Scarlet Letter Essay

Michael Dunman
English III GT
Guillot
Revenge Of all the primal instincts rooted in mankind, revenge is by far the most common and vile. Nothing takes a stronger hold on the soul than revenge. Confucius, an ancient Chinese philosopher, says, “He who seeks revenge digs two graves.” This Chinese proverb is firmly embedded in the story of Roger Chillingworth in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Roger Chillingworth, through his quest for revenge, not only brings about the demise of others, but lets that same bitterness overtake his very soul. Roger Chillingworth slowly devolves in appearance from that of a victim of Hester’s sin to taking on more of a villainous persona throughout his search for vengeance. It is brought to light at the beginning of the story that “he was held captive by the Indians for a year, and then returns to civilization to see that his wife is standing on the scaffold” (Lanlan). He can easily be seen as one of absolute innocence up until he takes on the appearance of a man “well stricken in years” with a “pale, thin, scholar-like visage” (Hawthorne 50). The first doubt of faith in Chillingworth comes with a realization that, at an extremely young age, “he married [Hester] and took away her youth” (Lanlan). Clearly, the blame has now partially been shifted to Chillingworth, who tells Hester that he had “betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation” (Hawthorne 63). Although this does not make Hester’s sin more forgivable, it does allow the reader to sympathize with Hester and her situation. And, “As Chillingworth probes further into Dimmesdale’s life,” with him “resemble[ing] the devil more and more” the readers’ attention has almost completely shifted to Chillingworth and the wrong he has done (Lanlan). Chillingworth has transformed from a seemingly innocent bystander to a decrepit old man seeking “some hideous secret” from Dimmesdale. His course of action causes weeds to grow from his own heart. Roger Chillingworth’s gradual loss of innocence coincides with his physical deterioration, which results from his quest for revenge. “Chillingworth knows that there is something that Dimmesdale has not yet come forth to tell him,” and he intends to do anything in his power to find out (Reid). This marks the beginning of his obsession, and this same obsession reveals “mans’ faculty of transforming himself into a devil” (Hawthorne 140) With this thought that Dimmesdale might be the father, Chillingworth becomes hooked. “He starts to dig deeper and deeper until he finds out what he is looking for” (Reid). His obsession grows, and as his probing grows more and more invasive, he begins to show signs of revenge taking over his soul. By the blackness of the revenge he seeks, his very soul begins to rot. As the blackness creeps to his outer appearance, Dimmesdale comes to the realization exclaiming “Ha, tempter! … With God’s help, I shall escape thee now” (Hawthorne 206). Once Chillingworth realizes his sin and how completely it has overtaken him, “It is too late to change who he is and who he has become” (Reid). His health changes drastically as his quest furthers. After Dimmesdale confesses, “All his strength and

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