The Criticism Of Symbolism In The Birthmark, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

In Nathaniel’s Hawthorns short story “The Birthmark”, shows the lust for perfection and the need to create a perfect being. Hawthorne creates this message through the story of a scientist by the name of Aylmer who put down his test tube to pursue love. He meets the love of his life Georgiana, but she has one flaw. Upon her left cheek rests a blush red birthmark resembling that of a small human hand. Aylmer becomes obsessed with removing it and making her perfect, by using his science. Throughout the Reading of “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne uses symbolism to create deep imagery to illustrate the imperfections of being human because that’s what makes us who we are.
For example, Hawthorne’s uses symbolism when he states, “The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mold, degrading them into kindred with the lowest,

In this manner, selecting it as the symbol of his wife 's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death” (8). This definitely describes how crazy Aylmer is about this sin of a mark upon her face. Throughout the story Hawthorn uses this strategy to provide a vivid image and description of his characters to communicate in depth with the situation. Hawthorne’s also uses symbolism in the quote, “To explain this conversation it must be mentioned that in the center of Georgiana 's left cheek there was a singular mark, deeply interwoven, as it were, with the texture and substance of her face. In the usual state of her complexion a healthy though delicate bloom the mark wore a tint of deeper crimson, which imperfectly defined its shape amid the surrounding rosiness. When she blushed it gradually became more indistinct, and finally vanished amid the triumphant rush