Theme Of Obsession In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

Obsession is like a pair of blinders, blocking out the world and permitting us to stare in only one direction at one thing. As human beings, we all have obsessions to some extent. We may become obsessed with a person, a place, or an object. Something so simple could be completely intoxicating to an individual taking over their everyday thoughts and blocking out all other concerns. Is this when an obsession becomes unhealthy? Is this when it becomes all too much? In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark", a short story that was originally published in 1843, he introduces Alymer, an incredibly skilled scientist who is obsessed over removing a birthmark that lies on the cheek of his beautiful wife Georgiana. Alymer is so devoted to removing the

When Georgiana walks into the laboratory to see Alymer, he becomes embarrassed. His embarrassment comes from the fact that Alymer understands how ridiculous he looks in his laboratory. He shows his shame in the text, “Aylmer raised his eyes hastily, and at first reddened, then grew paler than ever, on beholding Georgiana” (Hawthorne 277). In Melissa McFarland Pennell’s Student Guide to Nathaniel Hawthorne, she talks about Alymers work and his laboratory. Pennell says that “His work space reveals that his science is not all of ‘mind’, that it is not at all ‘pure’, and that he cannot guarantee what his efforts will produce” (Pennell 49). Most of Aylmer’s other experiments prior to the birthmark have gone badly, and have been described as failures. The confident scientist he portrays to the outside word is nothing compared to how he is in his laboratory. Even though Alymer is ashamed of the way he looks in his laboratory that never stops him or changes his mind about removing Georgiana’s birthmark. His actions are caused by his growing obsession with science and the birthmark. In the last scene of “The Birthmark” we see the outcome of his overpowering obsession. Alymer successfully removes the birthmark but he fails to realize the importance of the birthmark and how it is a part of Georgiana not just physically but spiritually. Although Alymer was successful in removing the birthmark, he ultimately fails because Georgiana dies. This is all due to the fact that he places the importance of science and his obsession with the birthmark over his love he feels for Georgiana. In doing so, Alymer commits an unforgivable deed. Not only did his obsession cause the death of his beautiful wife, but this also affects Alymer’s reputation as a scientist, something he has worked so hard to