I couldn’t decide if I thought that Chillingworth had actually been slowly poisoning Dimmesdale with his plants or not (a common theme in Hawthorne’s stories!) but I decided it was more meaningful to me that his heart just wasn’t strong enough on its own. I love that this—and other aspects of the story—are left open to interpretation though!
You’ve reminded me of why I love Hawthorne so much! This has me wanting to read this book for the third time and revisit some short stories as well.
Wonderful! ❤️
I couldn’t decide if I thought that Chillingworth had actually been slowly poisoning Dimmesdale with his plants or not (a common theme in Hawthorne’s stories!) but I decided it was more meaningful to me that his heart just wasn’t strong enough on its own. I love that this—and other aspects of the story—are left open to interpretation though!
"It is when we are out of touch with our convictions, Hawthorne argues, that we lose sight of who exactly we are."
A powerful observation. This is one reason why we need to slow down on a regular basis and take time to revisit who we are and what moves us.
Thank you for your review.