Roger Chillingworth: The Greatest Sinner in "The Scarlet Lette"r, Nathanial Hawthorne

In the romantic novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne incorporates extensive details, symbols, and allegorical images to explore how sin affects a person and how they evolve psychologically and physically over time due to it. One of the characters that Hawthorne illustrates and depicts thoroughly is Roger Chillingworth, who is transformed from a person who was "kind, true, just" into a dark fiend who is resolute on causing Arthur Dimmesdale "to die daily a living …

…it. Chillingworth's goal to seek revenge consumes his soul and transforms him into a devil. The reader might feel pity for Chillingworth during the beginning of story; He has been missing for two years and when he finally visits the Puritan city, he finds his wife standing on a scaffold being publicly criticized for having a baby with someone other than her husband. However, that sentiment soon fades after realizing the wicked character of Chillingworth.