Chillingworth And Arthur Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale get into an argument over the root of Dimmesdales’ sickness and why men keep dark secrets. Roger Chillingworth takes the emotional approach as he tries to undermine Dimmesdale and explain to him that only moral problems such as hidden secrets may be the root of the sickness and confessing them will heal a mans soul. Dimmesdale obviously afraid to expose his sins tries to argue against him and claim that if they confess their sin it may keep them from coming to God and facing the judgment of the other people around them. Chillingworth presents the strongest argument even though Dimmesdale does not give in to his persuasion. Chillingworth in chapter 10 argues the emotional appeal by first saying where he found the herbs he was using, he claimed he found it by a dead mans memorial and that perhaps a hideous secret was also buried with him that was never shared. Trying to convince him he uses this to be almost as direct as he can with intentions of getting Dimmesdale to reveal his secret (that is if he has one to reveal). Without directly confronting him about his sin, he tries to get Dimmesdale really tugged by this example and maybe he will see that admitting your …show more content…
“The heart, making itself guilty may be buried in the human heart.” He means to say that one’s secrets must be kept and that’s just how it is supposed to be. He goes on to say “They shrink from displaying themselves black and filthy in the view of men.” Meaning like once someone confesses their sin, there is nothing they can ever do to take away their sin if everyone knows it, so why not just hide it. Dimmesdale takes the ethical approach and tries to give the religious aspect of it by claiming confessing your sins is not needed till judgment