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Symbolism in scarlet letter literature review
The interpretation of “the scarlet letter”
Inner sufferings of the characters of the scarlet letter
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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,
Chillingworth’s appearance changes as he focuses more and more on avenging Dimmesdale’s actions. When Chillingworth first entered the Puritan community, he was “small in stature, with a furrowed visage” (Hawthorne,
When Chillingworth visits Hester in prison, he claims that “his [the adulterer] fame, his position, his life, will be in my hands” (53). Chillingworth makes a vow to Hester that he will find the man who enticed her and will destroy the individual’s life and soul. As the novel progresses, Chillingworth establishes himself as the town doctor and Dimmesdale develops a mysterious illness that perplexes and worries the townspeople. His illnesses leads to Roger Chillingworth becoming his medical advisor, “as not only the disease interested the physician, but he was strongly moved to look into the character and qualities of the patient, these two men...came gradually to spend much time together” (84). Chillingworth takes advantage of the fact that Dimmesdale needs medical attention and establishes himself as a friend, with the intention of finding out personal information about Dimmesdale.
This occurs after multiple sources continually badgered and convinced Dimmesdale to seek aid for his appearance ailments, from Chillingworth who is the only practicing physician in town. Throughout the treatment the two men become good friends, sharing their different views on subjects, but also becoming more intimate with each other. Chillingworth believes that many physical illnesses stem from the mind and heart (“bosom”), so he must become acquainted with his patients thoughts, motives, and ethics. However, Chillingworth is depicted as a “treasure-seeker”, alluding to the notion that there might be other subjects he seeks to attain. The author's portrayal of Dimmesdale as a “dark cavern”, elicits that the man has blackened his bosom with sin, but also that Chillingworth must be careful in his probing or he may injure himself (lose Dimmesdale’s
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
Joshua Cielo Hill AP Lang and Comp, P1 22 January 2018 Joyas Voladoras Essay While hearts have many observable qualities, they also have many properties that cannot be measured or weighed by conventional means. In Brian Doyle’s “Joyas Voladoras”, he explores his sentiments toward those unseeable properties. Through his work, Doyle is telling his audience to not close off their hearts to the things in life that make it worth it, even if it brings pain and sorrow. Doyle crafts his discussion and expands it to convey this message about the properties of the heart that cannot be weighed or measured through his use of distinct changes in tone using specific diction, his changes in point of view, and use of multiple extended metaphors.
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.
Roger Chillingworth is a normal, good person painted in a bad light because the story focuses so much on Hester. Roger Chillingworth does some virtuous actions throughout the story that are pushed to the background. He seems to be fairly open minded in that he willingly lived with the Native Americans who captured him. He also gained knowledge of medicine from the Natives that he uses to help the town as its doctor. He has many positive traits: ability to learn, open-mindedness, ability to persevere, and
Described many times in the novel, Chillingworth has a deformed figure and misshapen face, “ a face that haunted men's memories (158)”, a distinguishably sinister smile, and eyes that often glow red, a symbol of the devil within shining outwardly. In exchange for eating away at his body and soul, the obsession fills him with a new life and purpose. Consequently, when the source of his obsession dies, Chillingworth is left with no purpose- he becomes a lifeless, desolate shell
Tradition locks one's mind in a prison cell. People's thoughts and opinions are isolated to their own culture's belief and are imprisoned from their surroundings. Tradition is irrelevant because it prevents an individual from growing and learning. Customs stop a person from developing a unique persona.
The speaker Elizabeth Gilbert did a wonderful job of delivering her message through her down-to-earth, comical attitude, passion, and confidence is her words. Her message, just as I mentioned before, was directed towards artists about how society puts such massive pressure of artists of every kind, especially in the case that these artists become very successful, explaining how we should view artists and all other people as having their own genius, rather than labeling select people as brilliant or amazing. She expresses that is the world develops this new view, then maybe it will level the playing field, and relive the wight off of so many of our
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.
Eventually, he comes aware of what he has done and leaves his property to Pearl and Hester. “Nothing was more remarkable than the change which took place, almost immediately after Mr. Dimmesdale’s death, in the appearance and demeanour of the old man known as Roger Chillingworth” (253). It is obvious that Chillingworth develops an understanding of his sins after Dimmesdale’s death which made Chillingworth’s life without a purpose. To conclude, revenge and sin are one of the most disturbing crimes a man can commit; therefore, symbolism, figurative language, and imagery were used to verify the awful character of
When Roger Chillingworth sees the ‘A’ on Dimmesdale’s chest, is any “man [had] seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment in his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself”(135). Because Dimmesdale sinned against Chillingworth, Chillingworth becomes a shadow of his former self, often compared to a leech that sucks the essence of Dimmesdale. This satanic alteration of Chillingworth is solely due to the act of adultery that Dimmesdale performed, and all of the negative acts of Chillingworth are also traced back to his act of adultery. Because of the alteration of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale’s sin also has negative consequences on the townspeople. In the town, the opinion that Chillingworth was “[either] Satan himself, or Satan’s emissary”(124).
Chillingworth wants revenge towards Hester´s lover and he won´t rest until he finds him. Roger tells Hester not to tell anyone that he is her husband, he doesn´t want people to know that Hester is his wife because people would think of him as the betrayed husband and he would live in shame. Chillingworth pretends to be a doctor, that way he won´t drag too much attention since the town is small and the people living in it don´t have access to good
