A Comparison Of Dr. Heidegger's Experiment And The Birthmark

In The Birthmark, The Minister’s Black Veil, and Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment, author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a character in each to contribute to the overall theme of the story. This character knows something that the others do not. In The Birthmark, it is the servant Aminadab who knows something that the two main characters do not know. Even as a supporting character, Aminadab contributes arguably the most to the development of the theme of the story. The character in The Minister’s Black Veil who knows what the outcome of the scenario will be is the main character Reverend Mr. Hooper. He is the one conducting the experiment, but he appears to know from the beginning what the result will be. His knowledge of this greatly adds to the theme

Heidegger himself. Dr. Heidegger’s intelligence on what will occur is necessary to discovering the underlying theme of the story. These characters in each of these stories who know more about the truth than the others do are absolutely imperative to the author’s intended message. In The Birthmark, Aylmer is married to Georgiana, who has a birthmark on her cheek. Aminadab is the servant for Aylmer and therefore needs to obey him and do as he says. One way in which he does this is helping Aylmer with the experiment and procedure that he is going to use to remove Georgiana’s birthmark. Aylmer has become obsessed with removing the birthmark to ideally make Georgiana perfect. Aminadab appears to know what is going to happen. He makes this quick remark, “If she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark” (4). This comment shows how Aminadab doesn’t agree with Aylmer’s decision and thinks that the outcome may prove catastrophic for the married couple. The main theme of the story is science versus nature. The science part comes from Aylmer, who uses a potion to try to perfect Georgiana, but that obviously goes horribly wrong.

Heidegger’s Experiment, where Dr. Heidegger makes an intelligent decision because of his knowledge of what the true outcome will most likely be. Dr. Heidegger is an old scientist who invites four old and venerable friends over to be test subjects of his experiment. He explains to them that the water from the Fountain of Youth that he possesses can make them younger. The four friends drink some of the water, which leads them to believe that they are getting younger, so they ask for more. Personally, I do not believe that the “water” can actually make them younger. My belief is that the “water” from the Fountain of Youth is actually some type of alcoholic beverage because the friends show signs of drunkenness after drinking some. The major theme in this Hawthorne short story is the impossible and foolish quest for perfection. The most fascinating part of the story was how Dr. Heidegger didn’t drink any of the alcohol. He let his friends do the drinking, which shows how he knew what drinking the beverage would do to him. The friends want to become younger and return to their glory days to become more perfect. Their philosophy is that the younger you are, the more perfect you are. Later, the liquid spills and the four friends “return” to their old age. Going along with my belief, I think that their drunkenness was wearing off. Either way, they had come back to their