¶ … Birthmark, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is the story of a man consumed by the pursuit of perfection. He seeks absolute knowledge and absolute control, and imagines that he has discovered great scientific absolutes including the nature of the very heavens and the reason volcanoes erupt. After he marries, he becomes obsessed by a small birthmark on the cheek of his otherwise flawlessly beautiful young wife. His obsession with perfection combined with his scientific hubris leads to the death of his wife. Ironically, in death, the hated birthmark finally fades. The story demonstrates the danger of hubris in assuming that science will have all our answers, that we can manipulate life to meet our arbitrary standards.
Hawthorne demonstrates the protagonist, Aylmer's, obsession through various references. In the opening paragraph he says Aylmer.".. had made experience of a spiritual affinity more attractive than any chemical one. He had left his laboratory to the care of an assistant, cleared his fine countenance from the furnace smoke, washed the stain of acids from his fingers, and persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife." Aylmer is greatly concerned with his own appearance. He scrubs away his only imperfection, something not really part of himself, before proposing to the beautiful Georgina. Hawthorne tells us that Aylmer is so obsessed with science that he is destined to try to combine his love of his wife with his love of science. This marriage takes place through Aylmer's growing obsession over and hatred of a small birthmark on Georgina's cheek.
At first Georgina sees the birthmark as charming, but eventually accepts her husband's judgment that it is abhorrent. Aylmer approaches the topic first by saying that she is "so nearly perfect..." except for the birthmark on her cheek. Aylmer, who had spent his entire life prior to his marriage pursuing great scientific discoveries in his laboratory, is sure he can find...
Lottery" by Shirley Jackson The meaning of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' "It isn't fair, it isn't right." These are the last words expressed by the victim in Shirley Jackson's short story 'The Lottery', which provides a unique but shocking perspective of the innate evil that is part of human nature. The story starts off by describing a town scene that could not be more commonplace or predictable. The descriptions provided by
By simply concentrating on connecting with their African heritage many failed to understand that their parents and their ancestors who lived on the American continent in general created a culture of their own that entailed elements belonging both to the African continent and to the American one. Most of the short story is about how Dee struggles to find her personal identity by turning to cultural values. While Dee is
In a metaphorical way, this image is transposed on the image of the woman "showing her teeth." She responds with the symbolic implications that she too is living in a sate of fear and resentment. The reality that Elisa aspires to is again conveyed through the imagery and symbolic of a longing for a better existence. This can be seen when she whispers, "That's a bright direction. There's a glowing
In relationship of his reading comprehension -- Manuel knows how to read at grade level. He really does get the plain indication and can figure out the connotation of a lot of words in the course of context clues. He can effortlessly recapitulate what he has just read and grabbed some of the main ideas as well as extrapolations. His writing needs a lot of work. A lot of
Abstract Engaging in a Bartleby, the Scrivener analysis essay is bound to test one’s patience. It is one of the most inscrutable works of Herman Melville. While Melville is perhaps most famous for his nautical adventure tales, this paper delves into the enigmatic cogs and wheels that make this short story a piece of eternal literature. Eternal literature transcends the constraints of time and relatability, touching upon themes and symbols that
Leaf Storm About the Author The short story Leaf Storm is written by Gabriel Garc'a Marquez. He was born in 1928, Columbia. Being the finest man of letters of Latin America, he was regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century (Powells. Com). As a journalist he started his writing career and later became the author of several works of fiction and nonfiction including, One Hundred Years of
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