Roger Chillingworth Flaws

Have you ever wished you could be someone who was perfect? Sometimes it would be convenient or make life better if we were perfect and did not have any flaws. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth was presented as a normal human being, having flaws of his own. The important thing is what he did or perhaps what he did not do to control or change these flaws. These flaws not only affected his life but the lives of Dimmesdale and Hester as well. Roger Chillingworth’s first flaw or weakness is his tendency to do evil, satanic things, and second, not controlling his revenge.
When Roger Chillingworth first entered the story, he was a stranger to the people and no one knew his true identity except Hester Prynne (70).

Right from the start he was also living a life of hypocrisy because he did not reveal his identity as Hester’s husband (201). There were consequences to Chillingworth’s hypocrisy and revenge. He had no concern how his revenge might affect others but actually found enjoyment in it (196,201). He did not make any effort to overcome his revenge or to seek forgiveness from God or the people around him. Instead he gave himself completely to the devil’s work and found his energy and fulfillment in his revenge (196,201). Nevertheless, his revenge affected his life as well as Dimmesdale’s and Hester’s. Chillingworth who had once been intellectual, studious, quiet, and calm was now eager, searching, fierce, and guarded (196). Even the town people noticed that his expression which has been meditative and scholarlike was now masked with something ugly and evil (144). There was also a physical change that took place in his eyes which let out a red flare like his soul was on fire (196). Dimmesdale who had once been strong and healthy, had become weak and exhausted from the torture. His voice had a melancholy decay and he would put his hand over his heart when something alarming would happen (138). Hester was also affected by the revenge. Hester’s attractiveness decreased and she had a lack of manners (187). In addition to that she had also become independent in her thinking (187). These three examples of change show us that when evil is present if can

Chillingworth undeniably had hatred in his heart for Dimmesdale. Chillingworth found pleasure in the pain he caused Dimmesdale and he saw it as his way of revenge (201). He said of himself, “A mortal man, with once a human heart, has become a fiend for his [Dimmesdale’s] especial torment!” (198,201). In other words, Chillingworth saw himself no longer as a man with a human heart but as a devil. Another interesting aspect was his intent with “friendship.” Roger Chillingworth was able to be near Dimmesdale because the people thought it would help Dimmesdale to have a physician to care for him and in return Dimmesdale would become Chillingworth’s spiritual guide (135-136). This gave entrance for Chillingworth to do what he wanted to Dimmesdale without people knowing. Chillingworth had no intent to show love and friendship to Dimmesdale. Instead, his intend was to utterly destroy and torture Dimmesdale any way he