The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne — Read

You will remember that the name Roger Chillingworth hid another name—one which its owner had resolved would never be spoken again. You have heard how, in the crowd that witnessed Hester Prynne’s public shaming, there stood an elderly and travel-weary man. Right as he emerged from the hazardous wilderness, he saw the woman he had hoped would embody the warmth and cheerfulness of home instead embodying sin for all to see. Her reputation was trampled under the feet of all men. Everyone at the marketplace was discussing her wrongdoing. Her dishonor would spread like a contagious disease among her family—if the news reached them—and friends, according to their intimacy with Hester. Why would the man closest to that fallen woman willingly choose to come forward and claim his share of her dishonor? He resolved not to stand beside her on the pedestal of shame. He was unknown to all but Hester, and he had her promise to keep quiet. He chose to withdraw his name from the roll books of mankind. He allowed his old identity to vanish, as though his body actually lay at the bottom of the ocean, where rumor had long ago placed it. Having done this, new interests immediately sprang up and a new purpose presented itself. It was a dark, if not guilty, purpose, but one strong enough to consume his entire life.

To pursue this new purpose, he settled in the Puritan town as Roger Chillingworth. He had neither connections nor resources, other than his uncommon learning and intelligence. He presented himself as a doctor, drawing on his earlier studies of current medical practices. He was welcomed in the colony, since skilled doctors and surgeons rarely moved there. It seems these professionals seldom possessed the same religious zeal that brought other immigrants across the Atlantic. Perhaps in their studies, doctors became so enamored with the artful mechanics of the human body that they lost the desire to seek out life’s mysteries in the spiritual realm. Whatever the reason, the physical health of the good town of Boston had up to that point been entrusted to an aged deacon and pharmacist whose godliness was far greater than his learning. Their only surgeon doubled as a barber. Roger Chillingworth was a brilliant addition to that professional body. He soon demonstrated his familiarity with the ancient art of medicine, which combined a vast mixture of exotic ingredients in an intricate way that seemed more appropriate for an Elixir of Life. He had also learned a great deal about the native herbs and roots while imprisoned by the Indians. He recommended these simple, natural medicines to his patients with as much confidence as he had in prescribing European drugs that had been developed by learned doctors over centuries.