Symbolism And Reflection In Dr. Heidegger's Experiment

In the short allegory “The Birthmark”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a newly-wed couple becomes consumed by the existence of a small birthmark on the wife’s face. When the wife, Georgiana, allows her husband Aylmer, a scientist, to remove the birthmark, both realize that Georgiana will inevitably sacrifice her life for the sake of its removal. As the story progresses, so does the confliction of the newlyweds as they realize exactly what the birthmark symbolized to and for each other. Hawthorne’s hallmark use of symbolism also provides a ‘perfect’ glimpse into the mindset of two themes of psychological conflictions: perfectionism and codependency. Hawthorne seems to share this story as a possible moral of the hidden pathos we place upon the ones we love, and the invisible marks or standards we place upon ourselves for the ones we love.

In the story “The Birth-Mark” Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates a man with an obsession for perfection of the human body. With a desire to reach the ultimate level of perfection, Aylmer’s obsession ultimately creates a path of destruction that tragically ends in the death of his devoted wife, Georgiana.

The first passage reveals the parallel suffering occurring in the lives of different members of the family, which emphasizes the echoes between the sufferings of the father and the narrator. The narrator’s father’s despair over having watched

C. JoyBell once said that “It is when you lose sight of yourself, that you lose your way. To keep your truth in sight you must keep yourself in sight and the world to you should be a mirror to reflect to you your image; the world should be a mirror that you reflect upon.” The writer of this quotation is telling a reader that if you lose sight of your direction in life that you will lose the way you are going. But to keep you and your truth insight you must reflect upon your actions in the world, and the effect that they have. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the short stories “The Birthmark” and “Young Goodman Brown”, both of them with contesting puritan views. The main character in “The Birthmark” is Aylmer and the protagonist in “Young Goodman Brown” is Goodman Brown. Both of these characters do not embody this quote because they, both, lose sight of their true selves because they are being persuaded by outside forces; however, they struggle to regain their true path because they fail to reflect on their actions.

This personal confession shows that Mrs. Mallard, though she will mourn at first, now is free to “live for herself,” (228) not for her imposing husband. Before her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard believed she was in a healthy, normal marriage. This death revealed to her how while she cared about her husband, she despised the lack of freedom her marriage had given her. All of the realizations that Mrs. Mallard reaches during her time of reflection shows the readers exactly why she will no longer mourn the death of her husband.

Contemporaries Edgar Alan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne published their respective short stories The Tell-Tale Heart and The Birth-Mark only a couple of months apart. The Tell-Tale Heart is the personal account of a young man’s descent into madness as he becomes increasingly fixated on the eye of an older man, presumably his father. Similarly, The Birth-Mark narrates the story of a young couple, Aylmer and Georgiana, and how the latter’s birthmark becomes the obsession of the former. Poe and Hawthorne’s literary genre of Dark Romanticism opposes human perfectibility, and both writers employ symbolism, irony, similar characters and plot to convey the theme that obsessions will inevitably lead to destruction.

Some of Hawthorne’s works are parallel in many aspects as in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccinis Daughter” with a common obsession of scientific beauty and manipulation, the death. Both men have the obsession of science where Aylmer wants to help mankind unlike Rappacini’s work to destroys mankind “Rappaccini “cares infinitely more for science than for mankind”” (Roy R. Male, 1954). Georgiana’s is manipulated with her self-esteem easily convince her of the birthmark’s discouragement to her beauty “Life is but a sad possession to those who have attained precisely the degree of moral advancement at which I stand. Were I weaker and blinder, it might be happiness” (Bunge, 1993 ) Rappacini merely manipulates Beatrice with lies. Georgiana is clear to see that for Aylmer to achieve perfection, it will cost her life “She attributes this self-destructive attitude to the inspiring influence of Aylmer’s high standards and urges him to continue his noble work, at any cost” (Bunge, 1993 ) Rappaccini’s payment was the loss of a child when Beatrice took her life; diminishing the

“The Birthmark” is a short story authored by Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in 1848. The story is about Aylmer, a brilliant scientist who is obsessed with science and is planning to use his experiments to remove a birthmark on the face of his wife Georgiana. Aylmer’s love for science made him yearn to obtain control of the entire divinity. His wife was among his victims of science that was stronger in him than the love he had for Georgiana. Aylmer became blind to science to the extent that he could not realize that he was damaging his wife and putting his marriage at risk. It examines the obsession with science and human perfection that often cause problems if not controlled as seen in the story. Hawthorne’s aim with this tale was to warn its readers regarding the dangers of science and knowledge with the story, and this is analyzed below.

In his 1843 didactic short story "The Birthmark," Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about the shortcomings and negligence of those who seek perfection throughout their lives. Aylmer, mad scientist and main character, is greatly encouraged by a romantic reverie to seek the removal of an aggravating birthmark from his wife Georgiana's face. Aylmer becomes trapped in a trance by his aspirations to the point where "he had not been aware of the tyrannizing influence acquired by one idea over his mind, and of the lengths which he might find in his heart to go for the sake of giving himself peace" (Hawthorne 74). Similarity, in the short story "Editha," William Howells portrays how romantic ideals instill false confidence and support an unrealistic perception of the outside world. The powerful persuasion by an unrealistic psyche is illustrated through the phrase "pocket providence", showing to be nothing more than a contagion, creating uncertainty and untenable expectations in all that encounter it.

