Is Chillingworth truly the Devil? This is the question that has risen throughout the course of The Scarlet Letter, and is continuing to hold true. The physiognomy of Roger Chillingworth epitomizes an eerie and devilish appearance that was not related to just “growing older.” The old personality Hester Prynne has remembered of Chillingworth being “an intellectual and studious man, calm and quiet” has vanished, as a “glare of red light” now appears in Chillingworth’s eyes, “as if the old man were on fire.” The devilish appearance attributes to the fact that Chillingworth is not attempting to know Dimmesdale’s secret to help Dimmesdale, but because Chillingworth wants revenge on the man that tempted his wife. Roger Chillingworth had practiced doing the Devil’s work so much, that he had begun “transforming himself into the Devil.”
Although Chillingworth’s appearance and characteristics make him appear more demonic, on the contrary, the town starts perceiving Hester with a “general regard that had ultimately grown up in reference to Hester Prynne” as there were “none so ready as she to give of her little substance to every demand of poverty” and soon many people “refused to interpret the scarlet letter A by its original signification” but rather the town viewed the A in that it meant “Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” as the A was now looked upon as “a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” The metaphor of “the scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun’s bosom” proves just how saintly and righteous Hester now appears after she has continued on her life, and tried to rectify her life.
Ironically, although the town began viewing Hester in a better light, Hester herself continued to feel the pain associated with the A, as “on the mind of Hester Prynne herself, was powerful and peculiar” as “all the light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered up by this red-hot brand, and had long ago fallen away, leaving a bare and harsh outline” is metaphor used to describe the weak appearance of Hester. Hester’s “attractiveness had undergone a change” from “rich and luxuriant hair” to all of her hair “hidden by a cap, that not a shining lock of it ever once gushed into the sunshine.” Although the town believes that the A has helped reform Hester into a better person, in reality the A has taken not only a physical toll on Hester, but now has “the same dark question” pondering Hester’s mind “was the existence worth accepting, even to the happiest among [women]?” Would it be better to “send Pearl at once to heaven, and go herself to such futurity as Eternal Justice should provide?” Although the town views Hester as a better and happier women, Hester herself begins to question whether life on earth is really worth all the pain that comes with it.
Although the reader does not yet know the man that Hester Prynne had an affair with, clues are hinted at throughout the story foreshadowing who the man is. Pearl is the main character who hints at these clues, and makes them known to the reader. When Pearl keeps persistently asking what “the scarlet letter means”, Hester replies by saying she “got it from the Black Man.” Pearl then questions “why does the minister keep his hand over his heart? Did he get something from the Black Man too?” which foreshadows that Dimmesdale is the adulterer.
In the end of this week’s reading, the reader is left with Pearl and Hester in the forest, which was “black and dense” and appeared to disclose “such imperfect glimpses of the sky above” which symbolizes the “moral wilderness in which” Hester has “so long been wandering.” The “flickering sunlight” was only seen every now and then, as Pearl noted that “the sunshine does not love [Hester], but runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on [her] bosom.” As Pearl followed the sunlight, it remained shining upon her, but when Hester tried to walk into the light the “sunshine vanished.” The sunlight amidst the darkened forest symbolizes a bit of happiness in all of Hester’s “dark” life. The significance of Pearl being able to stand in the light depicts how Pearl is the good aspect in Hester’s life. Along with happiness attributed to the sunlight, the sunlight also portrays truth, as the darkness of the forest portrays sin. The only way Hester can every enter sunlight is if she frees herself of her sin and tells the truth about who her adulterer is. Otherwise, Hester will continue living an isolated life, dark and alone.
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