The Scarlet Letter Analysis In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne’s language builds characterization of the character Roger Chillingworth throughout the novel by his choice of figurative language, syntax, diction/tone, and the use of contrasting images. Hawthorne uses these literary techniques to help characterize Roger Chillingworth and how he developed throughout the novel. One way that Hawthorne builds characterization is by the use of imagery. Chillingworth is far from attractive. Hawthorne describes Chillingworth’s appearance at the beginning of the novel as “...dropping down, as it were, out of the sky, or starting from the nether earth…” (Hawthorne 114). The author means that Chillingworth was not very normal , Hawthorne describe Chillingworth as, “a writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly” (Hawthorne 56). Snakes are often …show more content…
When talking to Hester about her sin, Chillingworth says, “Yea woman, thou sayest truly!’ cried Roger Chillingworth, letting the lurid fire of his heart blaze out before her eyes” (Hawthorne 141). The author also describes Chillingworth as, "At first his expression had been calm, meditative, scholar-like. Now there was something ugly and evil in his face, which they had not previously noticed, and which still grew more obvious to sight the oftener they looked upon him" (Hawthorne 117). This evil is slowly progressing in not only his appearance, but also in his attitude. When Hester and Chillingworth are in the woods talking about Dimmesdale Hester says to him, “You burrow and rankle in his heart! Your clutch is on his life, and you cause him to die daily a living death” (Hawthorne 107 ). Hester is saying that Chillingworth causes Dimmesdale to be the way that he is because of how he treats him. Hawthorne’s use of this shows how Chillingworth’s tone changes throughout the
The fact that revenge destroys both the victim and the seeker is another theme presented in the Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale is the victim of Chillingworth’s revenge upon Hester and whoever her lover happened to be. Dimmesdale, beside his self-inflicted harm was also not helped by the fact Chillingworth enjoyed watching him waste away. However, Chillingworth is also subject to this destiny as evidence by his change in the novel. Chillingworth was considered wise and aged in the beginning of the novel, although, later he is seen as being dusky and evil.
In The Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne efficiently conveys his purpose to the audience through the use of numerous rhetorical devices in his novel. Two such rhetorical strategies Hawthorne establishes to convey his purpose of informing the audience of valuable life lessons in The Scarlet Letter are characterization and the theme of duality.
Pearl is an example of the innocent result of sin. All the kids make fun of Pearl and they disclude her from everything. She never did anything wrong, but everyone treats her like she committed the sin also. Pearl acts out against the children that make fun of her and acts like a crazy child. She cannot control the sins that her parents committed.
In the first moment of recognition Hester has of this stranger, there is a sense of fear, between them. Hawthorne has used a sense of imagery and the device of simile to show the expression the husband had. Knowing that this was Hester’s husband, how is he going to react about Pearl? He is scared and doesn’t really know what to do. “It was carelessly, at first, like a man chiefly accustomed to look inward, and to whom external matter are of little value and import, unless they bear relation to something within his mind (Hawthorne 57).” One can only imagine Chillingworth’s expression. Besides the way he was looking at Hester, he also had a look of fear. “A writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them, and making one little pause, with all its wreathed intervolutions in open sight (Hawthorne 57).” Chillingworth tries to be calm about it, knowing that Hester is watching him and he is surrounded by a bunch of townspeople. He is trying to avoid drawing attention towards
Chillingworth continually lies and portrays himself as a doctor, when, in fact, he is just the opposite. Chillingworth comes to the town as a doctor and infiltrates Dimmesdale’s life through his sly use of lies and deceit. He is the spotlight of hypocrisy in this novel due to his direct use of his fake role as a healer to harm Dimmesdale. At one point Chillingworth realizes how evil he has become and “lift[s] his hands with a look of horror” (Hawthorne 155), but continues jis torture of Dimmesdale anyways. Chillingworth finally sees the atrocity in his actions, but ignores his own conscious and continues his evil-doings. He is a hypocrite to himself in that hr vhooses to be something he isn’t or shouldn’t be. This choice consumes him; this being a point the book is trying to make. When Dimmesdale reveals his secret, Chillingworth yells “there was no place… - Where thou couldst escaped me, -save on this very scaffold!” (Hawthorne 226). Chillingworth shows his hypocrisy again through his berating Dimmesdale for keeping his secret with Hester when he has his own dark secret that he wouldn’t dare tell. He wants Dimmesdale to have told him his secret, but he has absolutely no intention of revealing his
Symbolism can be defined as a figure, character, or object that is used to represent complex or abstract ideas. By expressing an idea in the form of an image, the reader can visualize the concept more concretely. The old expression, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” applies to symbolism as the author creates a visual representation of ideas. The use of symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter helps to illuminate the overall meaning of the work.
Hawthorne manages to create many metaphors within his novel The Scarlet Letter. The rose bush outside the prison door, the black man, and the scaffold are three metaphors. Perhaps the most important metaphor would be the scaffold, which plays a great role throughout the entire story. The three scaffold scenes which Hawthorne incorporated into The Scarlet Letter contain a great deal of significance and importance the plot. Each scene brings a different aspect of the main characters, the crowd or more minor characters, and what truth or punishment is being brought forth.
