Scarlet Letter Dishonest Quotes

In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Roger Prynne to communicate the detrimental and soul-corrupting effects of dishonesty. Arriving in Boston years after his wife, Prynne conceals himself from his entry to the city. Under the false identity of Roger Chillingworth, he takes deception too far for his humanity to remain intact, causing a gruesome transformation.
Roger Prynne’s late arrival in Boston causes him to be dishonest. He leaves Amsterdam and endures a grievous journey to the New World where he is captured by Native Americans. Eventually, they bring him to Boston to ransom him amid Hester Prynne’s public embarrassment on the scaffold in the center of town. Without her husband, Roger, for years, Hester committed adultery with Reverend Arthur

Dimmesdale, whose participation in the sin is unknown by the town until years later.

She was condemned to wearing a scarlet “A” on her breast to remind her of the sin. Receiving this information from a stranger, Prynne’s face contorts with a dark emotion as he motions to Hester to keep his identity a secret- “He slowly and calmly raised his finger… and laid it to his lips” (Hawthorne 57). He later clarifies his meaning when visiting Hester in jail under the guise of her physician- “Breathe not, to any human soul, that thou didst ever call me husband!” (Hawthorne 71). Prynne is steadfast in his decision to conceal himself to exact revenge on Hester’s unknown lover. Noting the signs in Rev. Dimmesdale that indicate he harbors a secret, Prynne assumes the identity of Roger Chillingworth, gifted physician, and gets close to him. Chillingworth uses the

fake identity to pry into the reverend’s heart “like a miner searching for gold” (Hawthorne 117). After discovering that Dimmesdale was Hester’s lover, Chillingworth is given the chance to lift the veil of secrecy, but does not. He accepts his sin and embraces it- “let the black flower blossom as it may!” (Hawthorne 157). In deserting his identity, Prynne commits the detrimental sin of dishonesty.
Consequently, Prynne’s concealment transforms his soul. While on the scaffold, Hester remembers her husband during their time together in the Old World- “A man well stricken in years, a pale, thin, scholar-like visage, with eyes dim and bleared by lamplight” (Hawthorne 55). Prynne was a “misshapen scholar” (Hawthorne 55), yet a human man. In the jail cell, he tells Hester that his level of devotion to his studies was such that he neglected his wife. After following a path of dishonesty for three years and forcing himself to Dimmesdale’s side, he has begun a soul-deep transformation that manifests itself physically. Hester notes this change when they meet at the governor’s mansion- “[she] was startled to perceive what a change had come over his features- how much uglier they were- how his dark complexion seemed to have grown duskier, and his figure more misshapen” (Hawthorne 102). As he continues to falsely present himself, the townspeople notice his expression change from “calm, meditative, [and] scholar-like” to ugly and evil, becoming “more obvious to sight the oftener they looked upon him” (Hawthorne 116). Evil seems to consume him and take hold- “Necessity seized the old man within its gripe, and never set him free again until he had done all its bidding” (Hawthorne 117). Another four years pass, and Hester meets Chillingworth to beg him to reveal his identity. She sees the deep transformation that has occurred- “the former aspect of an intellectual and studious man, calm and quiet… had altogether vanished, and been succeeded by a… fierce, yet careful guarded look” (Hawthorne 153). His eyes change to red and he appears “the striking evidence of a man’s faculty of transforming himself into a devil” (Hawthorne 153). Hester tells him that he used to have a human heart, but has become a fiend in his pursuit of vengeance, and Chillingworth accepts the evil. Days later, Dimmesdale publicly confesses and dies, which leaves nothing left for Chillingworth to torment. With no humanity left in his soul, he is left to wither and die- “when… that evil principle was left with no further material to support it… it only remained for the unhumanized mortal to betake himself whither his master would find him tasks enough, and pay him his wages duly” (Hawthorne 232). Transformation to fiend complete, he dies.
In assuming the identity of Roger Chillingworth, Prynne loses his humanity. His dishonesty begins at the scaffold and worsens as his soul transforms with evil. Hawthorne’s message is clear- deception corrupts and destroys humanity.