Aminadab in the birthmark. Aminadab Character Analysis in The Birthmark 2022-10-14
Aminadab in the birthmark
Rating:
5,8/10
626
reviews
Aminadab is a minor character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Birthmark." Despite having a small role in the story, Aminadab plays a significant role in the events that unfold.
Aminadab is the assistant to the main character, a scientist named Aylmer, who is obsessed with removing a small, birthmark on his wife's cheek. The birthmark, which is described as a "crimson hand," is seen as a blemish on an otherwise perfect face and Aylmer becomes fixated on finding a way to remove it. In his pursuit of this goal, Aylmer enlists the help of Aminadab, who is described as a "dwarfish" man with a "dark, swarthy aspect."
Aminadab is initially skeptical of Aylmer's plan to remove the birthmark and warns him that it could have dangerous consequences. However, he ultimately agrees to assist Aylmer in his experimentation and becomes an integral part of the process. Aminadab helps Aylmer gather the necessary materials and provides assistance in the laboratory as they work to develop a solution to remove the birthmark.
Despite Aminadab's reservations and warnings, Aylmer is determined to go through with the procedure. He believes that the birthmark is a flaw that must be corrected in order to achieve perfection. However, things do not go as planned and the procedure ends in tragedy when Aylmer's wife, Georgiana, dies as a result of the treatment.
In the end, Aminadab serves as a foil to Aylmer, representing a more practical and grounded perspective in contrast to Aylmer's obsessive pursuit of perfection. While Aylmer is blinded by his desire to remove the birthmark, Aminadab is more cautious and aware of the potential risks and consequences of their actions.
Overall, Aminadab's role in "The Birthmark" serves as a reminder of the dangers of obsession and the importance of considering the potential consequences of our actions. While Aylmer's pursuit of perfection ultimately leads to tragedy, Aminadab's caution and skepticism serve as a counterbalance, reminding us of the importance of moderation and caution in our pursuits.
Meaning of Race and Whiteness in "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne: [Essay Example], 4962 words GradesFixer
The opening introduces the central themes of the story, setting a scene in which scientists are already trying to control nature and claim dangerous power for themselves. There are 2 Aminadabs in the Bible: one is the father-in-law of Aaron's wife, Elisheva, and winds up in the genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament through his son Nahshon, a chieftain of the tribe of Judah. U of California Press. It seems like it's kind of a thing for hostile goyim writers to give their Jewish characters Biblical Jewish names that are at the same time exotic or sinister-sounding, like Marlowe's Barabas in The Jew of Malta. She asks about a vial of beautiful golden liquid that she imagines could be the elixir of life. In his characterization of Caliban, Shakespeare utilizes a type: the colonized native is made a slave, and described as dark and physically deformed. Hawthorne, through Aylmer, similarly attempts to mold Aminadab into a tool rather than a threat.
Next
The Birthmark Symbol in The Birthmark
When Aylmer remembers the details of his dream, Georgiana declares that she would rather risk her life having the birthmark removed from her cheek than to continue to endure Aylmer's horror and distress that comes upon him when he sees her. When she awakens, he treats her warmly and comforts her with some of his scientific concoctions but when he attempts to take a portrait of her, the image is blurred save for her birthmark revealing the disgust he has of it. Aylmer Who Is Georgiana's Birthmark? You mistrust your wife; you have concealed the anxiety with which you watch the development of this experiment. Particularly in his use of refrain, Poe emphasizes the hollowness of the words on the page — words that are incapable of replacing a human life. As she watches, a plant sprouts and flowers.
Next
Aminadab Character Analysis in The Birthmark
The narrator observes of Aminadab that he seemed to represent man's physical nature; while Aylmer's slender figure, and pale, intellectual face, were no less apt a type of the spiritual element. Soon after, Aylmer brings her the potion, which he demonstrates as effective by rejuvenating a diseased plant with a few drops. He could have appreciated being married to a woman who was as close to perfect as she could be, but in seeking complete perfection, he has wasted his only chance at being close to a divine creature. Protagonist Protagonist: The main character of the story is the protagonist. He hears Aminadab laughing and congratulates him on their mutual success, saying that earth and heaven worked together to make it happen.
Next
Why does Aylmer's assistant, Aminadab, laugh the second time at the end of "The Birthmark"?
