The Death of Dimmesdale by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in the appearance and behavior of the old man known as Roger Chillingworth. All his strength and energy, all his vital and intellectual force, seemed to abandon him at once, so much so that he actually withered and withered and almost vanished from the sight of mortals, like an uprooted weed lying withered in the sun" (176) . ). Because of all the negative energy Chillingworth released in him seeking revenge, and because his only victim escaped his brutality, Chillingworth has nothing. With no other goal, his only option is to die without having accomplished anything. Being a vengeful person his entire life, he can never fully satiate his desires if the victims, like Dimmesdale, find a way to escape Chillingworth's wickedness. Such unsatiated desire will inevitably leave Chillingworth dissatisfied with life. Unlike Hester and Dimmesdale, who both earned rewards for expressing their true beliefs and emotions, Chillingworth finds himself in a worse situation than he started out in. When Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth are introduced to the reader, Nathaniel Hawthorne is able to highlight a central struggle in following one's moral code in the face of a stubborn Puritan society. As a romantic, Hawthorne emphasizes the virtues of refusing to conform and exercising one's free will. Hawthorne's thesis is that self-expression of one's true beliefs and emotions is ultimately