The Theme Of Symbolism In The Birth-Mark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

“The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story sets itself apart from the many others already read during this semester. Most of the short stories read in this class have had an ironic ending the reader wouldn’t expect. The use of foreshadowing and strange amount of predictability in this short story are what set it apart from others and is what grabbed my attention. Hawthorne uses symbolism that goes even deeper than what can be read in the story itself. Symbolism, foreshadowing, and character build up all tie into the plot, which altogether leads the reader to the overall theme of the story. Hawthorne ensures the reader understands his theme of mortality. Throughout the story, Hawthorne makes much use of foreshadowing. He is foreshadowing the dangerous outcome of testing the limits of nature. Page 212 includes phrases such as “it was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of woman” and “we don’t know if he wanted ultimate control …show more content…
Alymer is a brilliant scientist and is well known in the science community. According to the narrator, He was very successful as an inventor and created many potions and perfumes but his experiments always fell short of his goals. He could never fully reach what he intended for, which was really his only flaw as a scientist. As a person, he has many flaws and is too worried about his love of science rather than the love of his wife. Georgiana, Alymer’s wife, is “the perfect wife” in the story. She’s smart, caring, and even beautiful. However, she has the slightest of flaws, a tiny red birth-mark in the shape of a hand on her left cheek. Alymer becomes so obsessed with the birth-mark, that it’s the only thing he sees when he looks at her. Once Georgiana’s birth-mark is removed, she is finally perfect, but then she suddenly dies. Although she became perfect, she was no longer of the mortal world because of her