In "The Birthmark", Nathaniel Hawthorne writes the story of a scientist who marries a beautiful young woman with only one imperfection; a crimson birthmark on her left cheek. Aylmer later becomes obsessed with this flaw and thinks nothing but of the removal of the birthmark, which would then render his bride "perfect". Even though Georgiana has never disliked her birthmark, she resolves that the only way for her marriage to continue is for Aylmer to eradicate her of this "curse" at all costs. Upon the "successful" removal Georgiana dies, a victim of her husband's greed for beauty. Through the use of various literary devices Hawthorne conveys a serious warning, encouraging the reader to recognize the moral implications involved with man's aspirations of challenging the natural order through scientific achievement.

From the very beginning, Hawthorne utilizes an omniscient narrator to create a type of separation between his readers and characters in the story. This separation enables the moral lesson to develop unhindered by any potential character association common in first person point of view literatur

The third and most intriguing characterization is that of Aminadab, the brute lab assistant of Aylmer. "the indescribable earthiness that incrusted him, he seemed to represent man's physical nature;" This is the most descriptive account of a character's symbolism, and except for the fact that he doesn't speak much, is the most basic element of the theme. The relationship between Aylmer and Aminadab could be taken to represent the constant devotion of man's physical nature to his intellectual ambition. Only through these focused characterizations can the imagery become significant, because the consequential actions would be meaningless without the human elements to complete the school of thought from which the moral lesson is derived.

e. Emotionally unattached, the reader can thus observe the author's more subtle plot lines and gain a better appreciation of what motives the characters personify. Only then can one begin to understand the allegorical representations throughout that imply a more significant moral than the literal representation of the characters.

Imagery abounds throughout the story, and each association is representative of a connection in a larger sense. First, the actual birthmark on Georgiana's face is described to be in the shape of a hand. This is symbolic of God's seal of approval on nature, and also represents the human element of the natural order, with which nature exists as beauty and man is the birthmark upon nature's c

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jesus Christ, Aylmer Aminadab, Whereas Georgiana's, Hawthorne Aylmer, Mother Nature, , human element, man's physical nature, physical nature, scientific movement, man's physical, human tenderness, moral lesson, natural beauty,
Approximate Word count = 989
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)