Moral Lesson in Hawthorne 's The Birthmark Article Review

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Comparing and Contrasting “The Birthmark” and “Hills Like White Elephants”Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” and Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” are two stories with a similar theme and dissimilar treatment of that theme. Each represents a relationship between a man and a woman—a relationship in which a man is pressuring the woman into doing something that goes against her natural instinct but that she ultimately accepts to do to please the man. In “The Birthmark,” the issue is the removal of a birthmark on the woman’s face. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the issue is the removal of a baby growing in the woman’s womb—i.e., an abortion. In both stories, the woman is reluctant to take part in the removal, but eventually submits in spite of seeming to possess full awareness of the negative repercussions that will follow the removal. Essentially, the removal represented in both stories is a removal of life itself, as bittersweet as it may be: it is the insistence of man, bothered by the bitterness of having to shoulder a burden—an imperfection on his wife’s face in “The Birthmark,” a child in “Hills Like White Elephants”—that prompts the man to reject the life that is presented him. But whereas Hawthorne treats the theme in a moral and allegorical manner, presenting a story to the reader that should serve as a morality tale or a warning against impetuously seeking perfection in a world that cannot provide it, Hemingway treats the theme without commentary, presenting through the lens of realism a heartbreaking scene in which a man casually pressures a woman into getting an abortion so that they can be free of the responsibility of parenthood. While Hawthorne’s story is more of a cautionary tale, Hemingway’s story is more of a sad reflection that on the surface of it delivers no judgment but between the lines drips with the tragedy of a heart being repressed.Although the themes are similar in the two stories, Hawthorne uses authorial intrusion to provide a third person perspective that frames his story in a moralistic manner. For instance, Hawthorne states in the opening paragraph: “We know not whether Aylmer possessed this degree of faith in man's ultimate control over Nature. He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion” (1). This bit of authorial commentary distinguishes Hawthorne’s story from Hemingway’s. Hawthorne has no hesitation when it comes to putting his own thoughts on the subject into words. He is conscious of having a point to make, and in the above quoted lines it is apparent that in his view the man—Aylmer—is one who believes in his own powers to transform humanity through the scientific arts.It is much different in Hemingway’s story. Hemingway provides a description of the setting and a minimalist depiction of the main characters, but he lets their words do the talking for him. Their interaction is full of irony as they dance around the unmentionable subject that is bothering them both. Hemingway does not even give his characters names, but that in no way takes away from the reader’s ability to see them and understand them. For instance, Hemingway describes the setting in the first line of the story by depicting what lies off in the distance: “The hills across the valley of the Ebro’ were long and white” (1). The girl, looking at them, and thinking of her own pregnant condition and the fact that her partner, an American man, wants an abortion, says to him that the hills “look like white elephants” (Hemingway 1). He replies that he has never seen one before, and she says acidly, “No, you wouldn’t have” (Hemingway 1). A white elephant is an expensive gift that is viewed as troublesome or burdensome.

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It is a metaphor for the baby—a gift of life that the man sees as a problem that they need to get rid of. His refusal even to acknowledge seeing it that way is why she responds with contempt. She dislikes his callous attitude, but—like Georgiana in Hawthorne’s story—she is unable to resist the man’s suggestions:…

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…it is better to suffer the imperfections and to work with supernatural grace (again, not explicitly stated) rather than the scientific arts to bear the burden.Hemingway only hints at the unhappiness that awaits his couple: he does not provide any commentary on the scene or suggest what their future state is; however, one can deduce from the woman’s tone that her submission to the man’s insistence has robbed her of life itself. She knows that once the baby is killed they cannot go back to the way things were; the innocent happiness that they had in those days will forever be tarnished by the fact that they refused the consequences of physical intimacy and whatever joys, burdens, effects, or changes it naturally brings. He imagines that by terminating the pregnancy they will once more be carefree; she is troubled by her conscience—even though she does not explicitly say so: it is nonetheless evident in her words and reluctance that she is bothered by thought of having an abortion. She states the case plainly when he suggests that by abortion, “We can have everything.” Her response is firm: “No, we can’t.” The dialogue that follows shows that she sees further than he does: “We can have the whole world.” “No, we can'’t.” “We can go everywhere.” “No, we can’t. It isn’t ours any more.” “It’s ours.” “No, it isn’t. And once they take it away, you never get it back” (Hemingway 3). Hemingway thus reveals the central conflict without commentary, relying only on dialogue to present the reality of the situation.Thus, Hemingway and Hawthorne both tell stories that share a similar theme. Each focuses on the insistence of the man to remove something that he sees as problematic. The woman, bending to the man’s will, submits—but there is a cost to be paid. Georgiana dies, and Hawthorne provides a moral lesson to the reader. The woman’s fate is suggested in her own words in Hemingway’s story, but dissimilarly from Hawthorne’s approach Hemingway’s is to avoid moral judgment and to allow the characters to present the….....

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