Roger Chillingworth’s Story At a glance, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter may look like it surrounds Hester Prynne as the story’s main character, but this is not nearly the case to anyone who delves deeper into the novel. A large majority of the main plot line is tied together by Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s old, bitter, and vengeful husband. The book presents him as the epicenter of events on multiple occasions. Chillingworth definitely is not the hero of this story, which is most likely why the typical reader may not see him as the main character. Even though tragic, Chillingworth is a representation of something greater than himself, and he certainly plays a major role in the plot line of The Scarlet Letter.
Roger Chillingworth …show more content…
Revenge is something humans naturally seek, but the story of Chillingworth and Dimmesdale says that revenge is not worth the work. Over all, Roger Chillingworth’s life became miserably consumed by his need to seek revenge above all other things. If Chillingworth had found a way to move on with his life and make something better of himself, he easily could have been happy, carrying on as a talented physician and being useful to the community. Instead, his inability to let things go caused every aspect of his life to become permeated with his obsession. To me, the lesson to be learned from this character is that vengeance is a sick thing, even though it is natural, it is only beneficial to an extent, and once it crosses the line into changing the course of someone’s whole life for the worst, it is not of any value. Chillingworth’s revenge left him unsatisfied and unsuccessful. "There was no one place so secret, —no high place nor lowly place, where thou couldst have escaped me,--save on this very scaffold!" exclaims crazed Roger (Chapter 23, 311). Dimmesdale makes his confession private between himself and his God on the scaffold, finally putting himself at peace and serving his own justice before Chillingworth could fulfill his torture. “‘Thou hast escaped me!’ [Chillingworth] repeated more than once. ‘Thou hast escaped me!’” (Chapter 23, 314). The emphasis on Dimmesdale’s “escape” shows off what kind of fate revenge gets one stuck
Roger Chillingworth …show more content…
Revenge is something humans naturally seek, but the story of Chillingworth and Dimmesdale says that revenge is not worth the work. Over all, Roger Chillingworth’s life became miserably consumed by his need to seek revenge above all other things. If Chillingworth had found a way to move on with his life and make something better of himself, he easily could have been happy, carrying on as a talented physician and being useful to the community. Instead, his inability to let things go caused every aspect of his life to become permeated with his obsession. To me, the lesson to be learned from this character is that vengeance is a sick thing, even though it is natural, it is only beneficial to an extent, and once it crosses the line into changing the course of someone’s whole life for the worst, it is not of any value. Chillingworth’s revenge left him unsatisfied and unsuccessful. "There was no one place so secret, —no high place nor lowly place, where thou couldst have escaped me,--save on this very scaffold!" exclaims crazed Roger (Chapter 23, 311). Dimmesdale makes his confession private between himself and his God on the scaffold, finally putting himself at peace and serving his own justice before Chillingworth could fulfill his torture. “‘Thou hast escaped me!’ [Chillingworth] repeated more than once. ‘Thou hast escaped me!’” (Chapter 23, 314). The emphasis on Dimmesdale’s “escape” shows off what kind of fate revenge gets one stuck