QUESTIONS+FOR+CHAPTER+9


 * 1) According to the narrator, why does Chillingworth refuse to acknowledge his true identity?
 * 2) Why was Chillingworth so welcomed by the town?
 * 3) Why were men of his type so uncommon?
 * 4) Note the sentence beginning the paragraph on the bottom of 127. What does this say about Chillingworth’s religious beliefs?
 * 5) What is wrong with Dimmesdale’s health? His condition is “accounted for by” what?
 * 6) What habitual mannerism has Dimmesdale developed?
 * 7) How did people view Chillingworth’s arrival?
 * 8) Why do you suppose Dimmesdale tries at first to refuse Chillingworth’s help?
 * 9)  Why is Dimmesdale fascinated by Chillingworth?
 * 10)  Why can’t Dimmesdale spend too much time discussing ideas with Chillingworth?
 * 11) What does Chillingworth think is the source of Dimmesdale’s sickness? How does he endeavor to find out?
 * 12) Why should “A man burdened with a secret” (132) avoid his physician?
 * 13)  Why are people happy when Chillingworth and Dimmesdale rent apartments in the same building? What was the other option people were hoping Dimmesdale might take?
 * 14) Where are their new rooms? What is it next to?
 * 15)  What is the significance of the tapestry that hangs in the room?
 * 16)  After the two move in to the same home, how do the townspeople’s understanding of Chillingworth change? What are the rumors associated with him?
 * 17) <span style="font-family: 'Tw Cen MT','sans-serif';"> How does Chillingworth physically change? Earlier in the chapter, the narrator states, “Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these” (131). If this is true, what does Chillingworth’s physical change indicate?
 * 18) <span style="font-family: 'Tw Cen MT','sans-serif';"> What did people think would happen between the two? Why do you think no one intervened?