The most significant, unique, and symbolic name of the townspeople is Tessie Hutchinson, which means “to reap of the resurrection” (Nebeker 106). Her being selected as the sacrifice seems ironic since her name is a massive indication to her imminent death. According to Helen Nebeker, it is “deliberate symbolic irony that Tessie should be the victim, not of hatred or malice, or primitive fear, but of the primitive ritual itself” (Nebeker 106), explaining that her name was reaped from the box naming her as the sacrifice for the entire village, as her name indicates.…
Ursula Le Guin’s short story “She Unnames Them” takes place in the time of Adam and Eve. God had given Adam the task of naming every animal on the earth, but in Le Guin’s story, Eve feels separated from the animals. She feels that the names of the animals do not fit them and that by giving them names, they are attempting to label the essences of the animals. She begins to go around unnaming the animals, and in doing so, she begins to feel the wall of separation between her and the animals coming down. Predator and prey can no longer be distinguished, because Eve and all the animals began to feel the same simultaneous fear of one another and the desire to interact with one another. In this way, Eve and the animals become equals, and she realizes that she can even give up her own name. She gives it back to Adam, who does not even notice, and goes out to be with the animals.…
The scarlet letter on her bodice is meant as punishment for her sin. The letter A stands for adultery.…
Cunningham also uses symbolism to convey his idea of responsibility across to his audience. In the extract it states that the mother has difficulty looking after one child and yet she is pregnant with another one, it makes the reader think that the mother doesn’t know what she’s doing or how she’s going to cope with two children. Another example is when it states, “ she lights up a cigarette,” soon followed by,” is it bad for the new baby, her…
In "The Birth-Mark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author floods the story with many forms of symbolism to show there is no true form of perfection on earth. Although trying to accomplish such a thing, Aylmer not only highlights his failures as a scientist, but also kills his beautiful wife. After many nights of gazing upon his wife's porcelain face, slaying her heart with his disgusted looks, Aylmer convinces his wife Georgiana to let him conduct an experiment on the hand-shaped, rosy birthmark she flaunted upon her cheek, to remove such flaw and achieve pure perfection on earth. Within Aylmer's laboratory exists two contrasting rooms that display not only the workplace for the grungy men, but the heavenly boudoir of which his wife so pleasently…
During the holocaust, many people suffered due to the loss of their loved ones. The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel tells the story of what those who did not meet Hitler’s expectations while creating a superior race had to endure at the concentration camps. Thesis By using symbolism and setting, Wiesel creates the message that love is sacrificed in order to survive.…
It is impossible to deny that human imperfection exists. Today’s society has a tendency to be obsessed with the idea of physical perfection. Nowadays if our appearance isn't how we'd like it to be, there's plastic surgery. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote “The Birthmark” in 1843 about more than a century ago. In this short narrative the author is trying to show us it is wrong to attempt changing nature with science. The message is that being imperfect is being human. Georgiana and Alymer demonstrated their obsession with physical perfection much like we would today. In the story the wife, Georgiana, was perfect in every way except one; she had a mark on her left cheek. Georgiana was born with a crimson birthmark in the shape of a hand. The birthmark…
Francis Russell once said “fiction evocative of a sublime and picturesque landscape… depict(ing) a world in ruins.” Gothic fiction can be characterized by the elements of fear, horror or the supernatural. Other elements that characterize this type of fiction might include darkness mystery, or romance, lust and even dread. William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” uses a gothic setting to describe Miss Emily’s home. The upstairs and the outside of the house shows the darkness romance and lust of the setting in which she lived.…
“No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this is the slightest possible defect- which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty- shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection (Hawthorne 645).” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” uses symbolism to explore the stain of sin on the world and in the individual. Georgiana is the picture of pure perfection, with one exception, a hand shaped birthmark on her left cheek. There are many themes in this piece. They include, the mark of sin brought in the world and the inability for a human to cleanse themselves from sin. Another theme in this story is the necessary imperfection within people. Each of the characters in “The Birth-Mark” are appalled by the imperfection on the surface. But are unaware of the imperfection within themselves. Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” examines the sinful nature of the world and mankind’s desire to remove it from the surface.…
