Ou 1 Anderson Ou Intro to Fiction Mary Hays 17 th March 2015 The Scarlet Letter: Evilness as a Theme In Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter, evilness is presented as a prominent theme throughout the story. Hester commits adultery, and society considers her relationship with Dimmesdale evil. Furthermore, Hawthorne also implies the evilness within the cruel callowness of the Puritan fathers. However, Hawthorne elicits that the true evil is not the relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale nor the ignorance of the Puritan fathers, but Mistress Hibbins s attempts to lure the good, such as Hester, into evil, Arthur Dimmesdale s fear and failure to publicly acknowledge his relationship with Hester and his own child Pearl, which can be interpreted as an act of evil, and the carefully planned revenged of Roger Chillingworth, whose conception of love has been corrupted and distorted as the story progresses. Throughout the story, Hibbins, who is later hanged, serves as the constant temptation that tries to lure the good, Hester, into evil. After Hester convinces the governors and reverend to allow her to keep Pearl, Hibbins, whose ill-omened physiognomy seemed to cast a shadow over the cheerful newness of the house (Hawthorne 110), tries to lure Hester to join the merry company in the forest (Hawthorne 110). Luckily, the importance of Pearl to Hester saved her from Satan s snare (Hawthorne 110). Though Hibbins is unsuccessful in her attempts to convert Hester into evil, Hibbins herself is certainly a form of evil presented to tempt and challenge Hester.
Ou 2 Although Dimmesdale is generally portrayed as good alongside Hester, there are moments where Dimmesdale is implied as evil. After Dimmesdale refuses to take [Pearl s] hand, and [Hester s] hand in public, the Sexton informs Dimmesdale that the scaffold is where evil-doers are set up to public shame Satan dropped it there (Hawthorne 148). Although this does indicate the evil within Dimmesdale for his relationship with Hester, Dimmesdale s cruel refusal toward his own child is what makes him an evil doer. Though a lesser evil, Dimmesdale s cold attitude earlier still makes Pearl doubtful, who even goes on further to question doth he love us (Hawthorne 202)? Later, Pearl remarks, In the nighttime he calls us to him And in the deep forest, where only the old trees can hear, and the strip of sky see it, he talks with thee, sitting on a heap of moss A strange, sad man is he, with his hand always over his heart (Hawthorne 218), which, to a certain extent, resembles a description of the Black Man. Hawthorne indirectly relates Dimmesdale s mysterious and secretive handling of his relationship with Hester to an evil that Pearl distrusts. However, after Dimmesdale calls on Hester and Pearl and reveals his relationship with them, he claims, with God s help. I shall escape thee now but let it be guided by the will which God hath granted me (Hawthorne 239)! It seems as if he has become good again through God s help after he confesses. The evil in him is purified when he stretched forth his arms (Hawthorne 239) toward Hester and Pearl. Dimmesdale says, God knows; and He is merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. By giving this burning torture to bear upon my breast! By sending yonder dark and terrible old man, to keep the torture always at red-heat! By bringing me hither, to die this death of triumphant ignominy before the people! Have either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost for ever (Hawthorne 243)!
Ou 3 After suffering from his sin which caused him to demonstrate temporary evilness, he is able to rectify himself and cherish God s role in helping him overcome his sin and evilness that has once blinded him. On the other hand, Roger Chillingworth, the antagonist, demonstrates a transformation from a profound doctor to a cruel avenger. Throughout the story, Chillingworth slowly embodies evilness, one of the themes in The Scarlet Letter, and is portrayed as a living devil. Initially, Chillingworth is introduced as a stranger who had writhing horror twisted itself across its features like a snake gliding swiftly over them with all its wreathed intervolutions in open sight (Hawthorne 54). Here, the description of a snake is very interesting. The relationship between Dimmesdale and Hester are, according to Public Broadcasting Service, much like Adam and Eve symbolically cast out of Paradise for their sin, forced to suffer, toil, and confront their guilt at their transgression of society norms as well as their own. In Garden of Eden, the snake played a significant role in Eve s sin. The snake acted as an evil that tempted Eve. Similarly, Chillingworth, who is characterized by a snake, acts as an evil that interferes with the relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale, although lawfully Dimmesdale is interfering with Hester and Chillingworth s marriage. Nevertheless, this analogy in the beginning of the story implies Chillingworth s later role in the story as an evil. During Hester s first formal encounter with Chillingworth in chapter four, Hester gives another reference that substantiates Chillingworth s role as an evil. Hester questions Chillingworth, Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the forest round about us? Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul (Hawthorne 73)? However, Chillingworth responds that it is not [Hester s] soul (Hawthorne 73) that he is going for but Dimmesdale s. Hawthorne does not express evil in the relationship between Hester and
Ou 4 Dimmesdale, but rather on Chillingworth who is going to prove the ruin of [Dimmesdale s] soul (Hawthorne 73). In the custom house, the narrator introduces the story s relation with the Puritan culture, in which we are first exposed to the concept of sin and evil. But the sentiment has likewise its moral quality. The figure of that first ancestor, invested by family tradition with a dim and dusky grandeur, was presented It still haunts me, and induces a sort of home-feeling with the past, which I scarcely claim in reference to the present phase of the town he had all the Puritan traits, both good and evil Doubtless, however, either of these stern and black-browed Puritans would have thought it quite a sufficient retribution for his sins (Hawthorne 11). He makes a reference to Hawthorne s ancestors and acknowledges the sins they committed, which may be why Hawthorne does not emphasis Hester, who supposedly commit a unforgivable sin, as an evil. Although Hester commits adultery, a sin that would commonly be though as evil today, Hawthorne depicts Hester s transformation from a sinner that is isolated by society to a more accepted woman due to her good deeds, thus avoiding the blame as an evil deed. On the other hand, Hawthorne demonstrates true evil in Mistress Hibbins s malefic practices, Dimmesdale s refusal to acknowledge his own child in public, and Chillingworth s malignant desire for revenge.
Ou 5 Works Cited 1850, The Scarlet Letter. PBS. Will-TV, n. d. Web. 3 Mar 2015. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.