformation reveals the truths about sin and redemption. Hester did not believe that the love between Dimmedale and herself was sinful. It was pure, it had “a