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Diction And Mass Imagery In Roger Chillingworth By Nathaniel Hawthorne

84 Words1 Pages
Roger Chillingworth first appeared “drooping down, as it were, out of the sky, or starting from the nether earth…” associated with deformity and mystery. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses diction and mass imagery to portray Chillingworth as a symbol for evil and a devilish figure. Chillingworth lived with Native Americans, from them he gained the knowledge of “miraculous cures”. These "miraculous cures" Hawthorne describes them as witchcraft, advancing the evil characteristic of Chillingworth. In Hawthorne 's mind, Chillingworth is “haunted either by Satan himself or Satan’s emissary.”
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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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Chillingworth is described as having been “calm in temperament, kindly... a pure and upright man” (88), throughout his life. However, while living in the Puritan town, he allows his quest for vengeance to consume him, and “he now [digs] into the poor clergyman’s heart, like a miner searching for gold; or rather, like a sexton [gravedigger] delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man’s bosom” (88). Chillingworth is determined in his search for retribution, so much in fact

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707 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the novel, Chillingworth’s ugly look is combined with his altruistic, as well as revenge-seeking and malicious nature. Chillingworth’s ugliness is described to be “—a deformed old figure, with a face that haunted men’s memories longer than they liked” (166), and his contradictory behaviours are revealed when the author writes: Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an

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617 Words | 3 Pages

Matthew Mulderig Mrs. Zajac English Period 1 8 February 2023 Rab’s Influence on Johnny In Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes, a boy named Rab influences the protagonist, Johnny, positively and negatively. Throughout the story, Johnny becomes less arrogant, and more respectful and thinks before he speaks during his time with Rab. Although Johnny’s relationship with Rab has been positive so far, Rab has introduced Johnny to a menacing crowd of passionate patriots, which causes him to become rebellious. Before Johnny met Rab, he was an arrogant, conceited apprentice boy.

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475 Words | 2 Pages

Chillingworth knows that in his search for revenge he is getting closer to the Devil and is incorporating that, and this self reflection only serves to drive him farther into his goal. With Chillingworth interacting with the Devil and doing his work is thus isolated from the baseline society thus having no one to turn to but the Devil and his demons. This is dangerous because Chillingworth knows he has no one and will never give up his goal until it is completed, with the destruction of Hester and

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833 Words | 4 Pages

Gary throws a fish at him and gets away from the devil. Gary later is scared for his own death for he may have to meet with the devil again. The devil in The Scarlet Letter is also different. The devil is more like the common person because I believe that Chillingworth has the duties as the devil does. He makes sure he Dimsdale lives with the sin that he had done.

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505 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the book Chillingworth reminds Hester of her wrong doing an example of this is when the novel states, “As he spoke, he laid his long forefinger on the scarlet letter, which forthwith seemed to scorch into Hester’s breast, as if it had been red-hot. ”(Hawthorne 64) Chillingworth's efforts to please himself by making Hester feel guilty for her actions during his absence sways the way many things happen in the book, like at the end when he decides to join the voyage that Dimmesdale and Hester planned to escape

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1003 Words | 5 Pages

Chillingworth’s guilt results in the degradation of his physical and mental demeanor, which ultimately turns him into a figure of evil. Chillingworth faces a multitude of problems, but the concealed guilt transforms his body and changes his physiognomy for the worse. Originally, Chillingworth is portrayed as an innocent man with great knowledge, but after some time the studious nature that offered Hester a reason to accept his proposal changed, for the, “former aspect of an intellectual and studious man... had altogether [vanish],”(Hawthorne 145), which portrays the first inclination into the physical deformities of Roger Chillingworth after torturing Dimmesdale. What was once an innocent man free of guilt, is now a demonic person with the intent of revenge.

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Chillingworth's change over the years makes him the true symbol of evil in the novel. When Hester realizes that Chillingworth is torturing Dimmesdale, she confronts him, and he says, "I have already told thee what I am! A fiend! Who made me so?"

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Another statement that Hawthorne makes in this section is that Chillingworth will not find anything except for mortality and corruption, but these were the things that he sought (125). This is giving the reader more insight on Chillingworth and his obsession. Chillingworth’s plan to infiltrate Dimmesdale’s home as his personal caretaker was to search for the truth. The once wise man had transformed once his obsession took control of him. Chillingworth’s

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1270 Words | 6 Pages

He moves in with Dimmesdale, and claims he will care for him, but the public cannot see that his intention is to torture Dimmesdale. Hawthorne explains, “The intellect of Roger Chillingworth had now a sufficiently plain path before it. It was not, indeed, precisely that which he had laid out for himself to tread. Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy” (126). He deliberately chooses to drive Chillingworth into insanity.

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436 Words | 2 Pages

Hawthorne’s immoral imagery depicts Chillingworth as untrustworthy. Later on, symbolism associates Chillingworth as a vicious person that seeks information for his own well-being. “In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into a devil, if he will only, for a

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781 Words | 4 Pages

Chillingworth has a helpless victim, who doesn’t even realize who Chillingworth is yet, and he exercises his power over the minister with great enthusiasm. When Hester meets him in the forest, Chillingworth has a blackness in his visage and a red light showing out of his eyes, as if “the old man's soul were on fire, and kept on smoldering duskily within his breast.” (pg.153). In seeking vengeance, he has taken on the devil's job. His obsession with revenge is what makes him the worst sinner and, therefore, a pawn of the devil so, it’s ironic that Hester meets him in the dark forest, a place the Puritans see as the home of the Black

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Amanda Vicente The Scarlet Letter Reading Response AP English Language Period J 16 August 2016 Journal Entry 1: Chapters 1-2 In The Scarlet Letter, the author sets a mood from the beginning of the book. The setting is old and beat up in front of an aged wooden prison with judgmental Puritans ready to tear a women apart. The Puritans are hypocrites and the author portrays that in the story.

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