The Scarlet LetterWho committed the Greatest

Sin?

“Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into his kingdom” (Hawthorne 135).

The citation “(Hawthorne 135)” tells the reader that the quote came from page 135 of Hawthorne’s book and is not an original comment of the paper writer.

The citation (author’s name and page number) is typed inside parenthesis.

The parenthesis are placed after the quotation marks and before the period to show author ownership.

This means using bits and pieces of a longer quote with in your own sentence.

For example• Hawthorne blatantly compares Roger

Chillingworth to Satan himself and lets the reader see just “how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into his kingdom” (135).

“Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, … he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious soul is lost to heaven a nd won into his kingdom” (Hawthorne 135).

The ellipses show that part of the quote was omitted for length purposes.

Start the paragraph with a topic sentence. Next, what is your major point? Use a quote that shows the major point. Explain in 2 sentences how that quote

displays your major point. What is your next major point? Use a quote that shows the major point. Explain in 2 sentences how that quote

displays your major point. Conclusive statement.

The most convincing reason Chillingworth’s sin could be considered the worst was his forethought. Hester’s and Dimmesdale’s sins were not planned, and they regretted them afterward. Roger Chillingworth premeditated his actions, even as early as his first meeting with Hester in the fourth chapter. He said, “There are few things . . . hidden from a man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery . . . Sooner or later, he must needs be mine!” (Hawthorne 70) Having previously determined his actions, he therefore acted without regret, with full knowledge of what he was doing. “He seeks the deliberate destruction of others rather than a redress of wrongs” (Spark Notes Editors). This was the case even before he knew whom he wanted to destroy.

Dimmesdale sinned horribly by not being there for his daughter, Pearl. Pearl is a very important in the Scarlet Letter because she symbolized many things. To her mother she is a treasure and to the town she is a demon. To Dimmesdale, Pearl is a constant reminder that he is not taking responsibility for his sin of adultery. Not recognizing Pearl as his daughter and making her think she has no father is cruel of Dimmesdale. In the Spark Notes version of the The Scarlet Letter it says, “His cruel denial of love to his own child may be seen as further perpetrating evil” (12). Pearl finally stops being wild and demon-like when Dimmesdale confesses his sin to the congregation, stands with her and Hester on the scaffold, and kisses her cheek. Pearl’s sudden change in behavior shows how much she needed to be accepted by her father and how much his neglect affected her. “And as her tears fell upon her father’s cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy and sorrow, nor forever do battle with the world, but be a woman in it” (Hawthorne 209). This expresses how Pearl became more human-like when her father showed his love for her.

Perhaps Hester and Dimmesdale’s crime did merit a punishment, but Roger Chillingworth perverted that sense of justice and became crazed by his desire for revenge. This overwhelming anger may have stemmed from the hurt of Hester’s rejection or, more likely, from the humiliation that ensued. “Evil, in its most poisonous form, is found in the carefully plotted and precisely aimed revenge of Chillingworth . . . He is interested in revenge,not justice . . .” (Spark Notes). In fact, when Hester cornered him on the beach to demand that he stop torturing the Reverend, Chillingworth admits to craving for vengeance. “But it was the constant shadow of my presence! – the closest propinquity of the man whom he had most vilely wronged! – and who had grown to exist only by this perpetual poison of the direst revenge” (Hawthorne 169). What may have begun as a righteous crusade to set right what was wrong, very quickly turned into a deadly disease. It infected Chillingworth so deeply that it soon became his life’s errand to make Dimmesdale pay for what he did.

(Kaul 16-17). (Colacurcio 33). (Dibble 63-64). (Dibble 66). (“The Scarlet Letter”). (Hawthorne 120).