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Allyson McDonald
English 1302
Hawthorne
In Hawthorne’s two short stories “Rappiccini’s Daughter” and “Birthmark” he has shown us
the evil some scientists can have. Aylmer and Rappiccini both think they are in control and play
a God like role. They both try to challenge nature. They think they have so much power. Aylmer
has his wife who is somewhat perfect minus her birthmark. Rappiccini does experiments on his
daughter with the garden which has poisonous plants and flowers in it.
In “Birthmark” Aylmer has obsessed over this birthmark on his wife’s cheek, that looks like
a hand, so much that even she wants it gone. He has this image of her in his head of her being
perfect and this birthmark consumes him. It has consumed him to the point where he doesn’t
even want to look at her because he trembles. The vision in his head of her being perfect without
