Degenerate In The Scarlet Letter

Decent Essays
In a perfect world, people live happily ever after, but in the real world, that rarely happens. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth’s reality came tumbling down as a result of his wife’s new life. As a result, he turns into a man full of sin and sorrow. Although he attempts to redeem himself in the end, I believe Chillingworth is more morally degenerate than Hester and Dimmesdale because of his obsession to get revenge and his jealousy of the relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale. At the end of the novel, Chillingworth attempts to redeem himself, causing him to seem desperate. Hawthorne states, “Old Roger Chillingworth died less than a year after Mr. Dimmesdale, and he left a great deal of property, …show more content…
This led him to an obsession with getting revenge on Hester and her new lover. The obsession was so strong that it became his only source of living, in a way. This is explained when Hawthorne states, “This sad man had made the pursuit of revenge the one mission in his life. When that evil aim had achieved its ultimate end- when there was no more Devil’s work left for him on earth- there was nothing for that inhuman man to do but return to his master.” Hawthorne is trying to explain how Chillingworth’s sole purpose in life was to get revenge on the people he believed wronged him, and when that purpose could not be pursued any longer, he had no reason to live any longer. While Chillingworth was trying to make their lives terrible, Hester and Dimmesdale did not reciprocate these hardships onto Chillingworth. This explains why Chillingworth is more morally degenerate because the sin Chillingworth committed was nothing compared to the sin of Hester and Dimmesdale. The sin that Hester and Dimmesdale committed was truthful while Chillingworth’s sin was vengeful and hate filled. This hatred and envious attitude caused Chillingworth’s life to head in a downward spiral full of …show more content…
He was upset that he was no longer the primary male of Hester’s life anymore like he was in the years before her sin. In the novel, Chillingworth states, “‘I will seek this man as I have sought truth in books, as I have sought gold in alchemy. We share a connection that will reveal this man to me. When he trembles, I will feel it. Sooner or later, he will be mine.’” This powerful quote by Chillingworth describes his feeling of jealousy because it explains how Hester’s new lover has had an effect on the way Chillingworth looks at life. Chillingworth looks at the sin Hester committed in a way that represents jealousy. In the novel, both Hester and Dimmesdale have opportunities to express feelings of jealousy, but they do not take these opportunities and seem to remain neutral. They are living their lives without letting other people affect them. This attitude of Hester and Dimmesdale versus the attitude of Chillingworth only further proves how Chillingworth is more sinful than Hester and

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