Scarlet Letter: Sin And Punishment

To most people, it is common knowledge that sin of any kind is bad and worthy of punishment, but not all sin is created equal. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter discusses various types of both sin and punishment through the story of Hester Prynne, her lover Arthur Dimmesdale, and her husband Roger Chillingworth. Hester and Dimmesdale commit adultery, and once she becomes pregnant and is discovered she is faced with harsh condemnation and isolation from the townspeople in their mid-17th century Puritan community. Dimmesdale conceals his unlawful relationship with Hester to the town, which causes him great moral pain. Chillingworth relentlessly harrasses Dimmesdale with subtle jabs at his conscience, which is again immoral, and only receives

He sneakily befriends the already sickly, guilt-ridden Dimmesdale and uses fake charm and his skills in medicine to gain the trust of the miserable minister. This cold-hearted approach displays just how twisted Chillingworth had become in his vindictive mindset. Much like a leech, as indicated by the Narrator, Chillingworth feeds off of Dimmesdale’s deteriorating state of mind and conscience. He is said to be “probing every thing [within Dimmesdale] with a cautious touch, like a treasure-seeker in a dark cavern.” (Hawthorne 99). In a particular conversation between the two, they discuss some dark-colored plants found by Chillingworth on the grave of a dead man. Chillingworth concludes that they grew out of the man’s heart, possibly symbolizing “some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime.” (Hawthorne 104). This idea, of course, has a direct correlation to Dimmesdale’s situation and instills further guilt and pressure on him. With Chillingworth’s constant company and persistent questioning, Dimmesdale is eventually overcome with guilt and becomes more and more unstable. The carefully calculated execution of Chillingworth’s revenge sets it apart from Hester and Dimmesdale’s extemporaneous

Although Chillingworth did not technically do anything illegal, he nevertheless managed to commit the most brutal sin of the novel through his deranged attack on his offender. Chillingworth’s unique motive for his sin is also an important part of the novel, seeing as “Hester herself can only think to justify her adultery in terms of one particular personal passion, but Chillingworth achieves a larger view.”(Colacurcio 151). Outside of the novel’s context, Chillingworth’s character plays a critical role in discussing humanity’s sinful nature. He represents the common case of a person playing the victim so intensely that they become a villain. His exaggerated emotional response to mistreatment says much about the risk of delusional ideas that can potentially transform the victims of sin into even greater sinners than those who acted against