The Scarlet Letter and Chillingworth Roger Chillingworth Essay

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“D”: Roger Chillingworth Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne’s, deformed husband, slowly transforms into what many call the Black Man. Chillingworth’s transformation, ultimately detrimental to Reverend Dimmesdale’s health, began once he questioned the reverend about sin, and his obsession did not, “set him free again until he had done all” of his searching (117). He leeched info out of poor Dimmesdale every day until, “there was a fiend at his elbow” his own self (155)! Chill., hired to help nurse Dimm. back to health, actually took more years off his life. Never letting up, he continued to poke and prod, seeking revenge. Chillingworth had to transform the way he thought, form a medical aspect of thinking to a devious one. Chill. may not be able to harm Dimm. Physically yet could mentally. He knew what questions to ask, and when to get the most information. Chill. was an obsessed man who imagined, “ a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy” (127). Chill. basically declared war on Dimm.’s mind, and therefore he grew older, more demonic, into the Black Man. The Black Man, also known as the devil or a demon, was what the townspeople considered Chillingworth. His features had changed; he now looked more withered, more spiteful. He now had a, “quiet depth of malice” deep within him, that no prayer or confession could take out (127). His soul has stepped into the darkness and therefore his body was consumed by the darkness. Chill. brought about

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