Wakefield and Chillingsworth: Hawthorne's Subtle AggressorsSay no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay In his short story “Wakefield,” author Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts man's perverse and abusive inclinations in their most form. more random. As a man without individual worth, Wakefield leads a generally insignificant existence, without character or actions to his merit or discredit. Wakefield's decision to suddenly leave his wife, only to spend decades closely observing her, has no catalyst, nor does it correspond to any deep intellectual or creative intentions he might have harbored. Wakefield's haphazard resolution to disappear completely from his wife's life (to his knowledge) is completely aimless: not only does he have no reason to do so, but he develops no goal or even any conclusion to his project. The fact that Wakefield possessed enough determination, however unfounded, to continue to psychologically abuse his wife for years, however, signifies a buried dissatisfaction with his married life. Therefore, although Wakefield does not have the same motivation to torture his victim as Chillingsworth in The Scarlet Letter, both characters demonstrate an unease in their relationships that manifests itself in their unconventional actions. Although Wakefield's cruelty towards his wife is obscene in its very pointlessness, his methods of committing this abuse are fundamentally linked to Chillingsworth's torture of Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter, indicating similarities between their attitudes towards their victims and their associations with they. In both stories, each character achieves a certain degree of personal individuality by daring to take actions that contradict the paradigms of their society. Both Chillingsworth and Wakefield exploit their victims under the disguise of an ordinary, unremarkable citizen, thus living comfortably and secretly as hypocrites: "We must hurry after (Wakefield) into the street, before he loses his individuality and does not blend in with the great mass of people. Life in London” (922.) However, knowing that their personal actions have such a strong influence on their victims, Chillingsworth and Wakefield develop enough confidence in their power to continue their manipulation to a greater extent. It is their confidence in their ability to destroy lives in such a subtle and unsuspecting way that fuels their slow torture. Chillingsworth and Wakefield thus feed on the agony of their respective victims by continuing to disrupt their modest lives: by protecting themselves from the villainous profile either by disappearing (Wakefield) or by assuming the role of confidant (Chillingsworth), each character can inflict pain without risking its domination over its victim. Additionally, both Chillingsworth and Wakefield gain strength as their schemes progress without a deliberate plan, and are specifically given a dose of willpower in a single defining moment: Wakefield after initially forbidding himself from returning home, and Chillingsworth when he discovered the letter "A" Dimmesdale had a scar on his chest. Wakefield has no plans to completely abandon his wife (or any plans, for that matter), but after first discovering his ability to neglect his duty as a husband to return home with her, he imbues himself with a strange and dominant power: "Habit - for he is a man of habits - takes his hand and guides him, without realizing it, to his own door, where, just at the critical moment, he is excited by the friction of his foot on the.