Roger Chillingworth Archetypes

Roger Chillingworth is a character seen as a distorted human being, seemingly one without a soul. This is an effortless conclusion to make without proper analysis. Roger Chillingworth is not as twisted as is often thought, as he does many good things that are overlooked. He is open minded and gains knowledge for the good of others. He does evil deeds, but in a human way that makes him quite conflicting. Chillingworth is a sinner that possibly committed a greater sin than that of adultery, but is overall gray in his morality. He redeems himself when his remaining wealth is given to Pearl, and his wrongdoing is realized. This novel will be analyzed using the Mythological, or Archetypal literary criticism type. Hawthorne clearly wrote the novel with some archetypes in mind, whether they be biblical or from another source. These archetypes and the analysis of them help illuminate Chillingworth in a way the novel fails to do on its own. 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

In this final action, he attempts to redeem himself by gifting what remains of his estate to Pearl. Whether this is genuine or not is completely up to the reader. However, he did do something much unlike what was expected of him. He gave what he had left to the product of sin he had been trying to correct for years. This action allows readers to see him less cut and dried; he is left up to the reader’s