Chillingworth Roger
The theme, "Within each person exists the capability for both good and evil" is illustrated through Roger Chillingworth. Originally born Roger Prynne, he lived in England as an old and lonely scholar dehumanized by a life of abstruse studying. He makes the mistake of marrying a young wife, a generation younger that he is. He sends her to America, to the Puritan colony of Massachusetts, with instructions to live quietly until he arrives. Due to "grievous mishaps by sea and land", and over a year's captivity by Indians, his intended arrival was delayed. When he finally arrives, he finds Hester Prynne, his wife, being publicly exposed as an adulteress. He sees Hester holding the child of another man. After his discovery, "Chillingworth moves closer to the scaffold and imperiously bids her to name the father of her child" (pg 113). Disappointed that his hope of gaining Hester's affection upon arrival was destroyed, he also hated the man that gained that affection. Unwilling to be associated with her
Chillingworth begins to suspect that Dimmesdale is Pearl's (Hester daughter) father when Reverend Wilson and Governor Billingham are trying to take Pearl away from Hester. Dimmesdale gives an eloquent representation for Hester, and Chillingworth says "You speak, my friend, with a strange earnestness"(121). It is with this suspicion that Chillingworth begins to show "special interest" in Dimmesdale. Since the town needed a doctor around the same time Dimmesdale became sick, Chillingworth's interest in Dimmesdale helps his acceptance in the community; however, the community did not know his intentions. Chillingworth's quest is to find out if his suspicion is, in fact, reality. He knows he must get closer to Dimmesdale in order to find out, "The mysterious illness of Dimmesdale-mysterious to the town-is something he says he can treat, and so he becomes the minister's physician; he even lives with him" (pg 150). After Chillingworth moves in with Dimmesdale, his image in the community begins to change.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 676
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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