Symbols In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Birthmark'
The Birthmark
“Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not” (Galileo Galilei). Scientist Aylmer is disgusted with his wife Georgina’s birthmark and persistent in removing it. He thinks Georgina is perfect except for her birthmark and he says that the birthmark is a “visible mark on earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne, 304). Aylmer tries to remove something perfectly natural by using science in form of a fatal elixir. By looking at the opposing forces of nature and science as seen through the symbols of the birthmark and the contrast between Aminadab and Aylmer, we can see that Georgina’s natural beauty is becoming an experiment for Aylmer, which leads …show more content…
Although Hawtorne does not explain why Aminadab laughs, it is not because he is amused by Georgina’s death, but he is rather amused about Aylmer’s stupidity in trying to be God. Neither of them appear to be very rational human beings, but Aylmer is clearly more absurd. By risking his wife’s life over a birthmark, we get the feeling that he is a terrible man. Aminadab appears as a better person, especially when he tries to persuade Aylmer to not remove the birthmark. However, his laugh when Georgina dies as well as the description we get of him in the story, makes it hard to decipher if he is a good person or not.
Hawthorne uses symbol, opposition, and characters as a part to portray a message for us. He wants us to see the birthmark itself on a more abstract scale, and to portray important life lessons about the nature of humanity, human nature, personal faultiness, and how we think as well as the soul. The Birthmark is bringing up a topic that is relevant to the society we are living in today, where many things are under experimentation because of the developments within science. However, in the end, there is something about human nature that not even science can change, namely the
“Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not” (Galileo Galilei). Scientist Aylmer is disgusted with his wife Georgina’s birthmark and persistent in removing it. He thinks Georgina is perfect except for her birthmark and he says that the birthmark is a “visible mark on earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne, 304). Aylmer tries to remove something perfectly natural by using science in form of a fatal elixir. By looking at the opposing forces of nature and science as seen through the symbols of the birthmark and the contrast between Aminadab and Aylmer, we can see that Georgina’s natural beauty is becoming an experiment for Aylmer, which leads …show more content…
Although Hawtorne does not explain why Aminadab laughs, it is not because he is amused by Georgina’s death, but he is rather amused about Aylmer’s stupidity in trying to be God. Neither of them appear to be very rational human beings, but Aylmer is clearly more absurd. By risking his wife’s life over a birthmark, we get the feeling that he is a terrible man. Aminadab appears as a better person, especially when he tries to persuade Aylmer to not remove the birthmark. However, his laugh when Georgina dies as well as the description we get of him in the story, makes it hard to decipher if he is a good person or not.
Hawthorne uses symbol, opposition, and characters as a part to portray a message for us. He wants us to see the birthmark itself on a more abstract scale, and to portray important life lessons about the nature of humanity, human nature, personal faultiness, and how we think as well as the soul. The Birthmark is bringing up a topic that is relevant to the society we are living in today, where many things are under experimentation because of the developments within science. However, in the end, there is something about human nature that not even science can change, namely the