In the literary classic, The Scarlet Letter, readers follow the story of a Puritan New England colony and the characteristics of that time period. Readers begin to grasp concepts such as repentance and dealing with sin through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s indirect descriptions of these detailed and complex characters by their actions and reactions. The character Roger Chillingworth symbolizes sin itself and deals with internal conflict throughout the course of the story. The narrator describes Chillingworth in a critical attitude to reveal to the reader the significance of repentance and revenge by the use of many literary techniques such as
First of all, the woman he cared for admitted to betraying him when she said “I have greatly wronged thee” (69). Even though he knew she did not return his feelings, he thought she would be loyal, so he let her into his heart. However, Hester found love for herself while he was away, and that undoubtedly hurt him. This pain inside him created his need for revenge and he exclaimed “I shall see him tremble… Sooner or later, he must needs be mine!” (70). Quickly, he became an evil person consumed by his hatred. Hawthorne often compares him to the Devil by calling him “the black man”, further proving how evil he became. This was all caused by his broken heart and anger towards the two lovers. He died after Dimmesdale did because his evil purpose was gone and “All his strength and energy… seemed at once to desert him; insomuch that he positively withered up , shrivelled away…” (232). His death could have been avoided if he had either never loved Hester, or Hester had not fallen in love with Dimmesdale. Torturing Dimmesdale would not have become his sole reason for living therefore he would not lose his strength and energy once Dimmesdale did die. Just like the other two, Chillingworth did not have happy experiences associated with falling in love.
This accurately reveals the initialization of Chillingworth’s deceptiveness to the people in order to meet his motives of learning about Hester and her involvement with whom she cheated with. It is these people, which Chillingworth so cleverly duped into believing his erroneous identity and vocation, that declare Chillingworth is to watch over Dimmesdale for the next seven years. One of Chillingworth’s tasks is to determine why Dimmesdale’s soul is so heavy and sin-filled. He suggests that, “a bodily disease, which we look upon as a whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment of the spiritual part,” (Hawthorne 128). In this context, with the use of the first-person plural, Dimmesdale is being victimized through the condescending nature of Chillingworth. In this sense, Chillingworth is victimizing Dimmesdale, subjecting him to the unfortunate notion which society places on the ailment of one’s soul; the notion that sin, the so-called ailment, on one’s soul is eminently malicious. In essence,
Nathaniel Hawthorne is a successful writer of many books, but through his book The Scarlet Letter he clearly portrays a disliking and disgust towards the puritans and their way of life. He shows this throughout the book by using tone, symbolism, and selection to detail.
The theme Hawthorne builds up in Chillingworth is not simply his pain and torment. It is a more important representation of the weakness in the values of the people in Puritan times, and how their perseverance for "justice" skewed their views on life and forgiveness. Because of his mindset, Chillingworth torments himself with his goal to destroy Dimmesdale just as much as Dimmesdale tortures himself for their seven years together. Chillingworth is ruining his own life and does not realize it, because he no longer sees the value in life as he tries to ruin one.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel tells the story of a young Puritan woman who is ostracized from the community because of her sin. An example of early American Literature, Hawthorne uses color to symbolize emotions and imagery.
The character of Roger Chillingworth in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter is one of many different faces. Hawthorne changes the character of Chillingworth during different periods of the novel. As Chillingworth's actions and his motives change, so in turn does the reader's opinion of him, which ranges from compassion to antipathy. Hawthorne keeps the character of Chillingworth an enigma, and Hawthorne uses his narrative to shed light on the true feelings of Chillingworth, as well through the good doctor's interaction with other characters, especially Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale. As we watch the plot evolve, and the reader observes Chillingworth's actions, Chillingworth's character continues to confuse the reader. This is because Chillingworth is empty. Roger Chillingworth is a vacant vessel in search of a captain. Chillingworth looks to validate his existence through his crusade. Chillingworth attempts to present himself as an upstanding, righteous, religious man only in search of justice. This righteousness is only one layer, underneath his façade is hatred, and underneath that is a deep sense of self loathing. Chillingworth hates who he is, so in an attempt to appease his own sense of self, Chillingworth attacks others in order to transfer his loathing from himself to Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale.
As the novel progressed, Chillingworth fits the profile of ‘vengeance destroys the avenger’. When Roger Chillingworth is first introduced to the reader, we see a kind old man, who just has planted the seeds for revenge. Although he did speak of getting his revenge, when Hester first met her husband in her jail cell, she did not see any evil in him. Because Hester would not tell him who she had slept with, Chillingworth vowed that he would spend the rest of his life having his revenge and that he would eventually suck the soul out of the man, whom she had the affair with. “There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares” (Hawthorne, 101) As the novel develops, Roger Chillingworth has centered himself on Arthur Dimmesdale, but he cannot prove that he is the “one.” Chillingworth has become friends with Dimmesdale, because he has a “strange disease,” that needed to be cured; Chillingworth suspects something and begins to drill Dimmesdale. “… The disorder is a strange one…hath all the operation of this disorder been fairly laid open to me and recounted to me” (Hawthorne, 156).