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The birthmark nathaniel hawthorne argumentative essay
The birthmark by nathaniel hawthorne analysis
Hawthorne birthmark essay
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Perfectionism:
Perfectionism can be defined as a character temperament recognizable by extremely high benchmarks of performance and pressure to strive towards attaining the impossible. Perfectionism is, beyond the shadow of a doubt an important issue related to the topic human enhancement, with the idea being brought up severally in many of the discussions, more often than not, as a means reminding us of the consequences we are more than likely to face as a result of embracing the coming new age of technology.
Parental Reproductive Rights:
Reproductive rights simply represent one’s legal rights and liberties pertaining to their reproduction. Definitely one of the more delicate topics associated with human enhancement, especially as stated
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In Sandel’s The Case Against Perfection, there was a discussion on the notion of putting effort into an endeavor versus the ease that comes with accomplishing the same task due to natural gift (Sandel,25-29) and it was concluded that we in general as people tend to prefer and even “inflate the moral significance of effort and striving” (Sandel,28) in an attempt to belittle natural giftedness. Having acknowledged this bias in our nature, one is left with very few means to explain these conflicting behaviors. The idea of an ungratefulness for the given and rejection of the natural in favor of pursuing what we perceive as a better alternative, relies on the assumption that we are greedy and perpetually unsatisfiable in nature, an idea that is adopted in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”. Here the main character who desires to achieve total perfection through his wife, whom some could consider to be the embodiment of natural perfection, ends up killing her. This could be taken as warning against the pursuit of perfection, which because of its subjectivity, is actually nonexistent and thus can
There is a thin line between love and hate. Love is having a strong affection for another person, place, or thing and sometimes, it makes people do crazy things. Whether it is a woman chopping off hair due to a bad breakup or placing permanent tattoos on the body for commitment, one will go to major extremes to satisfy their passion for love. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, “The Birthmark,” a psychotic scientist strives for perfection, not only leading to the death of his beautiful wife, but overall attempting to have power and control over nature. Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism and foreshadowing to display the thematic complexities of mortality and human imperfection that the birthmark personifies psychologically and symbolically in the relationship between scientist and his loving test subject.
In the short story, “The Birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the characters, foreshadowing, symbolism, and other rhetorical devices to alert people of the consequences of man having the power to control and alter nature. Additionally, through his skillful usage of diction, Hawthorne warns of the effects of seeking perfection through science. In “The Birthmark”, Aylmer, a man devoted entirely to science, marries Georgiana, a beautiful young woman with a single imperfection. Georgiana’s imperfection bears the resemblance of a tiny crimson hand and is visible on her left cheek. The birthmark becomes the object of Aylmer’s obsession and he resolves to use his scientific prowess to correct “what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work.” He succeeds in removing the birthmark; however, he unfortunately causes his wife’s death in the process. Through “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne suggests that nothing paradisiacal can exist on this earth, and that being imperfect is just part of being human.
Internationally, issues revolving around the female body and reproduction are extremely controversial. For a woman, her body is a very private matter. At the same time, however, a woman's body and her reproduction rights are the center of attention in many public debates. Several questions regarding women's reproductive rights remain unanswered. How much control do women have over their bodies? What kind of rules can be morally imposed upon women? And who controls the bodies of women? Although the public continues to debate these topics, certain conclusions can been made concerning women and their reproductive rights. An undeniable fact is that government has a large degree of control over female reproductive organs. All around the world, time and time again, several national governments have implemented policies, enacted laws, and denied women control over their reproductive organs. Several governments have crossed the border between intimate and public matters concerning women's reproductive organs, by making laws about contraceptives, abortion, and family planning programs.
But then her eyes sought Aylmer’s face with trouble and anxiety. She then said to him ‘Dearest Aylmer, I’m dying,’ and she died.” (Hawthorne 324). Perfectionism is something everyone should try to avoid. It can never bring comfort, instead it adds to the
################################# 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...
Michael Sandel is a distinguished political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University. Sandel is best known for his best known for his critique of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice. While he is an acclaimed professor if government, he has also delved deeply into the ethics of biotechnology. At Harvard, Sandel has taught a course called "Ethics, Biotechnology, and the Future of Human Nature" and from 2002 to 2005 he served on the President’s Council on Bioethics (Harvard University Department of Government, 2013). In 2007, Sandel published his book, The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering, in which he explains unethical implications biotechnology has and may have in the near future regarding genetic engineering.
With the progression of modern biotechnology, there is much contentious debate affecting ongoing developmental affairs. Controversy aligns itself with cautious thoughts on the appropriate amount of enhancement that can be applied before it undermines the “gifted character of human power and achievement (Sandel).” Michael Sandel, author of The Case Against Perfection argues through political discourse that the passion to master all of the science dominion through the use of such technology is largely flawed by our interpretations of perfection.
