Nathaniel Hawthorne The birthmark & society''s love for perfection - Essay Example

Hawthorne Nathaniel’s The Birth Mark & Societys Love for Perfection It is not easy to that one can beperfect. Humans actually are known to have imperfections and cannot be able to achieve perfection. If there would be perfect humans, then humans would not be humans. Imperfection is a common feature of the human race, and some of these imperfections appear as early as one is still in the womb. Human imperfection is usually seen in many areas ranging from physical to mental, to daily decision making and to other mistakes that humans make.

This is the essence of being human. The major question that many people find asking themselves today is whether human perfection can be achieved through science. Hawthorne Nathaniel, through his book clearly shows the dangers of using science to correct nature and uses the text to discourage the readers from resorting to science as a solution to imperfections of nature. The thesis of this analysis is that science is not the solution to imperfection. Human beings should learn to appreciate what nature offers and have a positive view of the same.

In support to this, this paper tries to find the original meaning of science and its original intention, it appreciates nature and justifies its imperfections and gives the consequences of science as it tries to correct nature. All these point out to one direction: we should appreciate what nature offers and should not resolve to science to offer solutions to our discontent nature. Beginning on looking at science, it is a systematic study of the behavior and the structure of the natural and the physical world.

It involves a practical and intellectual activity, which is done through experimentation and observation. Science involves the zeal to understand nature and being able to offer explanations and predictions of nature. Science should help to appreciate and be able to predict nature to a certain extend. Through science, man should be able to appreciate nature and apply its products according to how he has been able to understand it. These applications can be through production of other commodities and products.

For example, after understanding the physiological processes of plants, man should be able to use the knowledge to produce food or clothing for other animals and humans. This being the original intention of science, it would be a wrong approach to try to correct what we really struggle to understand when we should be appreciating it. It is also true to say that science cannot fully understand nature and therefore cannot correct what it has not fully understood.Nature on the other hand is the collective phenomena of the physical world, ranging from the plants to the animals, the landscape and topography and all other features, which the earth has to offer.

Nature on its own is very wide and complicated. According to my own view, I will call it perfect because of the balance it has. Nature has been able to satisfy all species and give them a chance to survive. It has made all organisms on earth able to co-exist. This is a task that even man cannot be able to accomplish. There being trillions of organisms, nature has provided a place for each one of them and has taken care of all. Man through science, because of the fascinating nature of nature, has tried so much to study and understand it.

Science study will never reach an end because nature cannot be understood fully. The discontent nature of man makes him realize the errors of nature and pushes him to seek science as a means of achieving perfection. This discontent nature of man is also depicted in Hawthorne’s book, which causes man to resolve to science as a solution (Hawthorne 1). Maybe the only imperfection of nature was to produce a man who is never satisfied of what is offered to him (and this cannot be corrected). How would man seek to correct what, if given a chance, he cannot make?

How can he see a defect in what he himself cannot create and has not fully understood? Besides this, how would nature make such small mistakes correctable by man when it has been able to balance all the complicated mysteries on earth? Man should be able to ask himself these questions before attempting to correct it. The use of science to correct nature comes along with consequences. From the text, Hawthorne uses disembodiment laughter to show a mockery by nature to a character for his effort to try to understand it (Hawthorne 3).

He shows that the pursuit for perfection through science is a road to destruction. Use of science to correct nature creates an imbalance in the strategies of nature. This creates failures in many systems in nature because of the imbalance. For instance, through science to modify nature, many other problems have added on earth like diseases, cancer, and other viruses. Global warming has also been caused through science and also life expectancy has been reduced. From this, we can conclude that when science is used to try to correct the ‘errors’ of nature, more problems are created than are solved.

Hawthorne helps to emphasize this through the death of one character because of correcting her natural defection.Generally, science is portrayed not to be a solution to all imperfection. It cannot answer all questions about nature and cannot solve every problem. Human perfection on the other hand cannot be achieved through science. Humanity is characterized by imperfections, and it is perfectly normal to be imperfect. Man should respect nature and He who created nature for it has a purpose for everything.

Attempts to correct nature might all end up in destruction as the Hawthorne also portrays.ReferenceHawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Birth Mark & Societys Love for Perfection." Great short works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Perennial Library, 1967. -. Print.