Dr. Heidegger's Experiment

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment, in 1837. This short story tells about an elderly doctor who has made a substantial amount of questionable decisions through his lifetime. Dr. Heidegger then invites four friends over to assist him in a study that he is working on. This study requires his guests to drink from glasses that are filled with water from the fountain of youth. Dr. Heidegger warns his friends that they should think carefully about their past actions and work towards being a better person while they have the option of redoing their youthful years. After drinking the water, his friends become as greedy as ever and demand more. Obviously not changing their ways, they foolishly knock over the pitcher of water and quickly…

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…

Doctor Heidegger’s Experiment- Youth In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Dr. Heidegger's Experiment he paints the world with the pessimistic viewpoint that people don’t change and their vices will always remain. Nathaniel explains this in the story by showing his characters as old men and turning them young with Dr. Heidegger’s elixir. All the guests are foolish and show their vices in different ways. The elixir turning them young, allowing them to repeat the same mistakes they made the first time…

instance, Dr. Heidegger’s friends regret their past mistakes; however, they do not learn from them when given a second chance, whereas Heidegger sees the failure in his experiments and learns not to mess with time or eternal youth. In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, using fluctuating characterizations paired with the contrasting symbolism of the mirror and kissing the rose support the theme that people make the same errors but should accept…

If you had the tool needed to change the lives of your closest friends, would you give it to them? This is what Dr. Heidegger did for four of his friends in the short story “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this story, Dr. Heidegger found the fountain of youth and offered it to some of his oldest friends in exchange for them letting him observe its effects. These friends agreed to the experiment and became elated after drinking the water, discovering themselves to…

Douglas Adams once stated, “you create a universe by perceiving it, so everything in the universe you perceive is specific to you.” Your perception of life is your reality. Whether someone has an enjoyable, memorable life or a dull one filled with burdens, is solely up to their views. A pessimist believes the hardships in life outweigh all the luxuries. On the other hand, an optimist views life as a gift and has a positive outlook on every situation. Optimism is not about neglecting the problems…

Their work related to human nature and the mistakes that make humans who they are. Overall, this type of literature reflects negatively on the human population and society in general because it brings values and human behavior into questioning. For example, in Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum,” the pendulum symbolises death and its imminent arrival in life. This showcases the darker elements of his writing and the depths in which he explores different aspects of life and human nature. Nathaniel…

There are many things about stories that make them different from others. Stories can be extremely different on some ends but have small similarities throughout the story. Sometimes stories can be extremely similar in some ways like what the story is about, and in other ways it is similar on what the story means. “The Bet” by Anton Chekov and “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne are similar in multiple ways. While both stories have different plots and topics, they tend to have the…

The story is about Dr. Heidegger and his four elderly friends. The doctor asks his four friends to help them in an experiment. His friends all lived their lives in vain ways. They were people with much remorse. He explains the experiment with a flower he had saved many years ago (55 years). The vase had water that belonged to the fountain of youth that Juan Ponce de León himself had searched for years. The doctor places the dried and withered flower in the water and everyone can see the…

“Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an allegoric story that uses symbolism and imagery to paint for us a story with a deep and meaningful message. The meaning in this story, can easily be summed up as the folly of youth. This story begins with Dr. Heidegger, who invites four old friends, Mr. Gascoigne, Mr. Medbourne, Col. Killigrew, and the Widow Wycherly, to conduct an experiment. He presents before them a peculiar vase, which contains a magical liquid, he demonstrates…