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How Does Chillingworth Find The Truth In The Scarlet Letter

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The Puritan definition of truth was the word of God or every verse contained in the scripture, and the truth is believed to be “the self-expression of God”. Puritans took the word of God very serious and depended on it for their life lessons. In The Scarlet Letter Roger Chillingworth identifies Mr. Dimmesdale’s faults and want to uncover the secret that’s destroying him inside. Chillingworth makes it his purpose to find the truth. Chillingworth has an opportunity to do so while Dimmesdale is asleep from the drugs that Chillingworth gave him. During this time when Chillingworth is searching for the truth, he exposes Dimmesdale’s chest and founds exactly what he was looking for the scarlet letter imprinted on his chest. On page 125 starts Chillingworth’s discovery with finding the truth. This …show more content…

Hawthorne immediately corrects himself, and says that Chillingworth is more like “a sexton delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man’s bosom” (125). These comparisons of Chillingworth to a miner and a sexton, and the truth to gold and a jewel emphasizes this obsession that Chillingworth must finding the truth.Chillingworth is “the leech” and he 's by Dimmesdale’s side making him sick. The longer Chillingworth stays with Dimmesdale, the worse Dimmesdale’s condition gets. This is his newfound passion and his persistence won’t allow him to end this hunt for the truth. 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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He only wanted one thing once he found out the truth, vengeance on the man with whom she had the affair. Hawthorne’s attitude toward Chillingworth became very critical now, as Chillingworth was only focused on vengeance. Hawthorne sees him as a cold-hearted man, with every day passing he turns darker and darker. Once his vengeance is within his reach, Chillingworth realizes that he has nothing left. Vengeance had become his identity.

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