In the beginning when Roger first saw Hester on the scaffold his heart lusted for revenge for the man who had done this to her. Later when Roger went to administer medication to baby Pearl he makes Hester promise to keep the secret of their marriage between the two of them. “It may be,” he replied, “because I will not encounter the dishonor that besmirched the husband of a faithless woman. It may be for other reasons. Enough, it is my purpose to live and die unknown. Let, therefore, thy husband be to the world as one already dead, and no tidings shall ever come. Recognize me not, by word, by sign, by look! Breath no the secret, above all to the man thou wo

rthiest of. Shouldst thou fail me in this, beware! His fame, position, his life, will be in my hands. Beware!” “I will keep thy secret, as I have this,” said Hester. (71) Through this promise Roger now had Hester in his evil clutch and would not be shamed by her sin and could now deal with Hester’s lover on his own terms.

In order to keep Arthur and Hester from escaping his clutches he became a leech and they were his prey. He was not going to let them escape him. Hester and Arthur had planned to leave after Election Day on a ship that would take them back to Europe. Roger was not going to let them get away from him, he had become dependent on torturing Arthur. “Why, know you not,” cried the shipmaster, “that this physician here Chillingworth, he calls himself is minded to try my cabin-fare with you? Ay, ay, you must have known it; for he tells me he is of your party, and a close friend to the gentleman you spoke of, - he that is in peril from these sour old Puritan rulers!” (214) Before Arthur announces his sin to the community Roger tries to stop him knowing that if Arthur tells that he was Hester’s lover he will no longer

Some topics in this essay:
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