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The Birth Mark Imperfection

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“Humanity is just a work in progress.” This quote by Tennessee Williams accurately describes what many people believe, and consequently, why many people try to improve themselves. Even so, occasionally people can take the pursuit of perfection too far. This is the case for Aylmer and Georgiana in “The Birth-Mark,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this story Aylmer successfully removes his wife's only imperfection- a hand-shaped birthmark on her cheek, consequently making her perfect. The results of this are disastrous, however, as Georgiana soon passes away. Georgiana's death due to the removal of her birthmark represents something more than what is actually written. The symbols shown by the birth-mark on Georgiana’s cheek in “The Birth-Mark” …show more content…

Sin in many ways is like a birthmark. All humans have birth-marks, just like every human has sinned. Sin is what makes mankind human, and in addition to that, imperfect. A Biblical allusion to sin happens in “The Birth-Mark” when Georgina says “‘Danger? There is but one danger-that this horrible stigma shall be left upon my cheek!’ cried Georgiana. “‘Remove it, remove it, whatever the cost, or we shall both go mad’” (Hawthorne 222). The previous quote was an allusion to Adam and Eve in The Garden of Eden. However, this time the roles are reversed, with Georgiana trusting Aylmer like Adam trusted Eve, and Aylmer convincing Georgiana to do something she did not need to do, as Eve did to Adam. As a result of their actions, both pay a heavy price with Georgiana losing her life, and Aylmer gaining enough regret to last more than one lifetime. “He need not thus have flung away the happiness which would have woven his mortal life of the self-same texture of the celestial” (Hawthorne 225) Aylmer's sin in this story was greed- he threw away the world while trying to gain the stars. Georgiana's pitfall in this story was her unmovable trust in her husband. Birth-marks, like sin, affect everyone, no matter how young, old, rich or famous someone is. The mark on Georgiana's cheek in “The Birth-Mark” shows this through

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