Symbolism In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Theme in The Birthmark, conveyed through Symbolism. (more exciting Title, perhaps.)
* Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his short story * “The Birthmark” (written and published prior to 1843), contains the element of symbolism to present the theme of personal beauty, regardless of physical appearance. More specifically, he speaks of the appearance of Georgeanna, the wife of Aylmer, who had a very large birthmark, or blemish that appeared upon birth. An Individual is perfect the way they were made, and should not go tampering with the beauty, inner or external, that they are given at their birth. Hawthorne is quite descriptive of each of his symbols, as his writing style is usually discriptive. For example, when he describes the birthmark in detail;
He does this to add emphasis on the detail of the story. He does this, as mentioned before, to explain every aspect of the story in great detail, such as the Swelling of the scientist, or the complexity of the scar on Georgiana's face. “To explain this conversation it must be mentioned that in the centre of Georgiana's left cheek there was a singular mark, deeply interwoven, as it were, with the texture and substance of her face.”(Hawthorne, The Birthmark). These types of explanations are also offered in the novel, the Scarlet Letter, in which hawthorne goes into great detail describing the mood, setting, theme, tone, setting, and symbols (Morse). A Third example of the narration of the story is to add more characterization, as if a first person speaker, as opposed to an omnipresent speaker, would not know everything about the events in the book, and the narrator’s knowledge creates Irony. The narration helps the reader stay ahead of the characters in the novel, and through the implications given by the narrator, the reader is given hints as to what will happen next in the story. Narration also gives a greater perspective, and as mentioned, allows more clear understanding of the