For Once Gossips Were Correct

On page 112, the passage “To sum up the matter….In the guise of old Roger Chillingworth,” the community is beginning to fear that Roger Chillingworth is Satan in disguise or Satan’s slave, haunting their dear minister. Although they do not know it, they are guessing correctly in a way, just pointing the guilt at the wrong person. Dimmesdale is troubled mentally by what these people would call the working of the Satan, by his dear lover Hester though, not the physician. They also do not realize that his pain is something he’s bringing upon himself. It is so ironic that the people think Dimmesdale is so threatened, yet have all the answers right in front of them to find he is the evil that is endangering himself.. Cool how they don’t even understand that Dimmesdale is the closest thing to one of Satan’s emissaries in all reality, torturing himself. If they only knew that they knew the truth, this would be such a boring story. I think that’s why I enjoy it to some extent. The man the entire community looks up to and is trying to protect is the man who committed an “awful” sin and who is slowly killing himself with the guilt of not admitting to it. The best part of this book was when I realized that Dimmesdale was the father of Pearl, that fact just showing that Christianity, in a way is pretty much bullshit if even the best ministers can break the Commandments. Thank you Hawthorne for pointing this out to the world.