Chillingworth's Obsession Quotes

Obsession, the attachment of an object to one’s personal survival, is a dangerous state of being and a gateway for evil actions. However, most victims of fixation are not inherently wicked and often, the addiction develops from pure and sincere intentions. Nonetheless, concupiscence’s deep roots within the hearts of man can corrupt the best of intentions, as seen in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. Portrayed through the character Roger Chillingworth, obsession’s importance in the novel develops from the scene in which he first appears: the public shaming of his wife. At the initial scaffold scene, Roger Chillingworth begins a descent into savagery through an obsession that consumes him throughout the novel, made most salient

Dimmesdale, and Pearl on the scaffold, and the death of Mr. Dimmesdale, whence he loses his ability for revenge. Roger Chillingworth, when he is first introduced, is looking for a happy reunion with his wife but he instead finds her being shamed for committing adultery, thence his malicious nature and the development of his fixation are revealed through his physical description and sly smiles at the scene. However, he doesn’t reveal his identity or support his wife, he instead remains a distant observer. Chillingworth’s outward deformity, though apparently insignificant, is symbolic of his disposition. The narrator’s explanation that he “was slightly deformed, with the left shoulder a trifle higher than the right” (Hawthorne 55) demonstrates that the proclivity for evil already existed within him, and throughout the novel Chillingworth’s outward appearance worsens as his obsession consumes him. Chillingworth’s facial expressions provide another insight to his character. While talking to a

Many characters throughout the novel recognize a change in Chillingworth. The narrator recognizes that, although he was seemingly searching for truth, “as he proceeded, a terrible fascination, a kind of fierce, though still calm, necessity seized the old man within its gripe, and never set him free again” (Hawthorne 119). As the novel progresses, the narrator notices that Roger Chillingworth is losing himself to his obsession. This is made most evident when Chillingworth discovers the marking on Dimmesdale’s chest. As confided by the narrator, “Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have no need to ask how Satan comports himself, when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom” (Hawthorne 129). Whence Chillingworth discovers proof of his wife’s partner in sin, he dives deeper into his disturbing world of revenge. These instances of devilish savagery lead up to the midnight scaffold scene in which Arthur joins Hester and Pearl on the pillory of public shame. Chillingworth observing the spectacle, feels an immense joy and is “not careful then…to hide the malevolence with which he looked upon his victim” (Hawthorne 144). As