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symbolism and ambiguity in Hawthorne's work
nathaniel hawthorne and symbolism
nathaniel hawthorne and symbolism
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The fact that everyone has goals and ambitions is what makes us all similar to each other, yet we differ by our motivations and willingness to sacrifice to attain those aspirations. This concept of ambition and motivation is depicted through the conflicts of the short stories “A Wall of Fire Rising” by Danticat, and “The Birth-Mark” by Hawthorne which stem from Guy and Aylmer’s impossible desires, respectively. Although Guy and Aylmer desire for unreachable ambitions at the cost of losing something important, both protagonists have different insecurities that drive them. Aylmer and Guy wishes to achieve their goals, yet their desires come with unexpected consequences. Aylmer urges his wife Georgiana to remove the hand-shaped birthmark on her …show more content…
Guy wishes for freedom and a new beginning, an escape from a struggling lifestyle. He reveals his dreams to his wife Lili, saying that, “Sometimes, I just want to take that big balloon and ride it up in the air. I’d like to sail off somewhere and keep floating until I got to a really nice place with a nice plot of land where I could be something new” (Danticat 236). Guy struggled to support his family in his current life which lead him to view the hot air balloon as a path to a new life. He believed that the hot air balloon would fly him to new opportunities that would free him from his hardships. On the following day, Guy manages to fly the hot air balloon and everyone at the sugar mill, including Guy’s family, witnesses the spectacular event. However, Guy suddenly starts climbing over the balloon’s basket and, “Within seconds, Guy was in the air hurtling down towards the crowd… his blood immediately soaking the landing spot” (Danticat 238). After having a short taste of escape from his struggles, Guy realized that the balloon could not offer him the true freedom he desired. Instead, the hot air balloon made Guy recognize the harsh realities of life, that is, the only way to escape his stressful life is to commit suicide. Desperate to escape, Guy choose to abandon his family and his own life in exchange for this alleged
However, Aylmer’s plan does not go as intended, and after utilizing several different methods, he only faintly removes the mark and unintentionally kills his wife. In order to prove his supernatural state, Aylmer attempts to remove a birth-mark from his wife’s face; the consequences of these actions prove that regardless of one’s ideas regarding nature, attempting to conquer it will ultimately result in devastation.
. The amount of stress Guy has faces from the extreme poverty and lack of resources to the lack of work and money, he can obtain to give to his family leads to many stressful choices to make. The stressful events Guy faces is inestimable, compared to the amount of events that bring him happiness. In the story Guy had a dream where he explains how he “just want[s] to take that big balloon and ride it up in the air” (Danticat 347). Guy’s dream to fly off into the skies of Haiti foreshadows to what will end up happening to Guy. Guy is facing a lot stress either from his family or the living conditions in Haiti, which will end up leaving him to try to escape. After Guy reveals his dream, Lili, his wife, questions “If you [Guy] were to take that balloon and fly away, would you take me and the boy?” (Danticat 347). By inquiring if Guy is going to leave his family illustrates that Guy
Alymer is an older scientist who marries a beautiful woman much younger then himself. Even though Alymer finds his young bride beautiful, he still says that she is “marked.” Upon Georgiana’s left cheek is a birthmark. The birthmark is small, red, and in the shape of a hand. Alymer believes that this mark takes away from her beauty; even though many other people, men and women alike, thought it to be charming; and those who did not, just “wished it away.”
In the short story The Birth-mark, Aylmer: scientist, philosopher and perfectionist, is married to Georgiana, a woman of unthinkable beauty and possibly the closest woman to ever reach perfection. However, the tiny hand shaped mark that lay on the surface of her cheek aggravates Aylmer and he thinks day and night of how he may get rid of it in order to help Georgiana reach the perfection that he longs for. The actions that he proceeds to take, prove that he is indeed the villain and the one to blame for Georgiana’s death. He does so by tearing her down with crude words, making Georgiana feel insecure and self-conscious about her outward appearance as well as keeping his failed experiments a secret to her.
Men and women will always strive for perfection whether it is in themselves or in each other. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegory “The Birthmark, “ the audience is informed of a young couple, Aylmer and Georgiana. Then soon transpires into a husband's obsession with his wife's flaw, “The birthmark.” The young husband gets too wrapped up in fixing his wife that he forgets to show her attention and love. Incapable of feeling anything but determination to make his wife perfect; he uses a potion to remove the birthmark. The potion successfully begins to fade the birthmark however, the potion also fades his wife's life as well. . Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to give “The Birthmark” a deeper meaning, foreshadowing to build suspense, and third
The birthmark is a compelling story of one man’s obsession with his scientific ability to produce perfection. Aylmer, a scientist, is married to a Georgiana who is a very beautiful woman. Not long after getting married Georgiana’s birthmark, which is in the shape of a tiny handprint on her check, really begins to bother Aylmer. He sees it as a flaw in an other wise perfect woman. Georgiana knows that her birthmark disgusts him and, having grown up not bother at all by it, begins to hate it herself. He asks if she has ever considered having it removed. This is not something she has considered since other people in her life, especially men, have always seen it as a “charm”. Aylmer being an amazing scientist almost sees himself as god and feels that he has the power to remove this imperfection. Georgiana, bothered by her husband’s reaction to her birthmark, agrees to let him try to rid her of it. She is taken to his laboratory and he immediately begins to experiment. After she finds Aylmer’s book of experiments, which all end in failure, she for the first time, has some doubt about how this will work and confronts him. He reassures her and begins to try a multitude of methods, with the help of his assistant Aminadab, which do not work. At one point, there are several experiments going on and he even refers to himself as a “sorcerer” (Hawthorne 232). Finally, he produces a potion, which she drinks, and the birthmark begins to disappear! Slowly though, even as the experiment is working, Georgiana is fading away. He finds that ultimately, the birthmark was connected to her very soul and in his trying to act god like he actually kills her. Really this short story just proves that science has its limits and no man should try to act like G...
