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Rodger Chillingworth In The Scarlett Letter

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The book, “The Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a thoughtful story about a woman named Hester Prynne, who’s married to Rodger Chillingworth, had been living in the new colonies of America while her husband was still in England. Whilst her husband was nowhere near her, she cheated with none other than the new preacher of the town, Arthur Dimmesdale, and a child, Pearl, was conceived from their secret affair. The town, in response, shunned her, and when Chillingworth surprisingly arrived he soon found out who the father was and sought to destroy Dimmesdale for not coming forward to the public. Although Chillingworth is depicted as a cold-hearted, revengeful, old man, he also exudes characteristics of protectiveness, compassion …show more content…

This helps us see that Chillingworth truly was a good man who cared for pearl. He by no means had to give Pearl anything in his will. In fact, it would only be logical if he despised pearl, being she was the living evidence of Hester’ betrayal, but instead he showed signs of love for her. Some would argue that Rodger left his worth to pearl because he had no one else to give it to, but I would have to say even if it was because of that reason alone, it could account for Chillingworth’s determination to make Dimmesdale miserable. If you have nothing going on at all in your life you tend to latch onto anything interesting that’s happening and it seems like that’s exactly what happened with Rodger …show more content…

“Nothing was more remarkable than the change which took place almost immediately after Mr. Dimmesdale’s death, in the appearance and demeanor of the old man known as Rodger Chillingworth.” (Hawthorne, 302). The book continues with giving more detail on how Chillingworth withered up after Dimmesdale’s death, and then the author discusses the reasoning behind deterioration. “This unhappy man had made the very principal of his life to consist in the pursuit and systematic exercise of revenge; and when, by its completest triumph and consummation, that evil principle was left with no further material to support it…” (Hawthorne,

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