Nathaniel Hawthorne

"The Birth-Mark" is a romantic short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that examines obsession with human perfection. It was first published in the March 1843 edition of The Pioneer. It later appeared in Mosses from an Old Manse, a collection of short stories by Hawthorne published in 1846

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.”
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Here is a short story about the human nature, oh so fickle. And about man’s nature, so filled sheer audacity™.
Is it any surprise that we find ourselves in some sort of Frankenstein worthy Gothic mad scientist vibe, simply over one single birthmark, all because of one man’s inherent right and claim to superiority?
I mean, the arrogance. The toxic, self-unaware impudence. The gaslighting, and the corruption of reality that goes on in this story, all because this man, this Aylmer, could not deal with a single imperfection on her otherwise “perfect” wife. After all, it is a paradox that the more beautiful something is, the uglier the tiniest flaw might seem in contrast. Or so he claims. 

(Now that I am typing this, I am realizing that this story is actually funny in a morbid and annoying way.)

All the fun and toxicity aside, there is something so academically pleasing about Hawthorne’s stories. They always seem to shape into a cocktail of symbols that is so open to interpretation that my high school teacher would have a field day over every single paragraph. Yes, it is a frustrating story, but it is also somewhat fun to dissect all the interpretations. It was a bit thick with interludes of philosophy verging on pious rapture for my taste, but I will say that Hawthorne always manages to come up with interesting ideas. 

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3.5/5

The Birthmark

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