Who Is Aylmer's Obsession In 'The Birth-Mark'

In the short story, “The Birth-Mark” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne the character’s obsession with outward beauty and perfection ended tragically. The desire to change their outward appearance is very similar to society’s today. Man is constantly challenging the bounds and realms of science to improve the quality of life. In the story,” The Birth-Mark”, Aylmer the mad scientist, attempts to fix what nature deformed through science. Aylmer’s god like complex, challenges the limits of science to fulfill his own personal agenda of perfection. Aylmer is a former scientist who put up his lab coat and test tubes for love. He married a beautiful lady inside and out named Georgiana. Georgiana had but one flaw, a tiny birthmark on her check, some said it resembled a tiny red hand (Hawthorne 419). The mark did not seem to bother her or Aylmer at first, but the more he gazed at it, the more it disturbed him. He asked Georgiana if she had ever considered removing it, but she seemed to not be bothered by it all. He convinced her that if it was not for this one blemish she would be perfect. She was deeply hurt by Aylmer’s …show more content…
A mole could be seen as ugly, while someone else sees it as a beauty mark. Man and science is usually a good thing when it comes to better health and longer life. However, the outside should not be looked at with a magnifying glass, but instead be taken at a glance. When a person looks at a painting they don’t get so close that they cannot enjoy the full picture, but rather they stand at a distant to soak it all in. The same is true of a person’s outward beauty, you should admire the whole picture of them and not focus on one speck. Man will continue to gain new knowledge and perform the impossible, but nature is unpredictable and you just never know when the outcome could be fatal, until it is too