Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter is, in effect, just as much as a thematic parable as a novel telling a story. Many themes are entrenched throughout the novel, each surely holding the potential, and significance, to merit discussion. However, the one at focus in this composition is suffering; in particular, it is attempting to answer the question of whether we can say if one single character suffered more than others, and who this individual might be. While the four main characters (Dimmesdale, Hester, and Chillingworth) all suffer a great deal in the novel, I argue that we can attribute the most suffering to Chillingworth. And the reason that Chillingworth suffers the most is because his suffering is unlike that of any other character.
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Even before the introduction of his character, Chillingworth was isolated from society, having been alone in England for a year, tidying up his alchemy research. He then spent a year in captivity among Indians, separated from society as he knew it. As soon as he was freed, he found that his wife had deserted their marriage and borne another man’s child, leaving him without any connections in the New World. . Chillingworth had no one to love and reciprocate affection towards, and instead replaced this missing aspect of his life with seeking revenge upon his wife’s adulterer. He didn’t wish it to be this way, as Chillingworth asserts that “‘[t]he world had been so cheerless! My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire. I longed to kindle one!’” (Hawthorne 68). This quote clearly exemplifies that Chillingworth suffered as a result of loneliness unlike the other characters of the novel. Both Chillingworth and Hester admit in chapter 14 that he was a kind and decent human being, of “warm affection” and wanting to care for others (Hawthorne 151), and yet is denied this pleasure in life. He cannot even take comfort in God as Hester and Dimmesdale do, being a man of science rather than faith. The townspeople, just as they view Hester as a sinner who they should not associate with, eventually view Chillingworth as a fiend …show more content…
Outward confession and acceptance of one’s sin is tantamount to be forgiven by God, as in the example of Hester Prynne, who Hawthorne views as the “proper” way of carrying one’s sin. Dimmesdale demonstrates how secrecy and repression of a sin wreaks havoc on one’s soul, and even expresses its malady through physical decline and suffering. However, Dimmesdale’s saving grace is when he publicly admits his adultery on the scaffold, and thereby received forgiveness from his sin by dying “this death of triumphant ignominy before the people!” (Hawthorne 222). Chillingworth, however, does not ever repent for his actions in torturing Dimmesdale. In fact, he derives his pleasure and life source from thriving off of the pain of Dimmesdale, and even boasts about the torment he subjects his patient to (Hawthorne 149-150). While Chillingworth feels sorrowful about the fiend that he has become, he doesn’t regret his sinful way of treating
Even before the introduction of his character, Chillingworth was isolated from society, having been alone in England for a year, tidying up his alchemy research. He then spent a year in captivity among Indians, separated from society as he knew it. As soon as he was freed, he found that his wife had deserted their marriage and borne another man’s child, leaving him without any connections in the New World. . Chillingworth had no one to love and reciprocate affection towards, and instead replaced this missing aspect of his life with seeking revenge upon his wife’s adulterer. He didn’t wish it to be this way, as Chillingworth asserts that “‘[t]he world had been so cheerless! My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire. I longed to kindle one!’” (Hawthorne 68). This quote clearly exemplifies that Chillingworth suffered as a result of loneliness unlike the other characters of the novel. Both Chillingworth and Hester admit in chapter 14 that he was a kind and decent human being, of “warm affection” and wanting to care for others (Hawthorne 151), and yet is denied this pleasure in life. He cannot even take comfort in God as Hester and Dimmesdale do, being a man of science rather than faith. The townspeople, just as they view Hester as a sinner who they should not associate with, eventually view Chillingworth as a fiend …show more content…
Outward confession and acceptance of one’s sin is tantamount to be forgiven by God, as in the example of Hester Prynne, who Hawthorne views as the “proper” way of carrying one’s sin. Dimmesdale demonstrates how secrecy and repression of a sin wreaks havoc on one’s soul, and even expresses its malady through physical decline and suffering. However, Dimmesdale’s saving grace is when he publicly admits his adultery on the scaffold, and thereby received forgiveness from his sin by dying “this death of triumphant ignominy before the people!” (Hawthorne 222). Chillingworth, however, does not ever repent for his actions in torturing Dimmesdale. In fact, he derives his pleasure and life source from thriving off of the pain of Dimmesdale, and even boasts about the torment he subjects his patient to (Hawthorne 149-150). While Chillingworth feels sorrowful about the fiend that he has become, he doesn’t regret his sinful way of treating