FREE ESSAY ON THE SCARLET LETTER

THE SCARLET LETTER

In the book The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a character by the name of Roger
Chillingworth had committed the unpardonable sin and he basically killed another
character, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Everyone has been in a position where they have
had the chance of manipulating or blackmailing someone. Chillingworth did exactly that
and ended up breaking down Dimmesdale to his death. Dimmesdale was not the single one
affected by Chillingworth's deeds. Chillingworth had a spouse, but no one knew of their
relationship. Her name was Hester Prynne and she had an illegitimate child named Pearl.
The Reverend Dimmesdale had an affair with Hester, and he is the real father of Pearl.
Throughout the novel the people of Boston were withheld this information, along with the
information of Hester's real husband. Chillingworth was a physician, or back in those
days a doctor was called a leech. Dimmesdale started to feel ill, thus starting the
beginning of his end. Dimmesdale became not simply a patient of Chillingworth, but a
roommate as well.
Being in such close contact with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth has come to know the
minister's most private emotions, and he has begun to suspect that Dimmesdale's illness
is the result of a deep secret that has at no time been confided with another. In a
sequestered conversation with Hester, Chillingworth made a vow to descry the real father
of Pearl, and expose him. In a conversation with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth brings up the
question of why an individual would be willing to carry "secret sins" to his grave sooner
than confess them 
during his lifetime. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth exchange their thoughts. One of
Chillingworth's was, "Wouldst thou have me to believe, O wise and pious friend, that a
false show can be better-can be more for God's glory, or man's welfare-than God's own
truth? Trust me, such men deceive themselves!" To this Dimmesdale feels uneasy and
changes the subject. The execution of this act caused Chillingworth to become suspicious.
A few days later, Chillingworth found Dimmesdale asleep in a chair. Chillingworth
silently approached Dimmesdale. Once Chillingworth had reached his destination, he
swiftly removed Dimmesdale's church robe and saw the scarlet letter on the chest before
him, hence ending Chillingworth's search for the father of Pearl.
Now that Chillingworth knew Hester and Dimmesdale's secret, his metamorphosis was
complete. Chillingworth had gone from a caring individual to a devil. Chillingworth
acknowledges this, he says in a conversation with Hester, "Dost thou remember me? Was I
not, though you might deem me cold, nevertheless a man thoughtful for others, craving
little for himself,--kind, true, just, and of constant, if not warm affections?....And
what I am now?....I have already told thee what I am! A fiend! Who made me so?!"
Chillingworth believes Dimmesdale made him into a "fiend". To Chillingworth, Dimmesdale
was weak and had what was coming to him.
Hawthorne speaks of Chillingworth's death with no emotion, even though Chillingworth
played a large role in the death of Dimmesdale. Chillingworth tortured Dimmesdale to his
death. Chillingworth proclaimed "hadst thou sought the whole earth over there was no one
place so secret-no high place nor lowly place where thou couldst have escaped me-save on
this very scaffold!" Dimmesdale had finally out of captivity. In addition, Dimmesdale
asks God to forgive Chillingworth of his sin. Chillingworth could no longer bother
Dimmesdale. In 
the last chapter of the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells of how Robert Chillingworth
withered up and shriveled away. Hawthorne acquaints that the physician's fate was the
most horrible of the three because his sin was the darkest.
In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne depicts Chillingworth as a stranger,
but also as a compassionate man. Chillingworth made a deal with Hester that he will not
tell everyone that he is her husband. Chillingworth does a little investigating on
Dimmesdale because of Dimmesdale's unusual acts and behavior. After finding out the
truth, Chillingworth begins to torment Dimmesdale up till his last breath. Chillingworth
forced Hester to keep her vow of silence in which she would not reveal his relationship
with her as her spouse to anyone. In conclusion, Chillingworth performed the inadmissible
sin in which he vexes Reverend Dimmesdale to his ultimate doom.