The birthmark is deeply ingrained in her face. “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” (Hawthorne 211). We can assume that, symbolically, this passage implies that man 's imperfections are deeply embedded in his nature. “The Birthmark" illustrates the flaws of mankind, but its most significant declaration is that to be human is inevitably to be flawed. To struggle for perfection is to deny human 's own nature, to deny what makes us human, and to achieve such perfection is essentially impossible. It becomes clear when the narrator of the story describes Georgiana’s death “The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life, and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame. As the last crimson tint of the birthmark--that sole token of human imperfection--faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight” (Hawthorne 222), by eliminating Georgiana’s imperfection, Aylmer also liberates her of her humanity. Once she is perfect, once she is no longer flawed, Georgiana can no longer live. Hawthorne’s message is that being imperfect is just…