The Vanity Of Science In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Recommended: Impossible beauty standards

Sandra Alegria
English 1B
Prof. D. Bañuelos
January 17, 2018 The Vanity of Science Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Often times scientific advancements attempt to recreate perfection and disregard nature’s way of being. “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the disconnection and battle between science and Mother Nature. Hawthorne creates the character, Aylmer, to show the science side of the spectrum and to show the extent it could go to. The protagonist, Aylmer, believes that with science anything can be done. Aylmer is a very intelligent and famous scientist who has worked in various fields and on various projects. Although he is very successful He is consumed with his idea of scientific perfection and he lets it fog up his vision of his wife. His wife, Georgina, is described as being basically perfect except for a small red mark on her cheek that burdens her husband. The …show more content…

Not much is said about Aminadab, he is just seen as a servant of Aylmer who lurks behind him. Aminadab is large while Aylmer is slender. Aminadab and Aylmer are described as complete opposites. Aminadab serves as a character foil for Aylmer to show how heartless Aylmer can be. Hawthorne describes Aminadab to have this “indescribable earthliness” that contrasts to Aylmer who is seen as unearthly. Aminadab doesn’t see anything wrong with Georgina unlike Aylmer. This is seen when Aminadab says “If she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark.”(Hawthorne) Unlike Aylmer, Aminadab sees Georgina as perfect already while Aylmer thinks that she could be perfect if she didn’t have her birthmark. Conor Walsh states, “"Aylmer, unlike Aminadab, has lost sight of his earthiness...[and] for all his intellectual and spiritual qualities, does not have wisdom" (260). Walsh explains how these two characters are unalike and represent two different things. They represent earthly vs.

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