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- Disposed to seek revenge; revengeful.
- Marked by or resulting from a desire to hurt; spiteful.
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Synonyms: avenging, cruel, grim, grudging, implacable, malicious, malignant, merciless, rancorous, relentless, resentful, retaliatory, revengeful, ruthless, spiteful, unforgiving, unrelenting, vengeful, venomous, wreakful |
Passage
"But, Hester, the man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?" Never sayest
thou? Believe me Hester, there are few thing, --whether in the outward world, or, to a certain depth, in the invisible sphere
of though,--few things hidden from the man, who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery. Thou
mayest cover up thy secret from the prying multitude. Thou mayest conceal it, too, fromt he ministers and magistrates. But,
as for me, I come to the inquest with other senses than they o\posses. I shall seek this mang, as I have sought truth in books;
as I have sought gold in alchemy. I shall see hime tremble. I shall feel myself shudde, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later,
he must needs be mine!"
The Scarlet Letter ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Explanation
There is a great tension in this
passage as the character obviously seeks revenge, but how is that shown you may ask? Taking a look at the series of questions,
first of all, the author makes the character seem determined and curious (factors of revenge). Afterwards, it seems that the
tone of the author increasingly gets angrier ("Believe me Hester...").
The similes absolutely build the
resentlful attitude to a climax. For example, "I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books; as I have sought gold
in alchemy" is mainly how the author creates a sense of anger and intentions of revenge.
Alliteration is useful in this
case in that it effectively reveals the spiteful tone. Repetition of "I shall" clarifies his vindictive attitude.
Finally, the exclamation reflects
upon the anger and objective--revenge.
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