The Birthmark Essay, Research Paper
Death of the Birthmark
In Nathaniel Hawthorne s, The Birthmark, Aylmer, a adult male devoted wholly to his scientific discipline, marries Georgiana, a beautiful immature adult female with a individual earthly imperfectness. This imperfectness bears the resemblance of a bantam red manus and is clearly seeable on the left cheek of Georgiana. The nevus itself is both a symbol for the ruin of society through scientific discipline and engineering and the at hand decease that is to come for Georgiana. The nevus becomes the object of Aylmer s compulsion and he resolves to utilize all his scientific cognition to rectify what Nature left progressive in her just work. Through The Birthmark, Hawthorne suggests that this pursuit for flawlessness is a scientific trait, and the decease of Georgiana and her nevus warns of the effects when scientific discipline claims excessively much power ; the power to command and change nature.
Trusting entirely upon scientific discipline and logic, Aylmer lacks principle or morality. Bing a adult male of scientific discipline, Aylmer renders Georgiana & # 8217 ; s birthmark & # 8220 ; as a symbol of his married woman & # 8217 ; s liability to transgress, grieve, decay, and death. & # 8221 ; As a consequence, he views his married woman as progressive and becomes obsessed with this superficial imperfectness. Aylmer & # 8217 ; s compulsion becomes self-created, and in bend becomes emotionally and physically damaging for Georgiana s good being. In the early old ages of her matrimony, Georgiana had been content with her physical visual aspect and really took delectation in her alone nevus. However, every bit shortly as Aylmer makes his displeasure with her imperfectness evident, he persuades Georgiana to believe that her nevus must be removed for the saneness of them both. He has no thought how Georgiana is experiencing in this state of affairs and due to his continued compulsion, he becomes physically violent with her by catching her arm and go forthing an imprint. He uses his married woman as his scientific experiment, and is willing to give Georgiana for flawlessness and the victory of scientific discipline.
Aylmer attempts at first to bring around his married woman with a vas incorporating a quantit
Y of Earth which as if by magic gives bloom to a perfect and lovely flower. At the scientist s petition, Georgiana reaches out to tweak a petal from the works to inhale its aroma but at her touch, the flower withers and dies. After the stillborn experiment, Aylmer attempts to free the nevus with beams of visible radiation but fails one time once more. Finally, the scientist creates an elixir, that when poured on the roots of an ripening works, cures it of its disease and splodges. This is proof plenty to convert Georgiana to get down the draft. As she sleeps and allows the potion to take consequence, Aylmer watches with the philosophic probe feature of the adult male of scientific discipline. He is pleased to see that the nevus is melting but is incognizant until it is excessively late that his married woman is deceasing. At last, Aylmer is successful in taking the fatal grade and hiting a triumph for scientific discipline but at the disbursal of Georgiana s decease.
Although Aylmer can be seen as a symbol of mind and the head, he uses it in a manner that goes against God and all the natural universe. He places a higher precedence on the success of his experiments instead so the importance and wellness of human life. His married woman, a adult female with bosom and emotion, can non last when her nevus is removed because its bantam appreciation appeared to hold caught clasp of ( her ) bosom ; whence, nevertheless, her hubby was inexorably resolved to cut or twist it off. Aylmer & # 8217 ; s quest for flawlessness becomes lifelessly when he kills his married woman by his ain manus.
Hawthorne reveals through the unfortunate result of Aylmer s experiment that scientific discipline can non and should non interfere with what God of course bestows upon world. If Aylmer had been able to weigh cognition and morality, Georgiana s life would non hold come to such an disconnected terminal. Hence, the decease of Georgiana serves as a warning to those who seek flawlessness and are greedy for power. One must understand that there are boundaries and moral duties when covering with nature and world and if those boundaries are broken, one should be willing to accept the effects.
