The Birthmark Essay On Science And Nature

Science and Nature have always been something people have fought over. The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne was just that. Georgiana being imperfect drove Aylmer mad trying to make her perfect. “The story is gripping and obvious in its portrayal of a foolish man’s maddening attempt to scientifically control and perfect nature only to destroy the human potential and joy of his conjugal life.” (citation) Although science can make things better, scientist will never be able to make things absolutely perfect. Nature makes things the way they are for a reason. Science cannot overcome nature. Nature is too strong for it to be taken over, yes one can make changes to their body or certain objects. Even if with science one can try and make something perfect but it will not
The Birthmark was written in 1843. There were stories like Frankenstein and Rappaccini's daughter, which all had to do with some sort of science. Science can try an alter objects, but sometimes this could have been against the law. There are certain things that cannot be done with science, yet people still try. Making things perfect does not make the person perfect. Just because looks have been changed does not mean that the attitude or the quality of life for that person is any better. People will try and make different herbs and drink mixes to make them look and feel better. This is like what Aylmer did to Georgiana. Altering a flower to where it would make the birthmark fall off but whenever Georgiana touched it the flower died. “But Georgiana had no sooner touched the flower than the whole plant suffered a blight, its leaves turning coal-black as if by the agency of fire.” This is because Aylmer tried to alter nature. The flower had to many chemicals in it to live. Much like humans if they are pumped full of chemicals they will not live very long either. That is just another reason that humans do not need to mess with