Figurative Language In The Birthmark

“The Birthmark,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, deals with the struggle between perfection and imperfection. The main character, Alymer, studies science during the Age of Enlightenment. The study of science completely consumes Alymer and sidetracks him from any social life. He eventually steps away from science long enough to marry a beautiful woman named Georgiana. Soon after their marriage, Alymer realizes he does not like a red, hand shaped birthmark on his wife’s face. He feels this imperfection ruins an otherwise perfect woman. This deeply bothers Georgiana now that her husband has made it clear that he does not find her birthmark attractive. Alymer sets out on a scientific mission to create an elixir to rid Georgiana of her imperfection. The …show more content…
Hawthorne’s use of figurative language in the form of symbolism within “The Birthmark” serves to reveal the universal theme of the need for human imperfection. Hawthorne uses symbolism as the primary source of figurative language in “The Birthmark.” The symbolism serves to reflect the theme that in order for someone to achieve true humanity, a person must have imperfections. Once a person achieves perfection, they can no longer live a human life. Georgiana’s birthmark symbolizes this human imperfection. Hawthorne describes the birthmark as “…crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mold, degrading them into kindred with the lowest, and even with the very brutes, like whom their visible frames return to dust.” (Hawthorne 418). This single imperfection represents Georgiana’s last tie to the human world because without it she would achieved perfection. The birthmark symbolizes …show more content…
These two characters foil each other. Alymer represents the scientific, cerebral, and conceptual world, while Aminadab symbolizes the earthly, bodily world. In the first line of the story Hawthorne writes “…there lived a man of science…” (416). He clearly states that Alymer tries to conquer the natural world, and alter mortality, through his extensive scientific knowledge. Alymer’s strive to create an elixir to remove Georgiana’s sole mark of human imperfection displays a clear example of this attempted conquering (422). Alymer’s statement “Unless all my science has deceived me, it cannot fail,” shows his absolute confidence in science over the natural world (425). Aminadab, meant to symbolize the natural world, has objections to his boss’s attempt at perfecting humanity as represented in his statement “If she were my wife, I'd never part with that birthmark” (420). Hawthorne characterizes Amabad as “fitted for that office by his great mechanical readiness, and the skill with which, while incapable of comprehending a single principle, he executed all the details of his master's experiments… and the indescribable earthiness that incrusted him, he seemed to represent man's physical nature” (420). This clearly represents Aminabad’s earthly concerns. The foil between Alymer and Aminabad represents the theme of earthly imperfection versus cerebral