Which figure is described as symbolizing evil?

Which figure is described as symbolizing evil?

• A. Pearl
• B. Dimmesdale
• C. Hester
• D. Chillingworth

Answer: (D)

The figure most closely linked to evil is the physician who arrives in town under the pretense of helping but is really driven by vengeance. He hides his ruthless hunger to torment Dimmesdale behind a veneer of medical care, yet his every action is aimed at deepening guilt and suffering. He treats people as means to satisfy his own hatred, refuses to repent, and lets bitterness fester into a corrosive influence that corrupts those around him. This chilling, calculating, merciless nature makes him the symbol of evil in the story, contrasted with Hester’s suffering and resilience, Pearl’s vivid vitality, and Dimmesdale’s conflicted conscience. The portrayal—his cold persistence, moral rot, and fixation on revenge—marks him as the embodiment of evil in Hawthorne’s moral landscape.

The figure most closely linked to evil is the physician who arrives in town under the pretense of helping but is really driven by vengeance. He hides his ruthless hunger to torment Dimmesdale behind a veneer of medical care, yet his every action is aimed at deepening guilt and suffering. He treats people as means to satisfy his own hatred, refuses to repent, and lets bitterness fester into a corrosive influence that corrupts those around him. This chilling, calculating, merciless nature makes him the symbol of evil in the story, contrasted with Hester’s suffering and resilience, Pearl’s vivid vitality, and Dimmesdale’s conflicted conscience. The portrayal—his cold persistence, moral rot, and fixation on revenge—marks him as the embodiment of evil in Hawthorne’s moral landscape.