The Birthmark Essay

Have you ever tried to look or do something perfect, but it never turned out perfect enough? That is because it is foolish to strive for perfection, which is the theme of “The Birthmark”. The theme is it is foolish to strive for perfection because anything perfect on earth is unrealistic. Hawthorne has a Christian belief, meaning the only way to become perfect is when you die and go to heaven. In heaven, your mind and body is restored to its younger self and you become perfect. Aylmer is the representation of a scientist, “spiritual” kind of man. He believes more in what he thinks he can do than what he knows he really can do. In the story, there is a paragraph that says that Aylmer had studied the “wonders of the human frame”, but
This is shown in Aminadab, Aylmer’s faithful assistant in all of his science experiments. Aminadab is the depiction of “physical nature” meaning he is an earthly man knowing perfection is foolish to strive for. This is understood when Aminadab says, “ If she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark.” Aminadab sees all the other perfect qualities of Georgiana, making her more perfect because that one flaw- her birthmark- means she is real and that there is a woman that is perfect on an earthly level. This means she is not actually perfect but that she is as perfect as you can be here on earth. Aminadab sees through the birthmark to all of Georgiana’s wonderful qualities, while Aylmer ends up only seeing the birthmark and not noticing anything else about Georgiana. Aminadab did not play a major role in the story, but Hawthorne puts him in the story to further show you how ridiculous Aylmer was to strive for perfection with a human. Hawthorne also uses Aminadab to pointedly show that the theme is it is foolish to strive for perfection and to help the reader make that connection as