How Is Mr Medbourne Ruthless

In the short story Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the main characters, Mr. Medbourne, portrays the character traits of ruthlessness, being a risk taker, and being unrealistic. Mr. Medbourne’s first character trait is ruthlessness. Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne had fallen in love with Widow Wycherly when they were much younger, to the point where they would hurt each other for her love. “It is a circumstance worth mentioning that each of these three old gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne, were early lovers of the Widow Wycherly, and had once been on the point of cutting each other's throats for her sake” (Hawthorne, ). This character trait shows Mr. Medbourne being ruthless because it lets the reader

Medbourne’s second character trait is being a risk taker. When Mr. Medbourne was at his peak, he was a “successful merchant,” but due to some risky investments he had made, he lost everything. “Mr. Medbourne, in the vigor of his age, had been a prosperous merchant, but had lost his all by a frantic speculation, and was now little better than a mendicant” (Hawthrone, ). This character trait he demonstrated tells the reader that he is willing to take risks and to invest everything he owns, notwithstanding the risk that he could lose it all at any moment. Mr. Medbourne's third character trait is that he is unrealistic. As Mr. Medbourne drank from the Fountain of Youth, he became obsessed with making money by putting harnesses on whales and bringing ice to the East Indies. “On the other side of the table, Mr. Medbourne was involved in a calculation of dollars and cents, with which was strangely intermingled a project for supplying the East Indies with ice, by harnessing a team of whales to the polar icebergs” (Hawthrone, ). This character trait that he displays shows the reader that he can be unrealistic because of the way he wants to spend money, which can harm aquatic life and its