Sin And Guilt In The Scarlet Letter

In protestant times, sin was considered to be part of breaking the law. Sin not only hurts one in the church’s eyes but also in the townspeople’s eyes. Sin can lead to guilt and guilt can tear away at the body both physically and mentally. Both sin and guilt are represented in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter which reveals the disintegration of the individual psyche: a tendency for the life of the body, the mind and the soul to fall apart due to sin, like the broken and isolated lives of both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. The body deteriorates in both Dimmesdale and Chillingworth because of the secrets and lies that each character holds. One way Dimmesdale’s body deteriorates is when he starts his acts of penance. “He fasts and keeps
Chillingworth becomes obsessed and evil. Once Chillingworth finds out about Hester’s affair, he becomes obsessed with getting revenge on her lover. “So Roger Chillingworth strove to go deep into his patient’s bosom, delving among his principles, prying into his recollections, and probing everything with cautious touch” (Hawthorne 110). Chillingworth became obsessed with revenge and never stopped thinking about it causing him to go into a state of mind that was unhealthy and beneficial to no one. Because of his obsession with revenge, Chillingworth becomes evil. “He now dug into the poor clergymen’s heart like a miner searching for gold” (Hawthorne 115). Although Dimmesdale meant for no harm, Chillingworth would not cease to take his revenge on the sick minister. Dimmesdale also began to have deterioration in the mind much like Chillingworth. Dimmesdale became obsessed with his regret and wrongdoings and never ceased to live them done. “ He fasts and keeps vigils, night after night” (Hawthorne 135). In everything the minister did he only thought of one thing and that being his remorse for the things he had done. He even brought the sorrow he had into his speeches in church and preached about them. Overall, both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale became obsessed and that led to the deterioration of their minds. Both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale spent a majority of their time either thinking
One way this is seen is when Chillingworth became known as the Black Man to Pearl. “Come away before the Black Man sees you” (Hawthorne 127). Pearl did not want Chillingworth to see them because she was afraid of him. Chillingworth’s appearance became evil looking as well as being evil on the inside. Chillingworth also practiced with chemicals and medicines, which were known to be in relation to witchcraft. Chillingworth was described at the beginning of the book as an intelligent and wise man and ended the book being a truly evil person. Because he needed to seek revenge on Hester and her lover, he became conniving and devious. Hester even was appalled commenting that she was horrified to know that she had married Chillingworth (Hawthorne 175). Unlike Chillingworth, Dimmesdale went from bad to good by confessing to these sins. After standing on the scaffold and confessing that he had sinned he died in peace with forgiveness from those he had hurt (Hawthorne 232-234). Both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale changed their souls throughout the story whether it was from bad to good or good to