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Comparing Heidegger's Experiment And The Birthmark

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Recommended: Hawthorne 's literary style and themes

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote many gothic short-stories related to the boundaries between nature versus science, and whether science should be used to change a person’s nature for the better. In the stories Heidegger’s Experiment and The Birthmark Hawthorne compares nature and science by having two scientists alter something in someone’s life. In many cases the stories claim that science is used to alter human nature tragically, and rarely used for good. Hawthorne supports this by showing two totally different examples in each of his stories. In the stories Heidegger’s Experiment and The Birthmark it is argued that science is used for the selfishness of those who wanted to alter human nature with science. Science should not be used to alter the …show more content…

He invites Widow Wickerly, Mr. Medbourne, Mr. Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne. The four elderly people to try his new invention which is an elixir of life, it is supposed to make the old, young again and help them fix their mistakes that they made in the past. Heidegger exclaims to the elderly people “… you should draw up a few general rules for your guidance.” Dr. Heidegger tells his guests that before they drink the elixir, they should make a few rules about what not to do when they are young again. His guests, too eager to try the elixir choose to ignore Dr. Heidegger’s suggestions and choose to go back to their old selves. For example, the widow in the past ruined her reputation by enticing too many men. When she drinks the elixir she makes the same mistake by influencing the other three men to fight over her. She once again ruins her reputation by influencing the men around her to fight for her love. Dr. Heidegger tries to alter the nature of aging with the science of his elixir. This was not a good decision on his part due to the fact that all of his guest went back to their old ways. His experiment ultimately fails. The experiment ultimately shows that all of his guests are different vices of human nature. The widow is vain, Mr. Medbourne is greed, Mr. Killigrew is gluttonous to alcohol and women, and Mr. Gascoigne is extremely power hungry. Due to the fact that all of his guests are different vices of human nature, it shows that he was trying to fix the way that humans are with science. Dr. Heidegger tries to get rid of these vices in human-nature by using science and artificially changing the way they think. Dr. Heidegger is ruining human nature by using science because he is getting rid of the mistakes his guests made. Those mistakes are something they can learn by and made them who they

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In Hawthorne’s stories “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and “The Birthmark” two scientists search for scientific achievement by experimenting with nature to perfect female beauty. Hawthorne uses the characters Dr. Rappaccini and Aylmer to emphasis the theme of science verses nature. Each character is seeking to control nature and both bring death to someone they love with their scientific meddling. In “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, Dr. Rappaccini is described in contrast to the setting of the stunning garden in which he grows.

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