The Evolving Mind Of Roger Chillingworth and Symbolism Throughout The Scarlet Letter

Roger Chillingworth has many layers involving his psyche and his emotional stability. Throughout the book, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne evolves and reshapes Chillingworth’s intellect and physical attributes, therefore he reveals what happens to a person’s spirit when dealing with unorthodox actions and environment. In the Scarlet Letter, Chillingworth uses intellectualization to deal with the mistreatment of Hester’s actions upon him. As we unearth the layers of him, we get to see how and why he justifies his actions.

Roger Chillingworth’s mannerisms in Hester’s opinion is not an altruistic human being, he would often ignore her, but when he wanted affection from her he would coerce and sometimes torture her to strong-arm her into giving him affection. She was mostly frightened by him and always conscious of his actions. When Hester is sitting in her cell, he comes to visit and she becomes “still as death”, which further shows his demeanor can even terrify the woman he “supposedly” loves.

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As he learns that Hester committed adultery, his purpose in life is to optically discern the man she sinned with. He wants to “see him tremble” and to “betray him” so he can make Hester suffer even though she isn’t feeling the pain .

Sin and identify are the major themes of the Scarlet Letter. Chillingworth’s sin is to seek revenge methodically and to mentally destroy Dimmesdale’s satisfaction. Revenge has clenched onto him and now is the only gratification he gets out of life and he intends for

it to stay like that.

Identifying Hester’s lover is his drive. He wants to know the identity of her lover and when he finds out, he seeks to destroy him from the inside out. When Chillingworth becomes roommates with Arthur Dimmesdale and finds out about the engraved “A” in his chest, Chillingworth enacts psychological warfare upon Dimmesdale as serves as his medical advisor. When he begins to the daily torture of Dimmesdale, Chillingworth utilizes his understanding of human nature to terrorize him.

Chillingworth’s physical appearance begins to decline as well and is directly associated with his mental health. As Chillingworth evolves into an evil persona he “transforms himself into a devil”. Hawthorne’s usage of diction to explain the sinister energy around Chillingworth by utilizing words like “evil” and “devil”. These words avail Hawthorne to depict Chillingworth’s transformation into the devil. Hawthorne’s intriguing word choice shows Chillingworth’s snake-like features. The author also uses complex sentence structure to show Chillingworth’s evolving form.

The wicked nature of Chillingworth is advertised when the narrator uses the value of clear and understandable imagery. The reader can sense the vague character that Chillingworth is, through the author’s use of imagery. The satanic tone Chillingworth exemplifies a connotation to hell and is referenced in the descriptions of his character. Roger Chillingworth is a flat character; he is less of a character and more of a representation of jealousy and rage. When Hawthorne utilizes the symbol of vengeance with Chillingworth first appearance, having being in captivity by the Indians, he becomes hideous and strange and has a” civilized and savage costume”. During his captivity, he develops a distorted mindsight, similar to the “wild” and “savage” psyche of Indians. Contrarily, he doesn’t associate himself with a fate nor is he predetermined by a higher power. Hawthorne uses Hester’s sin to show how its affects contributed to Hawthorne’s to disassociation from humanity and his transition into this evil being. When Dimmesdale confesses his sin upon the scaffold, Chillingworth fears that the minister is finally going to escape him. His psychological warfare on the minister is his only reason to live anymore. When Dimmesdale passes away, Chillingworth has no will to live, therefore he ceases to exist. Chillingworth “positively withered up [and] shriveled away”, when vengeance consumed him. He then leaves his fortune to Pearl and she is the living symbol of the scarlet letter . With this act, Chillingsworth can redeem himself as the person with the most chaotic sin.

When going inside of Chillingworth’s ideals, he believes making Hester fear him, yet without putting her in harm’s way, is the best way to torment Dimmesdale. He is a broken man and he needs that gratification to feel whole again. He feels that he is superior above everyone, even Hester, and must do what he has to do to get the pleasure he has been longing for. Chillingsworth gets great pleasure from making Hester feel belittled. He further uses his authority of power over her and Dimmesdale to torment them in the present and throughout eternally. Chillingworth knows that the town doesn’t suspect him of anything because he is the caregiver of Dimmesdale. He also receives pleasure knowing that he can do anything to him at any given moment and the town would not notice. He loves the idea of being in the shadows along with being a persona of the devil, himself. He, in some capacity, battles the ideals of his physical appearance, but loves the idea of becoming a despicable being; devil-like.

In conclusion, Roger Chillingworth is a complex and ever-evolving character. His mental and physical attributes drastically differentiate himself from the other characters in the book. His complex ideals make him the embodiment of a terrifying antagonist. Roger Chillingworth, in all aspects, is immoral and sinful human being that will go to great lengths to cause pain and suffering to others when he feels he has been wronged. Despite the time and effort taken to make others miserable, he himself caused great affliction, mentally and physically, upon his psyche and well-being.