Many people throughout their lives wish to live longer, whether to see their grandchildren grow up, or to accomplish a lifetime goal that is on their “bucket list”. Some of these people wish to actually become younger again, to go from age 80 to age 40 in seconds. This hypothetical concept has been displayed and discussed in dozens of different stories. One example of these stories would be “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”. In this short story, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, four of Dr. Heidegger’s older friends actually revert back to their youth using water from the mystical Fountain of Youth. However, with their second opportunity to make themselves a better life, they failed to learn from their mistakes and drain away the rest of the water.
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In their selfish attempt to try to continue being young, they leave their town to go try to find the Fountain and make daily trips to it to become younger and seemingly better off. In the short story, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s theme of how aging makes people wiser is illustrated for the reader through his use of first-person narrator, gothic style, and literary humor.
When one begins to read the story, one can easily see that the story is written in a first-person point of view. The narrator of the story is not a direct member of the experiment, so the short story is perceived from a first-person narrator’s point of view. By creating the story in this particular style, Hawthorne is able to emphasize the impact of age on any person’s logical capabilities. He gives the readers a close view at the experiment and the characters themselves to show the impact of becoming younger, both the positive and the negative consequences. In the beginning of the story, it was explained that the four guests were, “besides themselves—as is…the case with old people,” and shows that the selected members of the experiment were chosen to …show more content…
Dr. Heidegger knows this is true well before the experiment begins, and the reader can see this when he refuses to participate in his own experiment, giving his reason as, “For my own part, having had much trouble in growing old, I am in no hurry to grow young again,” (Hawthorne). Dr. Heidegger, as is realized at the conclusion of the story, uses this experiment to try to bring a point to the four previously depressed friends. However, these four people end up interpreting the clues the wrong way, and start to try to actually find the Fountain of Youth, which involves them moving out of their own town, simply to become younger. The short story has been regarded as some to not be a fantasy, but to others, “a situation that could have taken place,” (Novelguide). While exhibiting humor that makes the story seem to be an impossible event, the audience will never truly be able to know with the hints and contradictions dispersed throughout the short story. Humorous ways to show aging being useful to the cognitive mind help Hawthorne explain the theme of the
In their selfish attempt to try to continue being young, they leave their town to go try to find the Fountain and make daily trips to it to become younger and seemingly better off. In the short story, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s theme of how aging makes people wiser is illustrated for the reader through his use of first-person narrator, gothic style, and literary humor.
When one begins to read the story, one can easily see that the story is written in a first-person point of view. The narrator of the story is not a direct member of the experiment, so the short story is perceived from a first-person narrator’s point of view. By creating the story in this particular style, Hawthorne is able to emphasize the impact of age on any person’s logical capabilities. He gives the readers a close view at the experiment and the characters themselves to show the impact of becoming younger, both the positive and the negative consequences. In the beginning of the story, it was explained that the four guests were, “besides themselves—as is…the case with old people,” and shows that the selected members of the experiment were chosen to …show more content…
Dr. Heidegger knows this is true well before the experiment begins, and the reader can see this when he refuses to participate in his own experiment, giving his reason as, “For my own part, having had much trouble in growing old, I am in no hurry to grow young again,” (Hawthorne). Dr. Heidegger, as is realized at the conclusion of the story, uses this experiment to try to bring a point to the four previously depressed friends. However, these four people end up interpreting the clues the wrong way, and start to try to actually find the Fountain of Youth, which involves them moving out of their own town, simply to become younger. The short story has been regarded as some to not be a fantasy, but to others, “a situation that could have taken place,” (Novelguide). While exhibiting humor that makes the story seem to be an impossible event, the audience will never truly be able to know with the hints and contradictions dispersed throughout the short story. Humorous ways to show aging being useful to the cognitive mind help Hawthorne explain the theme of the