Hawthorne’s heavy use of symbolism carries a lot of undertones that reveals irony on many levels as he wraps up the story. The most obvious is that Aylmer murders his lovely bride when he perfects Nature. Georgiana is enamored by Aylmer’s experiments even though he often fails. She gains confidence and submits herself willingly but only to vicariously pursue happiness through her husband’s experiment. Knowing that her birthmark makes her an object of horror to the one she loves, she finds life to be a burden and is willing to risk her own life for both of their happiness (Hawthorne 292).

In a psychological novel, the author lays out a plot with a most – intricate analysis of the characters and explores deeper into their minds by emphasizing the internal characterization and mentality of the main characters. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, is a psychological novel that mainly focuses on the emotions and internal states of Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth by emphasizing the consequences of sin, guilt and revenge, respectively. Hester’s uncontrollable desires, Dimmesdale’s everlasting guilt and Chillingworth’s extreme obsession with revenge all convey the Freudian concepts of consciousness. According to the concepts, every person has an id, ego and superego; the id is the primitive part of a personality which immediately responds to a person’s desires. In order to suppress the id, the ego and superego decides which desires can or cannot be satisfied by evaluating the physical consequences and moral values. Through the inner lives of the three main characters, Hawthorne constructs the basis of his psychological novel and creates a complex relationship among them.

For example, In “The Birth Mark,” Hawthorne writes about a woman named Georgiana and her birthmark on her cheek. This actually symbolizes what goes on in his own life with his wife, Sophia. Hawthorne’s wife Sophia had a miscarriage and it caused him to undergo a “sexual panic and arrestment” (Marshall 38). When Hawthorne wrote “The Birth Mark,” it was written to disguise “sexual anxiety as cosmetology” (Marshall 38). This coincided with the virginity of women. Women who lose their virginity have a crimson stain hence the crimson birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek. Meanwhile, “Rappaccini’s Daughter” focuses more on the human heart. Beatrice and Giovanni truly love each other even though they cannot physically be together. Even at her death she wants to save Giovanni. While she wants to save Giovanni, Hawthorne states, “he remains trapped in the situation that her death allows her to escape” (Wachtel). Giovanni is left alone and poisonous. Finally, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” revolves around the effects of science on nature. Dr. Heidegger uses science to make his old friends young once again. His friends drink the concoction he created and they all begin to immediately turn into the younger versions of themselves right before his eyes. The elixir only lasts for a little while and then his friends end up old once again. Science caused the people to be young for a little while but in the end the elixir wore off and they went back to their original selves. Growing old is a part

Sin, a dark and powerful force, twists the soul and warps the mind to the point where it leaves society with unconquerable difficulties in everyday life. Nathaniel Hawthorne, quite successfully, uses literature to its full potential in order to express sins presence in life. He uses the short story, “The Birthmark” to express this theme. In this story, a man by name Aylmer for the first time sees a small defect in his otherwise beautiful wife, Georgiana. When Aylmer mentions it to her, she feels hurt, but it does not seem to affect her self-image. However, as time went on, the birthmark started to bother her causing her to believe she was flawed and in need of fixing. With the assistance of Aylmer's servant, Aminadab, Aylmer creates a miracle drug that would cure his wife of her imperfection: the birthmark. The possibly deadly drug incites fear in her husband; however, the blemish on her face troubles her, as well as her husband, to the point where she believes her life means nothing unless she could get it removed. After much meticulous preparation, the wife takes the cure. At first, everything seems well as her birthmark faded, however soon everything goes wrong, and Georgina has a terrible reaction. Soon after taking the cure she dies, leaving Aylmer heartbroken and alone without his wife. In, “The Birthmark,” Nathaniel Hawthorne brings to light sin’s presence in society through the use of allusions, symbolism, color, and beauty.

Aside from Hawthorne?s use of symbolism, his extensive use of imagery also contributes to the notion that man cannot perfect nature. Aylmer?s true goal in this story is to force Georgiana to believe that her birthmark is ?a symbol of [her] liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death? (204) and she must rid herself of it. He creates this image in order to brainwash her into believing that it is a ?dreadful hand? (207), and she, too, should wish it away. Finally, after gazing at, and studying the birthmark, this horrible image in which Aylmer had implanted in the mind of his lovely wife has become all too unbearable. Georgiana, feeling unworthy of her husband, freely surrenders herself to Aylmer and his science. ?Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life,? (207) she tells him, while rationalizing the validity of science on such a thing. Another image Hawthorne makes use of, in order to potentially change the mind of Georgiana, is that of the geranium, once diseased with yellow spots of death, is now full of life. The diseased flower symbolizes, in the eyes of Aylmer, a diseased Georgiana.

A lot of people lie, but in this novel Philip, Miss Narwin, and Dr. Palleni all share the blame. Philip relates to us living today, he is a boy who lied without thinking it would impact his life in a huge way. Philip would not stop humming, Miss Narwin sent Philip to Dr. Palleni`s office and Dr. Palleni suspended Philip, alll of them shared the blame of one little