Aylmer was always bothered by her birthmark. Everyday, he goes hysterical over his wife’s birthmark. As a successful scientist who has accomplished anything and everything, he decides to remove Georgiana’s “fatal mark”. He mixes up a concoction which will remove her birthmark. He realizes that the concoction is dangerous, yet he proceeds with his task in hope to remove her “fatal mark”. His potion, known as the “elixir of immortality”, was a success because he accomplished what he had asked for. He successfully takes away her mark but his wife’s life is taken away as well.
Perfection vs. Imperfection! Aylmer’s life is marked by two passions – the love for Nature [perfection] and the love of his wife Georgiana [imperfection]. His love for Nature stood for perfection because he tries to be more powerful than Nature. He challenges Nature and perfects everything. But his love for Georgiana stood for imperfection because of her “fatal mark”. This mark prevents her from being perfect. In a sense, he is forced to choose one over the other. As much as he wishes to, he cannot choose both. Although his love for her is deep, he ignorantly chooses to change what Nature has given her. As a result, he pays for his consequences. His obsession over the beauty he wants caused him his wife’s life. His wife dies because of his view of her “fatal birthmark” to be imperfect.
Pretty vs. Ugly! There are two views of her “fatal birthmark”. Some men wished it away but others are willing to cope with her “fatal birthmark”.
The quote [p. 307] “Some fastidious persons – but they were exclusively of her own sex – affirmed that the blood hand, as they chose to call it, quite destroyed the effect of Georgiana’s beauty, and rendered her countenance even hideous” illustrates the effect of her “fatal birthmark”. The “bloody hand” destroyed her beauty and makes her imperfect rather than perfect. It is very ugly to the point that it strongly hinders her beauty. In his eye, the mark took away her beauty.
The quote [p. 310] “If she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark” shows that there are those who will leave the birthmark on Georgiana since she is still very pretty with it. People, such as Aminadab, are satisfied with how she looks with the birthmark. He understands nothing should be pushed beyond the limit. In other words, nothing should be taken granted of. And this is what Aylmer lacks.
The quote [p. 308] “I am convinced of the perfect practicability of its removal” and [p. 309] “I feel myself fully competent to render this dear check as faultless as its fellow; and then, most beloved, what will be my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work!” illustrates Aylmer’s thoughts before the he mixed up the concoction for Georgiana. He believes she will be perfect if the mark is to be removed. He also believes it is his duty to finish up what Nature didn’t and that is Georgiana’s beauty. Nature’s fairest work would be Georgiana’s beauty and it is the mark that is left imperfect on Georgiana’s face.
With this in mind, a similarity between Aylmer’s career and Georgiana’s beauty can be drawn. Aylmer’s career is similar to Georgiana’s beauty because they both are imperfectly marked by one small flaw. In Georgiana’s case, it is her “fatal mark” that ruins her great beauty. In Aylmer’s case, it is his concoction that took away the most precious item of his life. It is that one small flaw which kept Aylmer’s career and Georgiana’s beauty from being perfect.
The quote [p. 316] “The momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present” sums up the lessons learned from Hawthorne’s short story. Aylmer was too occupied with changing the present that he failed to prepare for the future. It was like he was only to live for a short amount of time and he had to prepare everything to be perfect for that short amount of time. In other words, he wasted too much of his time preparing for what’s not there that he overlooks the present.
This is rather similar to our everyday situations. Often, we find ourselves trying to make ourselves perfect one way or another. For example, I once owned this blue t-shirt. It was my favorite shirt because my grandmother gave it to me for birthday. I’ve always cherished it. But one day, I was eating spaghetti carelessly and the sauce splashed on me. The stains weren’t too noticeable but it is my favorite shirt and I wanted it to be perfect. So I quickly ran home and took of my shirt. I mixed Clorox, bleach, and detergent in water and dumped my shirt with it. Few hours later, I went to check up on my shirt. Not only did the color of my shirt changed to pink, my shirt had holes in it. I guess that is because I put too much bleach and Clorox. I was so upset with myself. I couldn’t believe I ruined my favorite shirt only because I tried too hard for it to be perfect.
Yes, humans do indeed have conflicts with Nature, but never try to perfect things. We should learn to accept things the way they are. In Aylmer’s case, he didn’t accept Georgiana’s beauty mark. His selfishness and arrogance cost him his wife’s life. Knowing that the concoction is dangerous, he proceeds with it instead of accepting his wife’s beauty. He took his wife’s beauty for granted and he paid for his consequences.
In a sense, Nature is just like fate. It has been already set up and there is no point to try to change it. Nature cannot be changed and shouldn’t be attempted to be changed. Of course, there are always consequences in trying to change something that has already been set up. The more one tries to alter Nature, the more they will hurt themselves and others around them.
In another sense, Nature is like God. Nature is similar to God because it is a concept one must comprehend. Nobody can take the place of God and the same mentality should be understood for Nature as well. Nature cannot be changed nor can God be replaced. Nature and God are things one can just accept.
