Chapter 21 Marked For Greatness

All these characters had different personalities and each character was lovable in their own way.

This may represent the fact that we are born the way god wants us to be, and we really should accept people as they are. This acceptance was something that Aylmer could not handle because of his personality. In The Birthmark Georgiana is afraid of her husband, whereas the all of the people ended up being afraid of the minister.

characters are in many ways divergent, and it is in fact these traits that reveal the most about

Once Aylmer had become consumed by the idea of this “imperfection,” it impacted his ability to function and live with a sense of normality. An example of this “anxiety-fueled obsessive thought” can be found on page 12 of Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown & Other Short Stories” where the narrator says, “…but seeing her otherwise so perfect, he found this one defect grow more and more intolerable with every moment of their united lives.” It becomes apparent that Aylmer is going to continuously be plagued by this birthmark by dealing with crippling anxiety as it becomes “more and more intolerable.” His obsession continues to grow as the story progresses and becomes a much more serious issue. This can also be seen on page 12 where it is written, “With the morning twilight, Aylmer opened his eyes upon his wife’s face and recognized the symbol of imperfection; and when they sat together at the evening hearth his eyes wandered stealthily to her cheek, and beheld, flickering with the blaze of the wood-fire, the spectral hand that

Lebanese Author Sandra Chami Kassis said, “Don’t brag about being perfect… imperfections are what make you attractive” (online). Most people believe that their imperfections make them much less attractive which may cause them to develop diffidence and insecurities. Generally, when people think of imperfections they think of physical features such as a facial birthmark, a narrow nose, thin hair, and big feet, but why do people spend so much time focusing on those things that set them apart from others? It is believed by many that everyone on earth is born with a specific plan and purpose created for them, and with that purpose must come the substantial appearance of individuality which will inevitably include bodily flaws. In his essay, “The Parting Breath of the Now-Perfect Woman,” Chester McCovey discusses the underlying meaning of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “The Birthmark” in hopes of enlightening readers that all people have imperfections. In today’s society, people try so hard to look identical to those who are held on a high pedestal for being beautiful that some even resort to changing their body parts such as their lips and waist-lines as means to remove or “fix” any visible imperfections, taking away their individuality. It is vital for everyone to embrace their imperfections and learn who they truly are in spite of them; therefore, parents must teach children that their imperfections make them who they are as individuals.

The archetype of Georgiana can be seen as the perfect women, however, her birthmark acts as a symbol of imperfection and mortality that keeps her from fully pleasing her husband. Georgiana is described as beautiful and perfect except for one flaw, the birthmark. “It was the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite, or that their perfection must be wrought by toil and pain” (Hawthorne 220). The hand-shaped birthmark can be seen as her being touched by nature and acts as a symbol of imperfection and mortality in humans. The symbol of the birth-mark standing for mortality can be seen again towards the end

simple birthmark where the obsession is because he perceives it in a more symbolic way. Georgiana has often been told that the mark on her cheek is a “charm” but Aylmer does not think so where he said, “No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this slightest possible defect, which

It somehow contains the concept of beauty, and in the story it's easy to notice that many man found this birthmark attractive, and so did Georgiana, but looking at her husband, who obviously hates this mark, she starts to believe that it's ugly. The beauty is very subjective; it was created by people, and can be changed by them. Thus, it is impossible to be perfect for there always will be those who can find flaws in any creature. Moreover, it is known that 'Perfection leaves no room for improvement". Thus, flaws are part of human beings, and the desire to go against it is

While the above points may be valid and prove a point, nothing really shows who someone is more than what he or she may do. The character’s

By looking at symbolism in The Birthmark, the reader can interpret that the birthmark is a symbol for imperfection and mortality which is not obvious to most people. This is important because it turns the birthmark into something all readers can relate to since no one is perfect. Georgiana’s birthmark was “the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions” (Hawthorne 12). As stated before, nothing is perfect, Nature has a flaw on everything and Georgiana’s was her birthmark. Her husband, Aylmer, notices the birthmark and also sees it as an imperfection even though other men would often tell her it was a charm. “No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne 11). Aylmer at first is the only one, other from jealous women, to point out her birthmark as an imperfection but his constant talk began to make her believe she was in fact flawed. This is important because it ultimately leads to the death of Georgiana.

In this book, Jeffrey Ogbar talks about the beginning of rap, where it started, some of the artists of this genre and some of the controversial topics the artists rap about. He also talks about the usage of the N word as well as men calling women the B word. In the first chapter of the book, Ogbar contextualizes the debate by talking about the history of the minstrel figure in American popular culture, relying mainly on the work of W. T. Lhamon and Patricia Hill Collins. He talks about how the earliest manifestations of hip-hop music in the 1970s came from the Black Power movement and often included direct rejections of minstrel tropes for example in the artist KRS-One’s song “My Philosophy”. Before going on a chronological study of the internal debates that many rappers have over their relationships with the minstrel trope, Ogbar finds the source of the debate in early twentieth-century black writers’, mainly W.E.B Du Bois, interest in elevating many portrayals of African Americans in the arts, versus Harlem Renaissance writers’ rejection of the emphasis on

All of these main characters shared a lot of common attributes. The first and most important attribute was trying to overcome multiple

* In literature, when a character has a physical mark or imperfection it almost always symbolizes psychological, emotional, or moral values.

The first example of this that I am going to mention is Hassan's minor Cleft Lip. In the beginning of the story, when Amir is describing Hassan he says, "And the cleft lip, just left of midline, where the Chinese doll maker's instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had simply grown tired and careless" (Hosseini 3). It started out as just one of his identifying features that he was born with, but unlike most people who are born with a cleft lip, his family could not afford the cost of the medical procedure to fix it. It wasn't until chapter 5 where Baba pays for Hassan to get his cleft lip fixed, leaving a scar on

Georgiana’s birthmark is the main symbol in the story that could have multiple meanings. It is clear what the birthmark symbolizes when Georgiana declares, “I am happy to put my life in your hands,” (Hawthorne 3). Aylmer is ready to start his experiment when Georgiana says she is willing to be a part of it. What Aylmer does not know is that the birthmark actually symbolizes her mortality and when she says she is happy to put her life in his hands, she actually means that her birthmark is her lifeline and she is happy to put it in his hands. Aylmer wanted his wife to be perfect, but he only made the outcome worse with trying to remove the mark. Another example of symbolism is when Hawthorne writes, “The mark was usually a deep red color,” (Hawthorne 1). The color red could symbolize one of many different things, but it mainly symbolizes the color of blood. Blood is a main part of one’s body and mortality, and when the birthmark is described by its deep red color, it means that the mark is her source to life. After the tragic death of Georgiana, Aylmer finally realizes that the birthmark really had been her mortality. Aylmer is so deeply caught up in forcefully trying to get Georgiana to let him remove her birthmark, he does not recognize the true perfection that was there all along. Symbolism helps the theme that is portrayed throughout the story that trying to be flawless results in a devastation.