The Birthmark Symbolism

The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story originally published in the 1843 edition of The Pioneer. The story looks at the obsession people have with human perfection. The main characters in the story are Aylmer, the intelligent and well-known scientist, and his beautiful new wife Georgiana, whose only imperfection is the birthmark on her cheek. The symbols such as the birthmark itself used in Hawthorne’s story are not only used to represent objects, they are also used to depict the themes within the short story. The symbolic significance of the birthmark ties into the theme of human dissatisfaction with perfection. It is nature's will to set natural boundaries that prevent man from achieving perfection. In order to be human, you must have some type of flaws and imperfections.

The most prevalent symbol in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark,” and the one that causes Aylmer to put perfection against dissatisfaction, is the birthmark itself. The birthmark stands for more than just physical imperfection. On a physical level, it stands for what scientists now refer to as nature in the “nature vs. nurture” debate. Georgiana was born with it. It is a part of her body and who she is. It also stands for nature in another sense of the word. It is nature’s “hand” against man’s, against Aylmer’s. We see that when Aylmer tries to cut the birthmark out, but instead the birthmarks disappearance kills Georgiana. On a subjective spiritual level, it is a symbol much like a mirror: it reflects the heart or mind of the beholder. It is on this level that the most analysis can be found, for the different interpretations of the birthmark show us the differences in each characters personality and the result of these differences. Finally, on an obje...

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... march. While this march has written great adventures into our journey, it may be our doom as well. While this lesson is powerful in itself, there is another more powerful and more deeply embedded lesson in the story: that of nature’s ability to connect. Nature connects the elements that make up the earth, it connects people and their environment. Most importantly, however, nature connects us with ourselves.

Just as Georgiana died when the hand that nature gave her was taken away from her, we will also suffer if we take ourselves too far from nature. At this moment in history, with climate change, pollution and population on an exponential rise, Hawthorne’s story is as relevant as ever. It reminds us that while science can serve us as a tool, it can neither bring us perfection nor take us away from the nature of which we belong and of which we are a part of.