Comparing Motives In The Scarlet Letter, And The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Characters are partially defined and perceived through their motives. Throughout the Catch-22, The Scarlet Letter, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Doctor Daneeka, Chillingworth and Huck’s father are judged based on their motives. Doc Daneeka is the doctor in charge of Yossarian’s group. When Yossarian asks about being grounded, the doctor responded 'you're wasting your time,' Doc Daneeka is forced to tell him (Heller, 32). The doctor’s hesitance is displayed by him being “forced to tell” Yossarian. Heller uses Dr. Daneeka’s mandated motive given by the government to describe the complexity of his persona. He is conflicted with his want to ground people but his need to not relieve them of duty. Heller describes the conflicting emotion to portray Daneeka’s compassion to others through his hesitance and his loyalty

In The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth is shown to be mentally unstable through his motives. When the Chillingworth first encounters Hester, “he finds the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and sees that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raises his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and lays it on his lips” (Hawthorne). Hawthorne describes Roger as putting his finger on his lips to signal silence of his relation to him. The description of “slowly and calmly raising his finger” points to mischevious intent, especially because it is a reaction to “the eyes of Hester Prynne [being] fastened on his own”. The ideas of mischief and silence coupled alludes to a malicious objective. The reader’s first impression of Chillingworth is paired with an image of malice, which creates a link to an unreliable and bad perspective. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pa tries to act authoritatively so he can take advantage of the Huck. However, when Pa comes home, he reacts by saying: “you’re educated, too, they say—can read and