Kyle Howard
English
Dr. Ellis
January 30, 2013
Blog
Second Entry
“I
Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, The Birthmark by
Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
all have a few similarities with each despite the fact that they are three
different readings. Wordsworth talks about seeing an incredible sight that he
will not forget and how serine the image was. Hawthorne tells the tale of a man
who is trying to fix his “imperfect” wife but kills her in the process. Finally
Charlotte Perkins Gilman talks about a lady who presumably has some mental dysfunction
and how this lady changes throughout the story. While these stories may seem
rather unique from one another they do have a general theme of the human mind
and what we perceive as perfect. This also relates to the lecture that I
attended which was entitled “Haiti Three Years Later”. The lecture discussed
many of the issues facing the small island nation of Haiti three years after
the devastation that took place due to an earthquake and numerous aftershocks.
All of these ideas show that nothing is always perfect or can remain perfect
for very long. Perfection cannot live for an extended period of time and as
humans we need to work to achieve the small dosage of perfection we are seeking.
The three readings and the lecture shed light on the fact that things will be
destroyed either by nature or by fellow humans.
Mankind
and nature both have tendencies to destroy things that are nearly perfect or
the things that really are perfect cannot last for very long. Nathaniel
Hawthorne exemplifies this beautifully in The Birthmark. The wife of a
scientist has an “imperfection” on her left cheek which bothers the
husband/scientist which then leads to it bothering the wife. In an attempt to
remove the birthmark from the wife’s face her husband concocts numerous
remedies but none of them seem to work. Finally upon numerous failed attempts
the scientist uses his strongest concoction to “cure” her. The birthmark slowly
begins to disappear and the scientist is incredibly pleased with himself but
just minutes later his wife dies. Upon reading this story I made the assumption
that the wife was nearly perfect otherwise the scientist would not have married
her. It was this push for perfection that eventually went too far and it seemed
that nature had a plan for the wife and she needed to live with that birthmark
or not live at all. Similarly to Haiti, people are trying to help as much as
they can with the wreckage and the rebuilding but by having so many people in
this small country it is almost counterproductive. Too many people are confused
as to what they need to do in order to truly help. The lecture about Haiti also
led me to think about William Wordsworth’s poem. Wordsworth discusses an ideal
and peaceful scene which he can only take with him in his memories. He
references the fact that he looks back on the scene and his filled with joy to
remember it. Being shown pictures of Haiti before the devastation that took place
made me think of an ideal land which can now only be brought along in our
memories. Hawthorne’s story and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story have a
connection as well. The lady in Yellow Wallpaper seems happy with her
life within her own mind but others around her feel the need to fix her. The
wife in The Birthmark seemed happy before her husband seemed focused on
removing the mark on her face. Maybe human perfection is found within or our
minds and what we think is perfect.
Each
item discussed or read made me think of how people strive to be perfect all of
the time and how many people are trying to live up to societies standards. If
people want to be perfect than they need to live up to and exceed their own
standards. The wife in Hawthorne’s story seemed pleased with her life and in
her mind she was perfect and that is how many other people should try to live.
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