Imperfection In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

There are several feats that one can accomplish in life that set him or her apart from other individuals. When thinking of specific “feats” that a person can achieve, several sports records come to mind. Someone can have the most touchdowns in football, score the most points in basketball, or score the most goals in soccer or hockey. However, records like these pale in comparison to pitching a perfect game. There’s something about retiring 27 batters in a row that astounds us to the point that unknown pitchers who throw perfect games essentially become baseball icons. But the human preoccupation with perfection exists outside of baseball. In The Birthmark, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the theme of human imperfection is present in the ideas of mortality, science versus nature, and
In the story a woman named Georgiana is a very beautiful woman with one imperfect blemish, which is a birthmark in the shape of a hand on her cheek. Her husband Aylmer has a fascination with the birthmark which leads him to hate it. He eventually decides that he will attempt to rid her of the birthmark using medicine. After several unsuccessful tries at ridding her of the birthmark, Georgiana comes to the conclusion that it would be better if they were dead, as they wouldn’t have to suffer through the imperfection of the birthmark. However, in the end Aylmer finally rids Georgiana of the birthmark. Although Aylmer is overcome with joy, he fails to realize that Georgiana has been killed by the absence of the birthmark. Now filled with grief, Aylmer comes to the realization that without the one imperfection, Georgiana was no longer human. The demise of Georgiana rings true partially as to what Aylmer says earlier on about his beloved. “You are fit for heaven, without tasting death!” Aylmer proclaimed. Without her birthmark, Georgiana essentially became a perfect angel, but it did not come about without the ultimate