Brooke Greene
Mrs. Mignerey
Composition & Rhetoric 1302
January 22, 2015
Birthmark response
“Flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions.” Every human being has one imperfection or flaw. This is a simple thing of human nature. It is one choice whether to let that certain imperfection define whom a person is. Even define the outer beauty of one person. In Birthmark, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how some people sometimes only focus with what seems to be a flaw with someone rather than focus on the beauty and little perfections someone may acquire.
In the Birthmark, every time Aylmer looks at his wife, all he is able to stare at is the one imperfection that appears on her check. Aylmer confronts his wife about how so close to perfect she is, but cannot reach perfection because of a beauty mark that has started to overwhelm him. Of course, the wife’s first reaction is to be angry and upset with him, but then starts to look at herself as imperfect and tells Aylmer to get rid of it or kill her off if he must. This is a perfect example of someone allowing a flaw to define who one may be. Is it so terrible to have one flaw, that someone must off himself or herself just to get rid of the flaw? When the fact of the matter is, is that one time or another we find the imperfection of ourselves. It is up to us whether it will define who we are.
Humanity will always be imperfect in different ways for different people. One must look past this and continue to see someone beyond the imperfection and see the inner and outer beauties of a person. Nathaniel Hawthorne, by writing this book, has pointed out the biggest flaw in humanity. The flaw is that some are too harsh on others for something they cannot control. People are trying to find something wrong with others, and it ends up being the only thing they can focus on. Nathaniel was able to point out an imperfection that human nature must correct and better them...