Roger chillingworth
Roger chillingworthRoger Chillingworth: a mad man, or a man driven to madness? This is a question that many readers of Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" have decided by the time they reach the final chapter, really without thinking about it. Yet, if the story is reviewed, and one looks at the events that either happen directly because of Chillingworth, or how these events effected him, you may realize that he is a product, rather than a cause of pain. Throughout the work, it is clearly shown that he, like so many others over the time of history, is a product of earlier events and situations. And in these situations, he didn't make the right choice in how to handle the problem. He did not choose the rational path of problem solving. Even from the very beginning when he is faced with the fact that his wife has given her body to another man, he hides his identity and protects himself from being affiliated with her. That being the first, and beginning example of his poor ability to decide the correct and rational solution to a problem or hard situation. So, because of this fact, he decides, or is more less driven to go to the devil in order to help his mortal self fulfill yet another bad decision...revenge.
From the first time Nathaniel Hawthorne begins to describe Dr. Prynne (a.k.a. Roger Chillingworth) he uses Hester to show that he is very normal in some aspects, yet very different in others. He is a mid aged man, whom wears his age well. But a small shoulder misalignment, causes slight distinction from the rest of the crowd. His facial features told of his intelligence, and his clothes were of a mix, some civilized, some savage. When he came onto the scene, while Hester was on the scaffold with baby Pearl, he hid his identity from the crowd, and merely asked of what the commotion was all about. The news hit him hard, yet, consistent with Chillingworth throughout the story, he does not show it with outward gestures. He asked one of the onlookers if she had told the name of the man whom took advantage of Hester, but was told that she would not break the privy. Chillingworth, filled with the bitterness of betrayal, confronted the sinner and asked personally, of whom committed the sin with her, but again, she would not tell.
Taking into account all the event that have just happened, Chillingworth, still having it be given that he's a bit strange, is acting quite normal for a husband whom just came home to such news. He did not cause more guilt or pain to his wife, but wanted the name of the man who would commit a crime worthy of death while he was absent. Yet, for some reason, Hester, whom resented Chillingworth from the day of their marriage, would...
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