What are the two opposing views about Chillingworth?

What two opposing views do the townspeople hold about Roger Chillingworth? Some people thought he was God’s gift. Others thought he was a messagerfrom Saint& he was evil.

How do the town people react to Chillingworth?

The townspeople were initially grateful for Chillingworth’s presence and deemed his arrival a divine miracle designed to help Dimmesdale. A majority of the townspeople begin to suspect that Chillingworth is the Devil, come to wage battle for Dimmesdale’s soul.

What new identity does Chillingworth take on in Boston?

Chillingworth is using leeches, and this is symbolic of the leeching he does on Dimmesdale’s psyche. He is probing him psychological more that physically. At first, he did not know that Dimmesdale was Hester’s lover, just that he had a dark secret.

How did Dimmesdale punish himself?

Dimmesdale begins to torture himself physically: he scourges himself with a whip, he fasts, and he holds extended vigils, during which he stays awake throughout the night meditating upon his sin. He decides to hold a vigil on the scaffold where, years before, Hester suffered for her sin.

What does pearl call Chillingworth?

But he cannot catch little Pearl! The Puritans often referred to the Devil as the Black Man, referring figuratively to the darkness of sin and evilness of deeds. Thus, when Pearl calls Chillingworth by this appellation, she seems to be identifying his sinfulness and wickedness.

Why is Chillingworth called a leech?

Roger Chillingworth is called “the leech” because he sucks the spirit and strength from Reverend Dimmesdale the way the aquatic leech exploits and often kills its host.

What gesture has become the habit of Dimmesdale?

Dimmesdale, however, is not so sure. Each Sunday, he is thinner and paler, struggling under the unrevealed guilt of his deed. The occasional habit of pressing his hand to his ailing heart has now become a constant gesture.

Does Chillingworth still love Hester?

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, little Pearl assesses Roger Chillingworth as a black man. She calls him the Black Man who has got hold of minister and who may catch Hester. Roger Chillingworth married Hester into an unnatural and “pseudo” relationship. He did not love her and she did not love him.