The fourth chapter contains one of the most important scenes in the book so far. In this chapter Hester’s husband is introduces, his name is Roger Chillingworth, he comes to her prison cell as a doctor. He was called because of the baby, it was sick because it was feeding on its mothers breast milk and her mother was sad, so the baby apparently caught her sadness. While Roger was mixing up medicines for the baby, he is talking to Hester about her sin. During the talk it becomes clear that all he is interested in is getting revenge on the man Hester was cheating with. Though she refuses to reveal his name, he seems sure he will be able to find out who the man is, “with a smile of dark and self-relying intelligence”. Before he leaves her alone in the prison, he brings her to make a pact with him: She won’t tell anybody about his existence in Boston and leaves everyone thinking he died in the sea. This helps Hester husband find the man she was cheating with because when he is anonymous in the town, and no one knows he is in search of this one person, he can blend in without attracting attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment