In “The Birthmark”, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about a man named Alymer who is married to a woman named Georgiana. Georgiana is a very beautiful woman, but she has one small birthmark on the side of her face. It is shaped like a small hand and is crimson in color. Alymer is not phased by this at the beginning of his marriage, but soon realizes that a birthmark is Nature’s way of marking imperfections in a person. His imagination and fear of this lead him to constantly fear about Georgiana’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death. He was afraid og her morality. This caused him much horror and grief. He asks her if she has eve thought of removing the birthmark and she is then embarrasses and slightly offended. Alymer becomes obsessed with her having it removed. Alymer then brings Georgiana to the laboratory, where he works, to have the birthmark removed. He sees and tries many experiments on which to remove the birthmark, including a magic flower, immorality globe, etc. Georgiana constantly begs him to just forget about her blemish and leave it be. Later, Alymer claims the hand upon her face has taken over her and that the hand upon her face is causing hr to be mortal. Georgina then begs Alymer to remove the hand on her face, no matter what he has to do. Alymer then brings over a liquor that then she drinks. The potion removed the hand, but then Georgina ends up dying shortly after.
This short story’s theme is very similar to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The theme of The Crucible. is that you are what you fear the most. This means that what you fear happening to you the most, is what takes over your thoughts and dreams and you end up making it happen yourself while trying to prevent it. In “The Birthmark” that is exactly what happens. Alymer is afraid that his wife’s birthmark will make her die, and so he gives her a liquor to make the birthmark disappear in hopes to make her immortal. The poison ends up killing her- which is exactly the fear he was trying to prevent.
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