Clearly, Aylmer believes himself godlike and certainly superior to Aminadab, for he calls him "thou human machine" and "thou man of clay" as if he lacks the animation that only Aylmer can bestow. Hi Kenny - Thanks for pointing out the discrepancy in the biblical Aminadabs I have to admit, my Bible knowledge isn't as complete as it probably should be. Protesting that she doesn't need proof to trust her husband, Georgiana drinks the concoction and promptly falls asleep. Who is the protagonist in the story? In storytelling, a protagonist is the main character or principal character or group of characters in a story. He compares his joy at removing the birthmark to that of Pygmalion when the woman he sculpted and fell in love with came to life. He essentially wants to be married to a divine being, one who is morally impeccable and will never die or be degraded to the level of other humans.
Next
Who are the characters in the birthmark?
He has stated that the birthmark would not have bothered him if he would have married Georgiana. Furthermore, Aylmer is obviously not as confident as he wants Georgiana to think he is. Georgiana wakes and sees her reflection in a mirror. Georgiana faints, and Aylmer calls for Aminadab, his assistant, to help him. A beautiful, intelligent, and caring woman, Georgiana is physically and spiritually lovely. Aylmer does not allow sunlight into his laboratory because it would ruin his experiments, so he instead uses chemical lamps to light the room.
Next
The Birth
He has obviously thought about the morality of science and its interaction with nature, and passes judgment on those who pursue alchemy or the elixir of life without a thought for the moral implications. Aminadab is not merely physical but bestial. This connection is relating to this article I read online called Love Yourself- Flaws and All. However, photographs, like all memories, fade with time. Smith also notes that the superiority of Caucasian blood was an important factor in the psychology of lynching. Both Smith and Otter agree that by the 1850s, scientific justification of racial inequality was accepted as fact.
Next
In "The Birth
Contrary to being oblivious to his failures, Aylmer seems to be very bothered by them, perhaps explaining why he cares so much about succeeding in this experiment so that he can have a perfect wife and come a little closer to perfection himself. Aylmer then asks Georgiana to sing for him, which she does, and her singing makes him happy. In the vast array of scholarship on the story, however, little has been said of its racial undercurrent. Thus ever does the gross fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal essence which, in this dim sphere of half development, demands the completeness of a higher state. The birthmark is not only a symbol of racial color, as Aylmer reads it, but also a symbol of human mortality and imperfection.
Next
ENL200 Fall 2012: Aminadab: the Body, the Religious, the Worker
Some have speculated that the mark came from a fairy touching Georgiana at the moment of her birth and giving her those most alluring qualities that allowed her to attract so many men. Aminadab, type-cast though he may be, is the most rational character in the story. Georgiana, on the other hand, reaffirms her complete submission to her husband when she says she would drink poison for him. The second Aminadab is a Levite priest in the time of David, many centuries later 1 Chron. The birthmark was the only thing keeping her divine spirit connected to a human body, and as the birthmark disappears entirely, her soul goes up to heaven. This type of story has biblical symmetry to Jesus's "Sermon on the Mount.
Next
Aminadab Timeline in The Birthmark
Aylmer finds Georgiana reading his books and scolds her for it, saying that reading his journal almost makes him go crazy, but Georgiana assures Aylmer that it has only increased her admiration of him. One day soon after Aylmer and Georgiana are married, Aylmer asks his wife if she has ever considered trying to remove the birthmark on her cheek. What type of character is Aylmer? However, Georgiana discovers that he has failed to achieve most of what he aimed for, defeated by his own earthly imperfections, and the journal is in fact a sad record of human inadequacy. Hawthorne borrowed the name Aminadab from The Bible; he was an ancestor of David who is briefly mentioned in Genesis and Mark's gospel, and Michelangelo added his likeness to the Sistine Chapel. Tell me all the risk we run, and fear not that I shall shrink; for my share in it is far less than your own. What qualities characterize Aylmer? American Archives: Gender, Race, and Class in Visual Culture. This idea of physical deformity as part of a type is strikingly similar to the racial types of nineteenth-century America.
Next
The Birthmark: Character List
She professes complete trust in him but demands that he inform her of his experiments. In fact, his union with Georgiana would even have joined him to a divine being. I also read the "bad anima" anagram interpretation and decided it to not be relevant enough to my discussion here, though it was an interesting and fun reading of the character. I feel myself fully competent to render this dear cheek as faultless as its fellow; and then, most beloved, what will be my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work! How are Aylmer and aminadab different? How is aminadab described in the birthmark? Hawthorne uses the characters, foreshadowing, and symbolism to demonstrate the theme that physical perfection cannot be reached. It is a laugh of malicious triumph at the victory of the gross, physical fact of death over the beauty of Georgiana's spirit.
Next