The Worst Sinner in the Scarlet Letter

The Worst blazener in The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter there are three main(prenominal) infractners presented to the reader. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth are all written with their witness forms of sin, and each has a unique coping mechanism for their sins and delinquency. Sin, at this time, was a hugely important part of daily life, and punishment for ones sins was universally seen as not only a positive thing, but a necessary action to keep the mass of the colony pure. Both Hester and Dimmesdale receive great punishments for their sin of adultry.However, one character is portrayed as a true sinner, more so than the others. Roger Chillingworth is by far the worst sinner in The Scarlet Letter. This is do apparent by his many attempts to harm Dimmesdale mentally and spiritually, and more importantly his complete lack of self- prison term for his actions. It is this absence of ungodliness for his sin that shows that he is a sinner much wors e than any other character in the book. Roger Chillingworth is Hester Prynnes husband in the novel, though this is kept secret from the townspeople by dint of the end of the book.He, upon arriving and seeing his wife upon the scaffold, vows to take revenge on the man whom Hester committed her sin. Though he chooses to leave Hester to suffer the punishment given to her, his hatred towards her is never hidden. Chillingworth attaches himself to Dimmesdale upon seeing his grief, in hopes of discovering who the father of Hesters child is. And once realizing it is Dimmesdale, Chillingworth proceeds to continually torment Dimmesdale as his personal revenge and punishment, to the point of fashioning Dimmesdale ill even further beyond his original grief-stricken depleted health.He does this with no regret or compassion towards the man he torments, nor any recognition for his actions as sinful. As the novel progresses, he takes on an almost evil record, having no feelings whatsoever save f or those of loathing towards Hester and Dimmesdale. Guilt is the thing left in all absent from Roger Chillingworths character, and it is this lack that defines him. (Summary) Biblically, guilt is defined in several ways. The Hebrew name asam is utilise biblically, and means both guilt and guilt offering. The Bible says that asam is a part of debt unto ones neighbor, which can be physical debt or, frequently, sins against others. This asam is a necessary part of sin, and in its absence is sin in itself. This is one of the largest pieces of evidence of Chillingworths sin, as he feels no guilt, nor gives any guilt offering unto those whom he has sinned against. Asam is a guilt which we must make amends for, which in Chillingworths case, no attempt to do so was made. The legislation in Leviticus 514-67 and Numbers 55-10 makes this special quality of asam clear.When person incurs guilt toward a neighbor, full restitution must be made, plus an extra fifth. And then, in addition, a gui lt offering must be made to the Lord, because when we sin against others and incur indebtedness to them, we violate the graze that graven image prescribes for his world and his people, and have thus incurred a debt toward him also. (Motyer) Chillingworths sin is also worse than the others collectable simply to the nature of his sins. Adultery is a sin of passion, a lustful passion.Though adultry is one of the biblical ten dollar bill Commandments (Bible), in the case of The Scarlet Letter it is a crime committed in a moment, and regretted thenceforth by the two involved. Both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale pay penance for their sin, in each their own form, from the day that it happens. Hester is ail with guilt for months, and once her child is visible she is imprisoned, and later forced to become a symbol of sin to the entire community for years to come, publicly putting her shame on display.Dimmesdale is plagued by the same guilt as Hester, but because he is not discove red publicly is tormented spiritually and mentally. He begins to physically punish himself, and his regret and guilt weigh so heavily that they make his physically ill for years. Roger Chillingworths sin, however, was not in an instant. His was calculated, drawn out, and committed with malice towards both Dimmesdale and Hester for years on end.He tormented Dimmesdale psychologically for years, and drained what little life Dimmesdale had in him out slowly and intentionally. He felt no guilt for these sins, nor was he ever punished for them in life. Certainly, if the meteor kindled up the sky, and disclosed the earth, with an awfulness that admonished Hester Prynne and the man of the cloth of the day of judgment, then might Roger Chillingworth have passed with them for the arch-fiend, standing there, with a smile and scowl, to claim his own.So vivid was the expression, or so intense the ministers perception of it, that it seemed still to remain painted on the darkness, after the mete or had vanished, with an essence as if the street and all things else were at once annihilated (Hawthorne. Chapter 12. ) This passage shows the reader the malevolent nature that Chillingworth begins to take on in the novel, seeming almost inhuman in his unwavering hatred for Dimmesdale, and the ache he inflicts upon him. Once again his lack of remorse is expressed plainly for the reader.The themes of sin and revenge in The Scarlet Letter are made prominent and clear, as Hawthorne tends to express every theme in the novel. The two are closely tied together in the case of Roger Chillingworth. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne shows that at the time of the novel, sin was an extremely important role in everyday life, especially in a Puritan society such as the one in the novel. Sin is something that everyone believes must be punished, in this life if at all possible, as well as in the succeeding(a).In the case of old Roger Chillingworth, his sin was not punished in his worldly life, w hich leads us to believe that divine retribution in the next will be even greater for him than the books other sinners. The Black man is used in this book to mean the devil, and it is made clear that doing the bidding of the Black Man, or essentially doing things against Gods bidding, puts a mark on ones soul that carries into the next life. (Sin) here(predicate) is where the concept ties into revenge.This implied mark on the soul is expressed in the theme of revenge in the book. Roger Chillingworth, in his pursuit of revenge on Arthur Dimmesdale, receives a mark on his soul which twists him into a force of evil- a more serious effect than the sins of any other character in the book. Hawthorne expresses here both his own views, as well as the popular view of the time, that a sin committed out of the lawsuit of hatred which Chillingworth exhibits, is a tool of the devil, and in itself causes a change in humans into something more sinister.It is this legal opinion which is so clear ly shown in Chillingworths increasingly hideous appearance, and the dehumanization of his character into an instrument only if of spiteful revenge. (Revenge) Throughout The Scarlet Letter, it is made abundantly clear what view the reader is think to take of Roger Chillingworth. Consumed by his sin, he is permanently altered into an evil spirit for the acts of vengeance he has pursued. This condemnation Hawthorne describes expresses without a doubt to the reader that Chillingworths sin is far worse than that of the remorseful and solemn Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale.Who, though sinned greatly and were punished, were in the end favored in the eyes of the Puritan community and quite mayhap in the eyes of God as people who knew and repented their sins, and were therefore forgiven. It is clear that Roger Chillingworth is the only character late changed enough for the worse to be considered a sinner of any damning proportion, and is made out to be the worst sinner of any characte r in The Scarlet Letter. Work Cited Nathaniel Hawthorne. , and DeMaiolo, James F.The Scarlet Letter. sassy York Applause, 1996. Print. Motyer, Stephen. Guilt. BibleStudyTools. com. Salem Communications Corporations, 1997. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. The Scarlet Letter report of Sin. Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc. , 2012. Web. 19 Nov. The Scarlet Letter Theme of Revenge. Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc. , 2012. Web. 19 Nov. The Scarlet Letter Summary. Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc. , 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. The Holy Bible. 2nd ed. New York American Bible Society, 1992. Print.