In novels as in real life, characters often encounter problems facing their duality. Sometimes the duality consists of good and evil forces, the conflicts within, and the tensions created make the characters more complex and more interesting. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates this problem in his characters, Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne, to show how good and evil coexist and wage a war for possession for the characters' souls.
Roger Chillingworth is an example of a pure man with a "scholar's heart", who becomes evil by his obsession with vengeance and hatred (121). At first, he is perceived by the community as an outwardly good man, who is honored and admired for his learned background and skills as a doctor. His evil transformation begins with the lie that disguises his identity. The respectability of his life of "earnest, studious, thoughtful quiet years...for the advancement of human welfare", is overthrown by his consuming desire to find the sinner ( ). As Chillingworth devotes every minute of his life to analyze a possible suspect in Arthur Dimmesdale, the forces of evil overshadow his goodness. Though burdened by the morality of his life, he is unable to conquer his vile intentions and he speaks to Hester of his fate, "let the black flower blossom" (119). He understands that he himself is responsible for the evil when he marries Hester at such a young age. He shows desperation about his changed life, but the dark drive is stronger. Roger Chillingworth the healer "friend" keeps Dimmesdale alive for Chillingworth the "fiend" to torture him. Only in the conclusion of the novel do we find an atonement in his generous gift to Pearl. As the godly minister of the town, Arthur Dimmesdale personifies a genuine goodness and spirituality, and his followers admire him. His preaching and his humble life enlighten them and inspire them to goodness. His sin...