Scarlet Letter Whole Novel Essay

Occasionally, in a novel, the author will connect two characters in a way that one character cannot exist without his counterpart. Hawthorne has employed this tactic in the Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth are two characters that Hawthorne has intertwined and they depend on each other to survive. For Chillingworth, this retains a literal meaning because after Dimmesdale dies, the narrator describes Chillingworth by saying, “ All his strength and energy – all his vital and intellectual force – seemed at once to desert him, insomuch that he positively withered up, shriveled away, and almost vanished from mortal sight.” He informs us in the ensuing paragraph that Chillingworth died within the year. This is because revenge on Dimmesdale was Chillingworth’s sole purpose in life. However, the dependence applies to Dimmesdale as well. Dimmesdale encounters relief in Chillingworth’s presence.

Chapters twenty-three and twenty-four are impeccable exhibits of Chillingworth’s dependence on Dimmesdale. In chapter twenty-four it says, “This unhappy man had made the very principle of his life to consist in the pursuit and systematic exercise of revenge; and when, by its completest triumph and consummation, that evil principle was left with no further material to support it, when, in short, there was no more devil’s work on earth for him to do, it only remained for the unhumanized mortal to betake himself whither his Master would find him tasks enough, and pay him his wages duly.” Chillingworth’s existence was like a fire, and after his fuel supply was exhausted, he died. Once Dimmesdale died, his fuel was removed and he slowly faded out of existence. Hawthorne also proposes an interesting theory that hate and love are essentially t...

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...y in Dimmesdale’s vicinity, so his intimacy with Dimmesdale has prompted his transformation into the leech and vengeful psychopath. In the first paragraph of chapter ten Hawthorne says, “But, 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.” This is when the roots of his obsession sprouted and bound themselves around his soul.

Hawthorne’s knowledge of psychology is imperative in establishing a connection between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. Whether it is his theory on the symmetry of love and hate, or his focus on revenge and relief, they contribute to the establishment of a connection between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale needs Chillingworth to relieve the weight of his religion, and Chillingworth needs Dimmesdale’s torture and pain to sustain him.