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Roger Chillingsworth's Cruelty

Decent Essays

In any work of literature, dramatic events can be analyzed to help further the knowledge of a work’s purpose, theme, and characters. Moments of such intensity have a monumental impact upon factors in a story and often reveal motivations and influences of a character. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Roger Chillingsworth plays a significant role in the story with his constant acts of cruelty. By studying his actions, we can understand his hidden emotions, his impact upon others, and his position’s connection to the human condition.
Roger Chillingsworth was a cruel man to Hester but mostly Dimmesdale. Slowly he crept his way into dimmesdale’s life so that he could torture him the worst possible way without Dimmesdale's even knowing …show more content…

Chillingsworth came back for revenge on Dimmesdale and Hester because she had an affair with him. This shows the theme of the book, how sin affects one another and how we choose to handle it. Chillingsworth is on the receiving end of another person’s sin and in return he handles it the negative way. His motives are strictly to find pleasure in another person’s pain in order to feel some sort of justice for the initial hurt he felt. Later he finds that revenge is not the solution, because Dimmesdale found his own different solution for his pain in a way that didn't affect others. He confessed his sins in front of the whole community without any regard to the public shame he will immediately receive. This worked for him because it was a way to lighten his weight and clean his heart. This is a fault in our society because we spend so much time making life harder for others, believing it will make us feel better when in reality it only makes matters worse for everyone. We need to remember how each act of cruelty can affect another person, and just like the theme of The Scarlet Letter, the impact upon others all depends on how you choose to handle your own reactions. Anything can happen to us in this world, and sin is expected since we are fallen creatures, the only thing we have control over is how we choose to react to every event. You can be positive like Dimmesdale and look for a every chance of recovery or you can take your anger out on others, like

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