Ever since the beginning of mankind, there has been many changes to human nature, whether it be scientific advancements or even the alteration of morals. Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake explores these changes and also supports the overall idea of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, that humans are not supposed to be flawless, and also the balance between the Apollonian and Dionysian lifestyles as explained in Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy.
Through these ideas supported by Oryx and Crake, one acknowledges that human nature is not perfect, it is not supposed to be, and there is no such thing as perfection when it comes to human nature.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, there was a man by the name of Alymer, whom was married
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In an attempt to rid Georgiana of her imperfection through his alchemist ways, Alymer ends up causing Georgiana’s early and untimely death. Georgiana’s death causes Alymer to realize that Georgiana was “the best that earth could offer”, and by trying to fix just one insignificant flaw he took her for granted. Oryx and Crake portrays this situation in a similar light as well. Near the end of the story we are introduced to Crake’s invention, the BlyssPluss Pill which ultimately is an attempt to create Crake’s ideal version of the perfect human race. The pill reverses ageing, protects all from STDs, and also enhances libido which eliminates the jealousy and violence that can accompany sexual relationships. Ironically, the BlyssPluss Pill results in the near destruction of human kind by spreading a fatal virus across the world with the exception of Jimmy, and the “Crakers”, …show more content…
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche explains in The Birth of Tragedy that there are two forces in life, Apollonian and Dionysian. Apollonian refers to the Greek god Apollo and the force for us to live a life of calm and logical thinking. Whereas Dionysian refers to the Greek god Dionysus and the opposing force of emotion, chaos, and impulse. Throughout our lives we feel these forces to either sides, and have often tried to dictate which side is morally correct, causing those who cave in to the Dionysian force to be shamed. In Oryx and Crake there are the two main characters, Jimmy and Crake, who are noticeably complete opposites of each other. Crake tends to lean towards the Apollonian lifestyle as Crake is full of wisdom and logical thinking, and tends to lack the emotion and impulse caused by the Dionysian force. However, Jimmy tends to be more affected by the Dionysian force and is pulled into the impulses of alcohol and sexual desires. An example of the differences between the two are demonstrated when Jimmy falls in love with Oryx and is devastated by Crake murdering her that Jimmy falls into a deep pit of emotion and subsides to alcohol to cope with the agony. Meanwhile, Crake uses Oryx just for sex while avoiding the emotions that accompany sexual relationships, and in his creation of the Crakers he tries to eliminate these emotions all together by programming the
Hawthorne's "The Birth-Mark" deals with the discrepancy between the strength of nature and the strength of science. Hawthorne's protagonist, Alymer, represents the world of science, whereas the strength of nature is represented by the birth-mark on Alymer's wife Georgiana's face. Alymer becomes obsessed with her birth-mark and, using his scientific knowledge, attempts to remove it. In this essay, I will show that Alymer's obsession results from his scientifically influenced way of thinking in categories, and also from his arrogant perfectionism, two character traits which are shown in this excerpt from the text. These character traits interfere with his moral conscientiousness and eventually caquse his downfall at the end of the story.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birth-Mark,” Aylmer, a married scientist, believes himself to be above nature. Acting on these beliefs, he prepares
Hawthorne. “The Birthmark.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. R.V. Cassill, Richard Bausch. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 648-660.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel.”The Birth-Mark.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. 11th ed. New York: Norton, 2013. 340-351. Print.
Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake." Studies in the Novel 43.4 (2011): 470. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
################################# Part 3 ######################################## Nature doesn’t intend for things to be perfect, if it was the contrary we wouldn’t be considered humans. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birth-Mark portrays the story of a scientist, Aylmer, so self-absorbed, and supercilious in his own power of science that he would go so far as to remove the intentional “imperfect” birthmark that Nature has bestowed upon his wife’s face. “Cannot you remove this little, little mark… Is this beyond your power… Noblest, dearest, tenderest wife… doubt not my power” (216). Hawthorne uses the birthmark as a symbol to represent the imperfection that is within the human species, the mark also draws out the imperfection of those who have encountered it by displaying their tendencies to overlook the flawless beauty of Georgiana and focus solely on her birthmark, “Some fastidious persons… affirmed that the bloody hand… quite destroyed Georgiana’s beauty… Aylmer discovered that this was the case with himself” (214). Nature’s symbol is a paradigm of omnipotence. To simply put, Nature created the grand design of human life, and governs over our society but allows us as people to do as we please with our lives, so long as we do not alter with Nature’s creation, “…Our great creative Mother… She permits us, indeed to mar, but seldom to mend, and like a jealous patentee, on no account to make” (217). Despite Nature’s intention, being the pompous scientist that he is, Aylmer believes himself to be something more than a microcosm of Nature’s creation. In other words, because of his unparalleled ability in the subject science, like other...
