Do the effects of all guilt result in evil, or is it possible for good to come from such guilt? Guilt, the state of having committed an offense, plays a major role in The Scarlet Letter. It is easy for guilt to be acquainted with evil and in this novel, particularly with the devil. However, Hawthorne portrays that not all guilt has to result in evil. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne elucidates that although the causes and effects of guilt are usually evil as seen in Roger Chillingworth, good can come from such guiltiness as seen in the characters Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale.
Among the most evil characters of the novel, Roger Chillingworth's guilt which is driven by evil, evokes evil as a result in his reactions to it. The source for this guilt can be traced back to his marriage with Hester back in England. He feels guilt for betraying "thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation" for the one he never had (Hawthorne pg 79). He then sent his lonesome wife to the New World alone "remaining himself to look after some necessary affairs" (pg 68). Chillingworth did not return to his wife until it was too late. She had committed a serious offense and he could not reveal his true identity. The effects of this guilt ultimately lead to the change to the evil side as Hester refers to him as "the Black Man that haunts the forest" (pg 81). There is nothing essential to his life other than revenge on Dimmesdale for committing the offense of adultery with his wife. Once he learns of Pearl's father's identity, he commits his life to torturing the Reverend at all costs. "All his strength and energy- all his vital and intellectual force- seemed at once to desert him" with the death of Reverend Dimmesdale as he no longer had a reason to live (pg 242). "There was no more Devil's work on earth for him to do" so he quickly passed away shortly after (pg 242). .
The protagonist of the novel, Hester Prynne, is able to take her guilt and transform it into good.