He will forgive Hester for her sin against him (because he realized that they should never have married), but not the presumed father. He befriends Reverend Dimmesdale and eventually discovers the scarlet letter on his chest one afternoon while he is sound asleep. Roger's obsession with revenge slowly takes over his character and when Dimmesdale is ready to confess his sin in the pillory, Roger tries to stop him from doing so so that he can continue torturing the man. When Dimmesdale dies, Roger has nothing left in him and dies within a year and leaves all his wealth to the child.