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What Does Dr Heidegger's Experiment Mean

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“Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” exemplifies two extremely compelling points of discussion, the supernatural and the idea that people are foolish and never change. “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about a doctor, Dr. Heidegger, who claimed to have had water from the legendary Fountain of Youth sent to him. He invites four old people (they all knew each other and didn’t necessarily like each other when they were younger) to try out this magical water. When they were younger the three old men, the drunkard Colonel Killigrew, the gambler Mr. Medbourne and the corrupt politician Mr. Gascoigne, all fought for the affection of the beautiful Widow Wycherly. It turned out that the magical water’s effects worked and they were all reverted …show more content…

Heidegger’s Experiment” through Hawthorne’s message that people never try to change and are foolish for that. When the three suitors, Killigrew, Gascoigne and Medbourne, are reverted back to their youth, they start fighting each other for Widow Wycherly again. They were all “Inflamed to madness by the coquetry of the girl-widow, who neither granted nor quite withheld her favors, the three rivals began to interchange threatening glances.” This means that they all went back to fighting over Wycherly again even though they all seemed cool with each other moments ago. “Inflamed to madness” implies that they were all so enraged by each other once again and wanted to fight. This instance established Hawthorne’s point that people are foolish and never desire to change. Once the characters were given a second chance at life, they wasted it by going back to their terrible lives before. This message displays facets of Realist writing. Realist writers wrote about the reality and were tired of all the extreme and super optimistic subjects. They focused on realities such as this message that people never change and are unintelligent for doing so. This realistic main message Hawthorne portrayed shows the reality of life and how people do not relish their chances to change for the

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