Comparing Chillingworth And Moby Dick

“I have left thee to the scarlet letter… If that have not avenged me, I can do no more!” Vengeance, a clear goal of Roger Chillingworth from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, is one of the key factors in the story full of sin, sorrow, and hope taking place in the mid 17th century Massachusetts Bay Colony. Another novel sharing the key factor of vengeance would be Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, the story of a crazed captain’s mad chase of a murderous, great white whale, which puts not only him but his whole crew at stake. Roger Chillingworth and Captain Ahab, are both evil, torturous, and insane but with many contrasting qualities such as what sparked their desire for revenge, how they threaten people, and how they chase their victim.
Roger Chillingworth was known throughout his town simply as a physician. However, to Hester Prynne, he was also known as her husband. Having been gone for seven years it was a big surprise to Chillingworth, coming to see his wife after so long only to see her standing on a scaffold with a crying baby, Pearl. He later confronts Hester while she is in jail, he speaks to her of her punishment of the scarlet letter “A” she must wear on her chest for the rest of her life; he tells her then, that he has been avenged by the scarlet letter. However, later on Roger Chillingworth discovers who the father of Pearl was. The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the man who refused to stand on the scaffold with Hester when she was admitting her sin before the townspeople. Knowing that Arthur Dimmesdale has unspoken sin, Roger Chillingworth decides to torment him for not having stood up with Hester on the scaffold on that day. Aside from having decided to torment Arthur for not admitting to his sin with Hester, Roger Chillingworth had the fortuity of being able to live with his victim. Due to the minister’s guilt for his sin, unknown to the town, his health was rapidly diminishing. In hopes of helping the young minister, people of the town asked Roger Chillingworth to live with him; though the minister by now longed for death and salvation. Roger Chillingworth kept Arthur just barely alive enough to be able to make him feel guilt for his sin everyday for seven years. Though his torturous deeds were unknown to the people in the town, Chillingworth was very direct with the minister about his torturing him. The physician did not try to discreetly make him feel bad, he openly said things to make the guilt sink in. Chillingworth even lived with Arthur so he would be able to torture him at any time during the day. Arthur was well aware of the physician’s desire for revenge due to Roger Chillingworth having told him openly. Before he is even seen, we hear things about Captain Ahab.
We hear that he rarely even sees the owners of the boat to which he is the captain, giving the impression that he is a somewhat isolated man. Another thing we hear of Captain Ahab is about his peg leg. During a celebration between the crew, they discuss how Captain Ahab lost his leg to “the great white whale,” nicknamed Moby Dick. Having lost his leg to Moby Dick, Captain Ahab is determined to get revenge. This crazed desire for revenge is what puts him and his crew in threatening situations. Captain Ahab has no regard for the health of his crew, the boat, or even himself due to his chase after Moby Dick. Though not purposely this chase of Moby Dick causes Captain Ahab to put his crew’s life and potential money at risk frequently. He steers them off track, makes them sail for months longer than expected, use their harvested oil, whale at night, and even pull the boat through icy waters simply to chase after Moby Dick. Slowly the crew sailing with him begin to go insane, a few even decide that making an escape with little chance of survival opposed to staying on the boat with Captain Ahab. However, Captain Ahab refuses to return to land until Moby Dick has been killed, unknowingly causing his crew incredible pain and suffering. The chase for Moby Dick was not an easy one. The crew and Captain Ahab rarely spotted the great white whale and were usually being directed into a direction by another boat. This initial chase
escalates into the crazed chase that causes everyone so much grief. Since the great white whale was rarely ever spotted the crew was typically just sailing without purpose.

Though both Roger Chillingworth and Captain Ahab were characters, in American Gothic novels, showing the desire for vengeance, the way their vengeance were portrayed and done were vastly different.