A telling moment about humanity’s dissatisfaction comes when Georgiana reads the volume written by Aylmer. Despite the fact that the book was “rich with achievements that had won renown for its author, [it] was yet as melancholy a record as ever a hand had penned” (Hawthorne 350). The aims set for himself by the scientist cannot be achieved. It is as though he sets out to achieve the unachievable because of an unconscious addiction to dissatisfaction. Before the conclusion of the novel, he has nearly achieved all that he has set out to; however, when he seeks to rid a mortal of her mortality, or at least of the distinctive mark upon her frame that represents her mortality, he fails. It ultimately matters very little whether or not he succeeds or fails because he will not be satisfied no matter what.
Often billed as a story of an unsuccessful attempt to beat Nature at her own game, “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne certainly lends itself to a somewhat deeper interpretation. Over the years many scholars have noted that the story of Aylmer and Georgiana is riddled with traditional Hawthorne themes such as the evils of selfishness and pride, coupled with an element of solitariness (Arvin xvi). However, we are want to consider whether Aylmer’s motives in this story are purely selfish. Does this man perhaps deserve a touch of human sympathy?
In Michael Sandels’s paper, The Case against Perfection, he argues against genetic enhancement. Sande’ls argues that the use of bioengineering, and genetic enhancement comprises individual’s talents and abilities. He reasons that without the prevalent use of genetic engineering technologies currently, individuals have peace of mind that’s faults may be simply due to their genetic makeup, something which is out of our control. Additionally, Sandel, compares genetic engineering technology, to old eugenics. Sandel, ultimately views any form genetic engineering morally impermissible stating “the impulse genetically engineer a more perfect generation is still morally problematic, even if we imagine that such engineering is done with any correction
Although “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in the mid-1800s, its themes and ideas are still a part of society today. The 19th century was a time of change, just as this, the millennium, is a time of great change. Hawthorne’s ideas about science, beauty, and life still play a major part in our lives, despite many improvements. Even today, people try to play “God” and change things that nature has put in place. It’s human curiosity; how much can be changed, how many things can be perfected? The themes in this short story-- religion, gender, and science--were relevant in Hawthorne’s day, and still are many years later. The theme of religion is hidden in the desire to erase the birthmark. In trying to “perfect” Georgiana, Aylmer is testing God’s creation. He doesn’t believe that how God created Georgiana is perfect, and he is obsessive about making her his idea of perfection. Aminadab, Aylmer’s servant, tries to tell his master to leave the birthmark alone. He tells Aylmer that if Georgiana were his wife, he wouldn’t worry about something so trivial. However, the scientific ideas on Aylmer’s mind won’t let him forget the birthmark. He believes he can remove it with the help of science. Even so, science has no part in creation, according to Hawthorne, and Georgiana’s death after the removal of the birthmark signifies that theory. Her death is Hawthorne’s way of showing that judgment and perfection are God’s duti...
...vacy, bodily integrity, and self-determination until the child is brought forth from the woman 's body” (ACLU). Until a fetus is brought forth from a woman’s body it is only a potential person, and thus has no rights whatsoever.
In 2000 the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) defined reproductive rights as "the basic rights of couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children; to have the information and means to do so; and to have the right to make decisions concerning reproduction, free of discrimination, coercion or violence."[1] Traditionally society defines reproductive rights in the context of one's being able to make decisions about his or her own reproduction; other individuals, unrelated to that person, were not considered as being involved in the decision. With the onset of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 1978, reproductive processes have become more complicated. For example, in gestational surrogacy a surrogate mother, not genetically related to the embryo, is brought into the process of reproduction. This technique allows infertile couples to carry a child or children in the womb of a carrier, rather than in the womb of the biological mother.[2] As a result of this ethically controversial technology, society must modify its reproductive rights. In vitro fertilization (IVF) alone will not solve people's reproductive problems and protect everybody's rights. Society, therefore, must distinguish whose rights-the rights of biological parents or those of the surrogate mothers-should be protected.
The battle for women’s reproductive rights is similar to the struggle for African Americans to have “the full liberty of speech in public and private” as Dredd Scott found out in 1865 when he petitioned for his personal freedom from slavery and lost. Moreover women’s reproductive rights are akin to defending the rights of racial equality, civil rights, desegregation, same sex marriage, and universal human rights. Every individual should have the right to choose how to live his or her private life in today’s society without governmental interference or control.
It is saddening to see humans of the female gender, who find themselves in a situation that requires introducing a new life into the world; to abort such a precious gift. Many may wonder how these poor, innocent, unborn children are then discarded after the abortion procedure. One cannot fathom the reason of these gruesome murders that happens within these medical facilities. Babies are disposed in the red waste bins of these facilities, and later incinerated. Some may either be flushed down garbage disposals or even be sold off for research purposes. The issue of abortion is not just a social one, but also a human rights issue among the unborn children. I believe if the human rights of these children has been violated, then all other rights of humans are certainly meaningless.