On Hawthorne's "Birthmark"

Actions for reply by Travis Hiland

The Birth-Mark & The Minister's Black Veil

Doesn't Hawthorne's "Birth-Mark" draw some interesting parallels with his "The Minister's Black Veil?"

Fixation Upon a Mark

• The Hawthornian theme of the Puritan's excessive preoccupation with sin: the total fixation upon a mark, a “mysterious emblem,” to the point of obsession.

• The cataloging of various temperaments in response to symbols that reveal a person's darkest secrets. “It must not be concealed, however, that the impression wrought by this fairy sign manual varied exceedingly, according to the difference of temperament in the beholders.”

In "The Birth-Mark":

"Some fastidious persons [women] affirmed that the bloody hand...quite destroyed the effect of Georgiana's beauty, and rendered her countenance even hideous."

"But it would be as reasonable to say that one of those small blue stains which sometimes occur in the purest statuary marble would convert the Eve of Powers to a monster."

Through the shaded lens of Alymer's arrogance and “sombre imagination” his wife's mark is tinged as the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay...rendering the birthmark a frightful object, causing him more trouble and horror than ever Georgiana's beauty.”

The "Black Veil" townspeople:

"'How strange,' said a lady, 'that a simple black veil, such as any woman might wear on her bonnet, should become such a terrible thing on Mr. Hooper's face!'"

Another old woman mutters, "He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face."

The affrighted Reverend Clark, "'Dark old man!' ...'with what horrible crime upon your soul are you now passing to the judgment?'"

We could replace the “crape” with “birthmark” and Father Hooper's death-chamber question would be as poignant here:

“What, but the mystery which it obscurely typifies has made this [birthmark] so awful?”

Travis Hiland