Dark Days and White Knights: A Reader's Reaction to Chapters 9-12

     Reading chapters 9-12 was relieving and exciting. I feel that the plot finally begins to thicken, that the action and tension quickly rise as Dimmesdale's struggles and sins finally come to light. These chapters delve into the curious relationship between the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale and the "leech" Roger Chillingworth. At first the men enjoy each others' company, even finding comfort in their similar scholarly practices and values. They spend a significant amount of time together, eventually even sharing living space in a widow's home. However, as time progresses, the trust these men have gradually built crumbles. Dimmesdale refuses to divulge information to his companion about his past or inner turmoil. His body is failing as some unknown, unseen torment occupies his mind at all hours of the day. Chillingworth becomes increasingly convinced that the minister is the father of Hester's child. He takes the task of caring for and healing Dimmesdale onto himself, but without the minister's cooperation, he cannot see any other cause for his patient's condition than self-inflicted guilt. I especially loved the interactions between the two as they try to outsmart or outright manipulate and avoid the other. 

     My other favorite, however aggravating, moment was the revelation beneath the meteor. Dimmesdale, in the hopes of being discovered by the townspeople and relieved of his sins, finds his way to the scaffold on which Hester refused to publicly expose him years before. He cries out, hoping that some soul will wake from their bed to see him there. The only souls who do find him are Hester and Pearl as they are returning home after presiding over Governor Winthrop's deathbed that night. Finally in this moment we see Dimmesdale interacting with Pearl and acknowledging that he is her father.

     "The minister felt for the child's other hand, and took it. The moment that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system. The three formed an electric chain" (Hawthorne 139).

      I loved this moment because it at last shows the broken "family" being reunited, however briefly. The wording in these passages, describing Dimmesdale's surge of relief as he accepts his past decisions and faces his daughter, is beautiful and highly emotional.

     On the other hand, it frustrated me to no end that Dimmesdale still could not muster the courage to own up to those choices publicly. Pearl pleads for him to stand by her and Hester the following day, but he claims that he cannot stand with them until judgement day. This mirrors Hester's earlier hope that in Heaven their relationship can be validated and accepted.

     Unbeknownst to all but Pearl as their meeting continues and the meteor passes overhead, the leech is lurking beyond their sight, watching from the shadows. Throughout the chapters Chillingworth is compared to Satan. As the minister continues to sicken and the grisly physician watches over him, many feel that he is a dark presence shadowing Dimmesdale for the sole purpose of tormenting and tempting his seemingly pure soul. His grotesque features and even gruesomer expressions were highlighted for me not only as he beheld the now undeniably guilty father in chapter twelve, but early in chapter nine. He is first described as a "brilliant acquisition" (Hawthorne 108) to the Puritan community as his medical skills and knowledge of the human body far surpass the those of the apothecary or other medical "specialists" in the area.

     However- and here is where I appreciate Hawthorne's thick, often overbearing language- the townspeople quickly draw new conclusions about the man. It is stated that no one really knows where he came from. "His first entry on the scene, few people could tell whence, dropping down, as it were, out of the sky, or starting from the nether earth, had an aspect of mystery, which was easily heightened to the miraculous" (Hawthorne 110). With these observations, compounded with his "supernatural" correspondents and ability to find the hidden virtues in plants, labels him as one who meddles in witchcraft or deals with the Devil. Hawthorne's prose indicates that the Devil dwells within the man himself, manifesting in deformed features and ugly, evil expressions (Hawthorne 116). Further indication is the manner in which Chillingworth may have come to Boston. He either fell from the sky, as Satan fell from Heaven, or he crawled up from the nether earth, the realm that Satan now holds dominion over. These indicators foreshadow the extent of the darkness, Satan or otherwise, residing within Chillingworth.

     Chillingworth is, and has continued to be, one of the most intriguing characters in the novel; his background is obscure and his ties to the main characters are still unfolding before the reader. As I read these passages centered on him, I could not help but draw connections to the white knight later reborn as the vengeful villain known as Two-Face. Those familiar with the plot of Batman: The Dark Knight or previous Batman story lines, will know that Two-Face was originally Harvey Dent, Gotham's recently elected district attorney. By whatever means, it was Dent's goal to save Gotham from itself. His intentions were pure and he was able to save many lives through his work. We do not know much about Chillingworth's past, however we do know that he is a medical man. Anyone who practices medicine has the ability to save lives, and as he is a "brilliant acquisition" to Boston, we know that his help was greatly needed and immediately utilized. Like Two-Face, Chillingworth is greatly disfigured and deformed. He is also driven by vengeance. Whereas Two-Face wants retribution for the death of his fiance at the hands of the Joker, Chillingworth seeks the identity of Pearl's father in order to enact his own, still undisclosed means of vengeance. These men, while worlds and genres apart, sought to better their worlds only to be struck down by them. Their rage drives them to commit unspeakable atrocities, but in their minds their actions are righteous. What strikes me most is that in all walks of life, in all communities, there are those who feel that they are entitled to hurt others simply because they feel they have been wronged. In Puritan Boston there are many who have sinned or have been hurt by sinners, yet none behave in the same manner as Chillingworth. In modern day Boston and Westford I know of people, am close to people, who have been knocked to the ground, kicked over and over again by society, yet they summon the strength each day to move on and continue bettering themselves instead. To me, that kindness and perseverance is the embodiment of vengeance. Those that can look society in the eye and say "I will rise above," have more of an impact than any malignant act anger and villains can inflict.