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September 14, 2005
The Scarlet Letter Ch.8-13
Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (Ch 8-13) -- American Literature, 1800-1915 (EL 266)
I think one of the characters who seemed to add a definite mystery twist to Hawthorne's writing is Roger Chillingworth. As soon as I read "Sometimes light glimmered out of the physician's eyes burning blue and ominous, like the reflection of a furnace, or, let us say, like one of those gleams of ghastly fire..."(119), I made a connection with Chillingworth and the Devil. The "furnace" look in his eyes makes me feel that he is up to something more with Dimmesdale in the story, other than just helping him with his illness. When Hawthorne refers to him as the "leech", I thought of what leeches do...suck the blood out of people. Chillingworth is like a leech to Dimmesdale because he is trying to "suck" information out of him about Hester. I think he is trying to make him confess and feel even more terrible. Also, the fact that Chillingworth is associated with medicine makes me think he is the total opposite of Dimmesdale who is concerned with spirituality.
Posted by AshleyHoltzer at September 14, 2005 12:55 PM
yes Roger Chillingworth is a very mysterious person. I am searching for clues what kind of person he really is. What is his heart like? He seems to have it all together and then he acts like some kind of madman.
Posted by: michelle koss at September 14, 2005 02:00 PM
Michelle, I think Chillingworth has a cold heart, just by the way his name sounds. I think his heart is torn by what Hester did to him and Dimmesdale not admitting anything.
Posted by: Ashley Holtzer at September 18, 2005 04:57 PM
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