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Scarlet Letter Persuasive Essay

701 Words3 Pages

In an article written by Dr. Jemshed A. Khan, he claims that Roger Chillingworth poisoned Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale with a drug called atropine in The Scarlet Letter, a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Surely, Chillingworth was “a man of skill in all Christian modes of physical science”(Hawthorne 67) and knowledgeable with medicinal herbs and roots that grew in the forest(Hawthorne 67). Knowing that then he would know how to kill Dimmesdale even though it would be slow and painful. Even though Dr. Khan’s article is in some way persuasive and supported well with different evidence, it isn’t examined further in depth. In The Scarlet Letter there is much support to prove the idea that Dimmesdale was not killed by atropine. The main point of Dr. Khan’s article was to prove that Chillingworth wanted to kill Dimmesdale by the use of atropine poisoning, but there are different parts in the novel that hint that Chillingworth wanted to keep Dimmesdale alive so that he could suffer through his own guilt. There is evidence early on in the novel that suggests that Dr. Khan’s theory is incorrect. During the conversation between Chillingworth and Hester, he tells her, “...I shall contrive aught against his …show more content…

Dimmesdale suddenly gets a burst of energy when he and Hester go into the forest to try to escape but if Chillingworth was killing Dimmesdale through atropine than Dimmesdale wouldn’t have such a burst of energy because he would be too weak. Also in addition to Dimmesdale not showing his recent illness he starts to see the town and people differently which this new way is sort of evil. Since in the Puritan society you’re not supposed to think of something in such depth and now that it has happened Dimmesdale feels as if he can open up to the town and confront his

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