An epiphany is a moment of great or rapid revelation. In lots of of his stories, Nathaniel Hawthorne brings his character types to an instant of epiphany. In Young Goodman Brown, the protagonist discovers that the individuals who he assumed were good and pious were involved in a hidden knowledge dark society. WITHIN THE Birth-Mark, Aylmer discovers that the get rid of that he developed to remove Georgiana's birthmark works, but it causes her death. In his essay, "Fire, Flutter, Land, and Scatter: A Composition in the Epiphanies of Hawthorne's Stories, " Martin Bidney claims that "epiphanies are typically the creative centre, the imaginative climax, of Nathaniel Hawthorne's tales" (58). Hawthorne used epiphanies in his character's stories to illustrate a moment of truth, where in fact the protagonist has an chance to make a big change in his action or way of thinking.
In The Birth-Mark, Aylmer is never referred to as a perfect specimen of beauty. His discoveries in technology are extolled highly by the clinical community. Many were stunned that he found the time to get hitched because of his commitment to research and research. Georgiana was a lovely female, and her birthmark was assumed by some to be a mystical blessing from nature. She brought up to her spouse that she possessed begun to believe the idea that it was a allure, somewhat than some repulsive disfiguring blemish.
Aylmer is warned in a dream of removing the birthmark on Georgiana's cheek. Georgiana explains to Aylmer that she awoke to hear him say, "It is in her center now; we must have it out" (The Birthmark). Aylmer may have realized his arrogance and accepted Georgiana as the present that she was. Instead, he became all the more obsessed with carrying out the experiment, much like the eponymous mad scientist in Frankenstein. Aylmer was so certain of his success and had such trust in his knowledge of knowledge that he appeared to have assumed a "divine right over others" (Fairbanks 103). Georgiana experienced become only a ownership to him, and one might ponder whether he really cherished her. Aylmer can no longer make rational decisions because he is so overdosed on ego.
Aylmer is given another warning that the remedy that he thinks will remove Georgiana's mark is poison. He produces an test that he has been growing in a bloom pot, and the rose grows from the garden soil before her eye. Aylmer stimulates her to pluck the bloom and inhale its perfume. But when she details the blossom, it dies immediately. Aylmer dismisses the inability by declaring that the stimulus was too powerful. He will try to distract her by taking her picture, but the resulting image is blurry, as the birthmark is quite prominent. Aylmer is spooked by the picture and throws it into corrosive acid. He never considers that these failures might be warning signs that his science is not infallible as he believes. He continues with the test, and even while Georgiana is dying, he does not realize that his meddling with technology is at mistake. "In the epiphanic climax of elixir drinking alcohol, as Georgiana's senses are 'concluding over' her 'heart' like 'leaves around the heart of a rose at sunset'"(Epiphanies 69), Aylmer observes with methodical detachment, and chalks up the entire thing to a failed experiment. The saddest thing relating to this story is that there is no great sorrow exhibited by Aylmer at the increased loss of his wife. The author's lament in the last paragraph is not echoed by Aylmer, and there is no evidence that this experience transformed him at all. "Yet, experienced Aylmer reached a profounder intelligence, he need not thus have flung away the pleasure which would have woven his mortal life of the selfsame structure with the celestial. The momentary situation was too strong for him; he didn't look beyond the shadowy opportunity of energy, and, living once for everyone in eternity, to get the perfect future in today's" (The Birthmark).
In Hawthorne's reports, an epiphany is not always good news. It really is a moment of revelation, but the revelation does not always suggest something positive. Goodman Dark brown realizes in his midnight walk that the viewpoints that he presented about the individuals in his community weren't true. Folks who attended cathedral and performed positions of management were assumed to be pious and holy, but one night in the woods modified that.
Goodman Brown requires a journey in to the woods, and meets up with the devil. He's inclined to place a stop to the walk with the devil many times through the experience, but his makes an attempt are half-hearted and his strong protests band hollow because he doesn't follow through with action. He informs the devil that he's a good Puritan, and such people do not relate with evildoings and dark walks in the woods with unsavory character types. The devil laughs heartily and mocks him. As the story continues, Goodman Brown observes various folks from the city that are making their way to a gathering in the woods. Goody Cloyse, Deacon Gookin, and the minister make an appearance in the dark wood. They discuss the awful things that they are doing when they think no person is just about to see them, and they have a good have fun. Goodman Brown is shocked to hear their speech, but he's even more stunned when he enters the clearing and recognizes the proceedings. All of the people from the town that he thought were good Christians were carrying out some type of satanic ritual, plus a band of unsavory heroes with whom they would never affiliate themselves in the light of day. Goodman Dark brown mentioned that "it was strange to notice that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints" (Young Goodman Dark brown).
As he's drawn in to the wicked group, he notices that Faith is also in attendance. She is the other young person who is being initiated into this wicked congregation. He is rightfully stunned, and "the aspersions this horrid epiphany scattered on Goodman's love and 'Beliefs' took the light from his center" (Epiphanies 82). Goodman Dark brown has an epiphany that not only are the "Christians" just as wicked as any carousing drunk in the tavern, but also his cherished Faith is among their ranks. He shouts to Faith to resist bad, and at that moment he wakes in the woods exclusively. Was it a aspiration? To Goodman Dark brown it doesn't matter. He "struggles to understand or recognize the evil revealed to him in the forest of the spirit, " he "loses faith in the reality of the good, and lives the rest of his long life in gloomy alienation" (Waggoner 16). Goodman Brown is profoundly afflicted by what he sees in the woods. He "concludes that his Faith is gone, there is no good on the planet, and sin is only a name" (Gale 170). His epiphany does not bring about a change for the better in his life, and "he becomes a eager man hearing bad and blasphemy in cathedral anthems and sermons" (Gale 171).
Hawthorne's use of epiphany intertwined with the climax of the storyline creates a robust emotional moment for the characters and for the visitors. Perhaps Mr. Hawthorne is alert his audience that moments of revelation can sneak up on a person, and if they miss it, they can spend the rest of their lives in regret. Aylmer's "search for a technological ideal destroys Georgiana" (Male 84). Goodman Brown was "baffled and benumbed by the ambiguity of good and wicked he discovers in his Beliefs" (Male 71). He lives an extended and unhappy life, and appears to make everyone around him miserable as well. Hawthorne used epiphany to convey to his audience that they are just as capable of missing an instant of clarity, and this mistake could be as costly as it was for Aylmer and Goodman Brown.
