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Symbols In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Nathaniel Hawthorne is the only author to have mastered the art of short story composition to the same level as many others who have dazzled the literary world with their works. Hawthorne's writing style was regarded as out of date in comparison to contemporary works written at the time; Nonetheless, Hawthorne used symbols and themes from his stories to talk about contemporary issues. The best illustration of Hawthorne's representation of contemporary issues is the short story The Birthmark, which employs symbols and themes. Hawthorne addresses the fatal flaw of humanity that nature imposes on everyone by employing symbolism. Through the story's theme, he addresses the issue of man manipulating nature. Even though some people might have thought …show more content…

The mark on Georgiana's cheek reveals how close she is to perfection. The fatal flaw that all animals have is represented by this mark. Nature, in one way or another, imperceptibly imprints the fatal flaw of humanity on all of her creations, either to imply that they are fleeting and limited or that their perfection must be achieved through labor and suffering. There is no such thing as perfection. Aylmer strives to achieve perfection as a dream. Georgiana's birthmark symbolizes her capacity for sin and mortality. In the end, Georgiana loses her ability to live forever, and as a result, she dies. Hawthorne is illustrating the contemporary issue that not even nature is perfect and that none of nature's creatures can be faultless by evoking the birthmark as the fatal flaw of humanity. The birthmark makes allusions to life, death, beauty, and disgust—all of which are fatal flaws that are imposed by nature on her creations. Georgiana herself is another symbol in Hawthorne's writing that demonstrates contemporary …show more content…

Georgiana is under his control as well as Aylmer is attempting to control and manipulate nature. Georgiana began to speculate that she had already been subjected to certain physical influences, either through the fragrant air or through her food, as these questions had such a particular drift. Aylmer manipulates Georgiana without his wife's knowledge using outside influences to eventually free them from the crimson hand that has plagued their lives. Hawthorne plays with the modern problem of men's need to control women. Aylmer is able to control his wife by riding her away from the birthmark. This concept is also utilized by Hawthorne in the story Rappaccini’s Daughter. Rappaccini's father and Aylmer experiment on their daughters. They no longer see the women in their lives as human beings but rather as objects to be studied and controlled. Some literary critics have said that Hawthorne's writing style is old, but if they dig deeper, they'll find that his mind is full of current

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It shows that our flaws make up a large part of who we are which make it very difficult to separate the two. To remove it would only result in failure. Aylmer finally is able to remove “the last crimson tint of the birthmark -- that sole token of human imperfection” (13). The mark shows that people are inherently imperfect and it’s what makes us human. Once Aylmer removes that imperfection, Georgiana dies because it is impossible to obtain perfection as a person.

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