Science vs Nature

The Birthmark” was a great story that written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Throughout this era of history, vast development was being made in the region of science and technology, which lead to ground-breaking and tremendous discoveries. It also opened doors to numerous of new branches in the scientific field of research. The scientist, Aylmer, the key character in The Birthmark, attempts to take his experimental study to the maximum of science in a venture to run Nature. Aylmer becomes intensely enchanted in a fight which science opposes nature in an effort to gain control over nature. Aylmer dreadfully tries to generate a world of flawlessness in his flawed world. He engages in the clash of science versus Nature, he thinks his feel affection for science can rival, his wife Georgiana. Aylmer lives and works in a period in which science is relatively new and misunderstood at the time.

Science is described in this story as “mystical” and “mysterious”, with proving that the work Aylmer was doing was well thought-out to be a kind of magic or voodoo by the people with no kind of scientific culture. Near the beginning of the story, Aylmer has been impregnated by the idea that crucial perfection has been within reach through science. This becomes the dynamic force following Aylmer’s motives. With his marriage to Georgiana, this driving force of perfection becomes an obsession that takes over his mind. Aylmer loved Georgiana deeply but he could not tolerate her single imperfection. Georgiana was nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, but on her “left cheek there was a single mark, deeply interwoven. This tiny, irrelevant birthmark was so disgusting to Aylmer that he

refused to kiss her on the cheek, or even look at it in daylight. It drove Aylmer mad that his wife was so close to perfection. His mission was to formulate a mixture to remove the birthmark parting his wife as the solitary most perfect being ever formed.

On the other hand, Georgiana does have some measure of power over her husband’s spirit, a power that comes not from science but nature. For example, when Aylmer’s spirits flag, he asks Georgiana to sing to him, and the beauty of her voice restores his good mood. Unlike her husband’s potions, her voice is entirely natural but has a much greater effect. In addition, Georgiana’s birthmark also demonstrates the power of nature because it captivates and intoxicates almost everyone who sees it. In the end, Aylmer’s attempt to control nature with science ends only in death and unhappiness Georgiana’s birthmark symbolizes humanity in my words. Every living thing is flawed in some way, nature’s way of reminding us that all living thing sooner or later dies. The hand-shaped mark on Georgiana’s cheek is a blemish that marks her as mortal. Aylmer’s disgust for his wife’s birthmark suggests the horror he feels at the prospect of death. He is a smart man, but his misinterpretation of the symbol on Georgiana’s face leads him astray. If anything, the symbol of death on her cheek clashes with her natural kindness and sunny spirit. Aylmer’s own achievement in science and the medical field eventually led to an individual disaster.