“The Birthmark” by Hawthorne’s
“The Birthmark” by Hawthorne’s begins with a narrative opening formula of unspecified time in the past describing a scientist by the name Aylmer. The description reveals the author’s attitude toward science. He describes the scientist as a skillful person and shows how the scientist had discovered spiritual reaction, which is more enthralling than the chemical one. The author marries science with religion. The author has an exemplary attitude towards science, which later turns into a dismissive attitude directed to the scientific intervention’s excessive application. Aylmer finds fault in Georgiana’s birthmark and suggests its removal. The author offers a description of how the birthmark looks like—displaying the beauty of Georgiana in her imperfection. This description reveals the writer’s cautionary attitude whereby by describing how Georgiana looks like, he tries to show how unnecessary it is to remove the birthmark. The writer explores Aylmer’s discoveries, whereby the scientist describes some of the dangerous chemicals he has discovered. This exploration reveals the writer’s dismissive attitude, which also foreshadows what would happen to Georgiana. Aylmer carries on with his plan despite noting earlier how dangerous it was, which leads to the death of his wife. The writer uses both cautionary and dismissive attitude to show that although he approves scientific interventions, excessive use of such intervention has irreversible tragic consequences.
The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri describes a vacation visit of an Indian American family in India who hired Mr. Kapasi to drive them to the Sun Temple. On their way, they come across monkeys from which one jumps in front of the car, causing Mr. Kapasi to brake unexpectedly. The monkeys represent the threat that faces the Das family. Mr. and Mrs. Das do not look after their children adequately, as evidenced by Mr. Kapasi’s observation that the parents look more of siblings than their parents. Later, Mrs. Das reveals that Bobby is not Mr. Das’s son and later finds him attacked by the monkeys due to the food Mrs. Das left behind. This scene represents the effect of the secret Mrs. Das keeps to her husband, whereby she has failed to own up to her mistakes. The mistake is reflected in the very same error she makes by leaving the food behind, endangering her son’s life. The Monkeys symbolizes the threat that faces the Das family’s compactness.