In this quote Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Chillingworth to portray how obsession over vengeance can lead to the extermination of the soul, and leave only a shell of the former person. In the book, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits the …show more content…
It is evident because she whimpers back at the simple touch Chillingworth places upon the scarlet letter. (←This is less than valid evidence of her becoming damaged because it occurs at the beginning of the story.) Chillingworth wishes Hester and Dimmesdale good health so he can get the chance to have vengeance. His mental status is so afflicted that he is wishing good health just so he can bring forth pain.
“...there was a fiend at his elbow, with once a human heart, has a become a fiend for his especial torment.” (167) Chillingworth no longer has a human heart in terms of being humane. His sick obsession has eaten away and left behind a demented Chillingworth. Because Hawthorne uses darkening of life by secrets and obsession of vengeance kills the soul, he was able to portray the damaging effects they both have on a person. Secrets can darken and make life glum. Vengeance kills the soul if one obsesses over it. The excessive worry over one idea leads to the damage of a person. Hawthorne clearly stated these ideas throughout the novel The Scarlet