The scene in question opens with Georgiana asking Aylmer to recall if he had dreamt of the birthmark. Georgiana’s high self-consciousness and shame felt from Aylmer’s horrified stares motivates her to confront Aylmer. At first, Aylmer denies the suggestion but then decides to admit he had dreamt of it. Before Aylmer can reveal his nightmare, Georgiana expresses a desire to rid herself of the mark. In doing this, Georgiana describes the birthmark using negative terms such as “fatal birthmark” and “stain.” Prior to her request, Georgiana had described the birthmark as “a charm.” This shift in perspective is key to both the plot of the story and its implications for
The style in which characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby conduct their relationships shows how ambition and lack of it causes destruction.
...and fly away, pursuing his dream of destiny. As the balloon rises to significant heights, Guy climbs outside of the balloon and jumps. Guy will no longer suffer from the state of depression because of inabilities of being able to provide for his family and poverty he once faced. The worries Guy once faced are no longer his worries. He will always be remembered as a good family man that wanted the best for his family.
One of the main themes discussed in this story is perfection which was evident by Aylmer obsessing over making his wife perfect by removing the birthmark off
Every man before has always complimented Georgiana on her sweet imperfection. People would tell her all the time that true beauty was in that little blemish. Aylmer, being the man of Science wanted to change what nature had created. Typically, we all know better than to go against Nature, but not Aylmer. Georgiana finally agreed to let her husband remove the birthmark due to a frightening dream Aylmer had encountered. Aylmer started working on a potion to remove Georgiana 's birthmark. As soon as Georgiana sipped the potion, she suddenly falls into a deep coma-like state. The birthmark magically disappears from Georgina 's face. However, as the birthmark fades away, so does Georgina 's life. Hawthorne uses Georgiana 's character to symbolize beauty in this story. Georgiana is already made perfect in the eyes of Nature and all other men, expect Aylmer. Aylmer, representing Science, tries to change Georgiana 's beauty that Nature has created. Aylmer was successful in removing the birthmark, but unsuccessful in keeping Georgiana alive. Aylmer was too intertwined in Science to realize that Georgiana was perfectly made by Nature. Nature paid Aylmer back for trying to correct Georgiana 's face by taking the life of his beloved
In the 'Birthmark';, a story that is more than a century old Georgiana and her husband Alymar are searching for physical perfection, much like we do today. In addition they manifested their obsession with physical perfection much like we do today. Georgiana was born with a crimson birthmark in the shape of a hand. This birthmark was on her cheek. One day Georgiana discovers that this birthmark 'shocks'; her husband and he is deeply bothered by it. Georgiana finally realizes this after Alymar says 'Georgiana . . . has it ever occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?'; After discussing the birthmark several times with her husband, a talented scientist, Georgiana decides to have it removed by him. It is never stated in full detail exactly how Alymar is going to remove this birthmark, we assume that it will be a surgical procedure. At one point in the story Georgina says to her husband 'If there be the remote possibility of it .
Georgiana is a fine wife, and a seemingly beautiful one, too. Aylmer expresses deep affection towards his wife, but it is hinted from the beginning that his two passions in life will eventually have to come in conflict. The meaning of the birthmark shifts suddenly in the end, but in the beginning, it is viewed as Georgiana’s ability to be imperfect and to sin. It is in the shape of a human hand because an angel supposedly has a grip on her, linking her to the other world. That is most men’s reactions, but some women viewed it as disastrous to her beauty. Although Aylmer is not initially concerned with it, it eventually gets to him, obsessively occupying himself with it. He would stare at it whenever he had a chance, and tried to be candid about it. When it became apparent that Aylmer was quite concerned with this, Georgiana asked him to elaborate. He was more disgusted by the mark than Georgiana assessed. Her most significant reply to him was “You cannot love what shocks you!”
Though she consents to having her birthmark removed, Georgiana’s initial reaction to Aylmer’s shock at her facial defect is to redden “with momentary anger” before dissolving into tears (645); though her secondary reaction fits into the stereotypical female response to a physical critique, the fact that her initial reaction is anger implies that she is more than merely a docile housewife. However, her actions still reflect those of a docile housewife; when he confines her to a dimly lit apartment, she acquiesces solemnly and quietly spends her days doing as Aylmer