Compare And Contrast The Birthmark And To Build A Fire

Georgiana had always lived with the birthmark, and was quite fond of its charm. Many people in the town believe it was a fairy’s handprint left to sway all hearts; to them the mark only magnified her appeal. The mark’s charm had rarely been questioned by anyone other than the jealous women of the town, and its peculiar nature had once intrigued Aylmer and amplified his attraction to Georgiana. He begged for her hand in marriage, but soon after they were wed, he queried whether Georgiana had ever considered having the birthmark removed. She was hurt by the implication that the mark depreciated her and grew upset with her husband. As time passed, Aylmer continued to stare at the mark, unable to keep his eyes from wandering to it. This continued until Georgiana was no longer able to ignore the way his eyes were always fixated on this sole imperfection, the crimson hand that kept him up at night and plagued his dreams. She asked Aylmer to remove the mark, or take her life because she no longer wanted to live if she had to live with the mark. She preferred death to the harsh scrutiny from her husband.

In the short stories, “Cons” by Jess Walter, “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, and “Killings” by Andres Dubus, the characters experience epiphanies. An epiphany is defined as a moment in the story where a character achieves realization, awareness or a feeling of knowledge after which events are seen through the prism of this new light in the story.

Farquhar began to think of possible ways for him to make an escape. He believed that he could untie his hands, plummet into the water down below, and swim to safety. He was able to free his hands from the rope and fell into the water. He untied all of the ropes that were binding his feet and his neck and began swimming down the river. The soldiers began to shoot at him, but Peyton was able to dodge all of their bullets. He continued swimming until he was far away from his enemies. Once he came out of the water, he laid on the bank and was able to sense all of his surroundings in a way he had not been able to before. He began to better appreciate the world around him. Farquhar released a sigh of relief; he had escaped

Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Birth-Mark", explains the relationship between Aylmer, a scientist, and his wife Georgiana’s birthmark. The story is told in third person point of view. The story gives access to both Aylmer and Georgiana thoughts. It allows readers to see that because Aylmer is a scientist and a perfection, he feels that Georgiana would be perfect if the mark was to be removed or on another woman besides her. Aylmer sees his wife's birthmark is a symbol of imperfection. The mark is described to be a small deep crimson mark shaped like a hand on her left cheek. As he sees the mark, he sees her becoming less beautiful. Once the mark is removed, she would become perfect and beautiful. However, Georgiana, Aylmer wife feels that the mark is a symbol of a charm because she was told that the mark was placed on her cheek during her birth-hour by a fairy. Hawthorne shows us that people view beauty in different ways.

Aylmer wants to make his wife perfect but he fails because perfection is only perfect in heaven and not on earth. When His wife becomes the perfect human it is impossible for her to exist so she dies. In the story Aminadab knows that perfection can not exist so her tries to tell Aylmer that he should not part with the birthmark because i think he is foreshadowing what will happen to georgiana. The other men in “The birthmark” think that her flaw makers he even more beautiful but aylmer thinks the opposite.

     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;

Aylmer uses Georgiana’s love and trust for him against her, turning her into a scientific experiment, and taking away her life. Aylmer tells Georgiana about his displeasure with her birthmark. After an initial shocked reaction, Georgiana quickly changes her mindset to agree with her husband and lets him know: “I know not what may be the cost of both of us to rid me of this fatal birthmark. Perhaps its removal may cause cureless deformity, or may be the stain goes as deep as life itself” (222). Throughout her life, other men tell her birthmark is beautiful; however, after Georgina marries Aylmer , Georgiana now no longer wants it and wishes for it to be removed because of her husband’s wishes. This accommodates with what Aylmer wants and is the start of his scientific experiments on his wife. Later, Georgiana and Aylmer have a tense conversation debating about the

In The Birthmark the story begins with the challenge Aylmer is facing. He wants to mix his love for science with the love he has for his wife. The only way he can do this is by removing his wife birthmark that’s holding her back from being perfect. Aylmer oppresses his wife in a symbolic way by making her feel bad about her birthmark. Aylmer begins to speak with Georgiana and asks her “...has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?” (1). This the start of him pestering his wife and making her feel about herself. He does this to get her to agree with him about removing the birthmark. To answer Aylmer’s question, Georgiana replies by saying “To tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I was

Upon realizing just how much his wife’s birthmark bothered him, Aylmer made it his goal to do whatever was necessary to rid Georgiana of her only “imperfection”. While this story is a work of fiction, the way of thinking is anything but fictional. With the gender dynamic in this story in very centered around the man. The man is the one who makes the decisions, and the woman is expected to go along with them. If the man wants something of the wife, she is expected to do everything in her power to satisfy him. The woman, on the other hand, is often heavily pressured into submitting to this kind of unhealthy relationship. Whether she is blinded by love, afraid of what

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

Portrayed as spiritual and intellectual in contrast with his crude laboratory assistant Aminadab, Aylmer becomes disturbingly obsessed with a birthmark on his wife’s countenance. The plot of the short story revolves around the man’s attempt in removing the mark, which results in the death of Georgiana. In the very beginning of the story, the audience discovers through the narration that Aylmer views his wife’s birthmark as more than a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin. In reality, the primary reason why he becomes severely obsessed with the birthmark is because in his eyes, the mark symbolizes something. Aylmer proceeds to further clarify his inner thoughts by replying to his wife, “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” (Mays 340). Although Georgiana is initially mortified and even goes as far to question the existence of the marriage between them, the narration later sheds light and explains that the precise reason why Aylmer is excessively bothered with the birthmark is because he regards Georgiana as virtually the embodiment of perfection. As a consequence, perceiving a flaw on his wife’s image that clashes with the concept of her beauty inevitably leads him to feel aggrieved and begin to judge the birthmark as a dangerous blemish residing on her skin.

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

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.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was the author of multiple short stories and poems, all of them in the Dark Romantic genre. Hawthorne gained his inspiration at home with his mother, sisters, and his wife, Sophia Peabody who was a poet as well. In his writing, one of his strongest traits was his use of allegory. Hawthorne often uses allegory in his short stories to add a different perspective onto his many works. In his short story, “The Birthmark,” Hawthorne utilizes foreshadowing and symbolism to portray the allegorical lesson that striving for perfection results in troubling outcomes.

In “The Birthmark”, Nathaniel Hawthorne includes a variety of themes. The two most powerful are obsession and the conflict between nature and science.