Who Is Chillingworth A Foil In The Scarlet Letter

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Within a work of literature there may exists a pair of characters that rely on each other to express their traits in full. They are called foil and Arthur Dimmesdale and Robert Chillingworth are an example of this. Although the story centers around Hester there exists struggle between other individuals. Hawthorne wonderfully alludes to the doctrine of Satan accusing the sinner using these two characters and bring forth a suspenseful conflict. This is also called a juxtapose since they wonderfully contrast showing the extremes of character. It is as intertwined as yin and yang. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale need each other almost. Chillingworth makes him or the alleged father of Pearl his life 's ambition. He goes as far as to change his name and pose as a friendly doctor. He uses this to get close to Dimmesdale and now he cannot think of anything else. He neglects his wife and doesnt even care for her. He just wants the man to be shamed as well. He mentally tortures the Reverend and all with glee. It is clearly made known that after he completes his deed he will have no …show more content…

He knows what is right and wrong but one example has been haunting him in his life. Now in a Puritan society, sin had to have been confessed publicly and they must bear their shame. This however goes against what the Word actually says and this is what created Arthur Dimmesdale as a character. He most likely has already repented to God but his guilt will not leave until he confesses it to his congregation and it leads him to other “ways” of repentance. Being reminded of his guilt 24/7 causes his his health to deteriorate to the point of death, possibly alluding to the fact that the wages of sin are death. So finally when he is about to pass he confesses his sin publicly, and is saved from the torment and presumably from Hell itself. Now Satan or Chillingworth cannot fathom that his victim is now gone, out of reach, in a place where he isn 't going, now