The question “What makes us who we are?” has perplexed many scholars, scientists, and theorists over the years. This is a question that we still may have not found an answer to. There are theories that people are born “good”, “evil”, and as “blank slates”, but it is hard to prove any of these theories consistently. There have been countless cases of people who have grown up in “good” homes with loving parents, yet their destiny was to inflict destruction on others. On the other hand, there have been just as many cases of people who grew up on the streets without the guidance of a parental figure, but they chose to make a bad situation into a good one by growing up to do something worthwhile for mankind. For this reason, it is nearly impossible to determine what makes a human being choose the way he/she behaves. Mary Shelley (1797-1851) published a novel in 1818 to voice her opinions about determining personality and the consequences and repercussions of alienation. Shelley uses the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau to make her point. Rousseau proposed the idea that man is essentially "good" in the beginning of life, but civilization and education can corrupt and warp a human mind and soul. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (hereafter referred to as Frankenstein), Victor Frankenstein’s creature with human characteristics shows us that people are born with loving, caring, and moral feelings, but the creature demonstrates how the influence of society can change one’s outlook of others and life itself by his reactions to adversity at “birth”, and his actions after being alienated and rejected by humans several times.
It is hard to say that one is human and perfect at the same time. Human beings are not capable of achieving perfection; if that would be so, humans would stop being humans. By nature the human race is full of flaws, some appearing as early as in the womb. From defects in the body, to defects in the mind, to the mistakes that one makes in quotidian life, it is impossible to deny that human imperfection exists. To try to manipulate humans into perfection is not only impossible, but it takes away the very essence of being a human being. The short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, illustrates this teaching through the character of Aylmer, an ambitious and devoted scientist who is appalled by his wife Georgiana’s birthmark, believing it to be a perceivable sign of her human flaws and eagerly waits to remove it from her cheek. This story raises riveting questions such as, what is humanity all about, can human beings ever achieve perfection through science, is Hawthorn attacking science or a wider issue, and more significantly, should science take the place of God. Through the use of symbolism in “The Birthmark”, Hawthorn indirectly implies that imperfection is an essential part of being human and that science should not interfere; thus he is hinting his personal views toward science and its limitations over nature.
In The Birth of Tragedy, Friedrich Nietzsche puts the Moirai above all knowledge and in control of the destiny of all ...
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”, is the story of a crazed scientist whose strive for perfection not only leads to the death of his beautiful wife, but the attempt of man to have power over nature. It follows the story of Aylmer and his obsession with removing the birthmark off his beautiful wife, Georgiana. “His unnatural fixation to his wife’s birthmark even consumes him in his sleep as he dreams of cutting it off much like scraping an apple off its skin.” (Snodgrass 29). This narrative explores the themes of perfection, and the conflict between science and the natural world.
The. Thompson, W. R.. “Aminadab in Hawthorne’s Birthmark.” Modern Language Notes 70.6 (1955): 413-415. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Web. The Web.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “The Birthmark” was on the darker side of the Romantic Movement, but it was still a love story. There was a love of science and obsessing over beauty and perfection. Aylmer love Georgiana and she loved him. She was willing to die for him, and he was willing to experiment on her, even if meant losing her. Hawthorne put himself into his work, expressing fears, and emotions that was hard to put into words. His surroundings impacted the outcome of his
Yet they have not fully considered the implications of its underlying philosophy for many of the social and ethical concerns that dominate his canon and, importantly, for his aesthetic.” I found this article extremely hard to read and get through although some things throughout the article were quite interesting. In my opinion, the writer, Mary E. Rucker, did a fine job at staying on point throughout the entire article covering all the points she was making. I do agree with the interpretation that Mary E. Rucker did of the story “The Birth-Mark.” She does a good job going in depth on the character “Aylmer,” who is a brilliant yet misguided scientist and the protagonist of the story. Aylmer’s experiments and creations have made him famous in the scientific community. Although his intentions are good, Aylmer is a selfish and cruel man whose delusions ultimately kill his wife. Ultimately, this article did help me to understand “The Birth-Mark,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, somewhat
Oscar Wilde, an acclaimed Irish Poet, novelist, dramatist and critic once aptly commented, “Men become old, but they never become good”. The philosophical aspect of this quote relies on the basis that human beings are inherently malevolent. Through his pessimistic perspective, Wilde clearly captures the ill-disposed mindset of mankind. Moreover, there are various deductive arguments that discredit the optimistic depiction of human nature. One of the prime examples can be found in Kurt Vonnegut’s literature. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle, through the illustration of his characters, the author symbolizes the four elements of human fallibility.
Nathaniel Hawthorne did not do much explaining when it came to the characters involved in "The Birthmark". He did not portray the main characters: Aylmer, Georgiana, and Ambidab as human beings, but rather as symbols. While analyzing the story "The Birthmark", I have achieved some great insight of the author 's articulate writing style; especially, his style of making characters have symbolic meaning. In this story, Hawthorne uses his characters to symbolize specific things. In this ambiguous, short story, the three characters each symbolize Science, Beauty, and Nature. Each character represents an unusual force that has equally worked against each other.