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth Mark” is very heavy on science. The main character, Aylmer, is a scientist; the first line of the story is, “In the latter part of the last century, there lived a man of science,” (14). There is no clear delineation between magic and science though, creating a very eerie and superstitious mood as the story progresses and Aylmer falls deeper into his obsession over Georgiana’s birthmark. The text says he was “confident in his science, and felt he could draw a magic circle round her within no evil might intrude” (20). The word science is used to describe illusion, evil, magic, as well as the physical manipulation of another person through surgery or alchemy. Aylmer creates illusions that make him seem like he “held sway over the spiritual world,“ and it’s said that those illusions are…
Beauty is the eyes of the beholder. One man’s beauty can be misery for another. For perfectionists it can be difficult to find the perfection. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” is a story of a couple’s foolish search for perfection which ends with a tragedy. Georgiana, who is the victim of god’s small mistake, is one of the main characters in the story. On the outside, she looked so in love with her husband that she was able to give up her life to satisfy him. On the inside, she was an egotistical woman who wanted everyone to admit that she was the true definition of beauty.…
In his dream he kept cutting deeper and deeper but it would not go away. The dream Aylmer had is very symbolic to the story. In the dream Aylmer, "attempting an operation for the removal of the birth- mark; but the deeper went the knife, the deeper sank the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of Georgiana’s heart" (Hawthorne 306). The birthmark made Georgiana who she was and it was a part of her deep down that could not be disfigured. The birthmark in a way is what kept her alive. The dream symbolizes ultimate reality and the nature of her birthmark. If Aylmer would of let go of the idea to remove the birthmark the ending could of been different. Since he is a static and stock character his determination to remove it only became stronger. He refused to accept that the birthmark was meant to stay on his wife's face. He truly believed in himself that he could obtain perfection when it came to his wife. The dream Aylmer had symbolizes the reality of the situation and that no matter what he does or how highly educated he cannot change nature. Nature is beautiful yet full of natural disaster and many unpleasant things because it is not meant to be perfect. Throughout the whole story Aylmer has a constant struggle with himself and…
In this short story, Hawthorne uses symbolism to emphasize the strange shape of the "earthly imperfection" (204) and his desperate need to change it. The shape of the birthmark "bore a little similarity to the human hand" (204). Here, Hawthorne's use of symbolism clearly illustrates a distinct connection between the shape of the birthmark as a human hand and the need to remove it by the same means. In Aylmer's quest for perfection, he simply ignores the fact that he is tampering with an incredible force: Nature. The "crimson hand" (206) symbolizes man always trying to change something natural: something that need not be changed. Aylmer's subconscious obsession with science quickly becomes apparent when he realizes that he has the knowledge to potentially change something that nature has brought. At one point in the story Aylmer becomes so infatuated with removing this birthmark he dreams about how he will do so. He goes as far as to "[catch hold] of Georgiana's heart" (206) and dispose of her precious life. This dream is incredibly symbolic of Georgiana's ultimate fate, though Aylmer pays no attention to its importance. He simply continues on his way to perfect nature's imperfections.…
Pearl's unique character often times has the ability of recognizing truths that no one else can. Impressively, she directly connects the scarlet letter on her mother's bosom and the sun's failure to shine on her to the absence of sunlight in her life, through her sin of adultery. Though Pearl's symbolic nature allows her to identify these truths, her position as just a child prevents her from understanding the intricacy that these truths hold. Pearl sees her mother as an example of what every adult is characteristic of. In this sense, Pearly believes that all grown women wear this scarlet letter of an equivalent of it. So how can this be evident if Pearl also notices that it is only her mother who bears the scarlet "A"? Well, Pearl's question about Hester's representation of all adults offers the fact that all human beings fall prone to sin. A scarlet "A" does not need to be embedded in an individual's clothing to recognize human fault. This is just a way to try and hide one's own fault and focus the "light" on someone else. And here, Pearl hints at the idea that soon, she too will bear the weight of sin because of its inevitibility. Pearl, as the symbol of innocence, does not yet bear the burden of a defining sin. However, in the future it will be inescapable because of its presence in human nature, beginning in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Pearl acknowledges her humanness, and her ultimate separation from the divine. As too, do Hester and Dimmesdale, who are…
Glauce exemplifies the role of motherhood in many different ways in her treatment of Britomart. First of all, she is immediately aware of Britomart 's change in attitude after viewing the image of Artegall in the enchanted mirror. Britomart becomes sullen and withdrawn after the vision, but does not know why; she is described as becoming sad, solemne, sowre, and full of fancies fraile yet thought it was not love, but some melancholy '…