Both Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birth Mark" and Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" employ potent symbolism to explore profound human anxieties, though their focus and methods diverge. Hawthorne, in his 19th-century Gothic tale, uses the birthmark itself as a central, multi-layered symbol. It represents imperfection, mortality, and the unattainable ideal of purity that drives Aylmer, the protagonist, to tragically alter his wife, Georgiana. Hemingway, writing in the 20th century, utilizes the barren, sun-drenched landscape of the Ebro valley and the titular hills to mirror the emotional sterility and difficult choices facing his unnamed American couple. While Hawthorne's symbolism is overt and tied to a singular, physical manifestation of perceived flaw, Hemingway's is more subtle, embedded in setting and recurring imagery, reflecting a more existential crisis.
In "The Birth Mark," the crimson mark on Georgiana's cheek is the primary symbolic locus. For Aylmer, it is a "blemish" that signifies her connection to the earthly and the mortal, a constant affront to his pursuit of scientific and aesthetic perfection. He sees it as a "visible token of the imperfection of her nature, the token which she had to bear." This literal mark becomes a metaphor for the inherent flaws and limitations of all humanity, something Aylmer believes can be eradicated through his intellectual prowess. Georgiana, initially accepting of the mark as a part of her identity, eventually succumbs to Aylmer's obsessive conviction, allowing it to become a symbol of her own perceived inadequacy and her ultimately doomed desire for his absolute approval. The laboratory, where Aylmer conducts his experiments, also becomes symbolic. It is a sterile, artificial environment, representing the hubris of attempting to control nature and the human condition, a space where life and death are manipulated with devastating consequences.
Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" operates with a different symbolic register. The setting of the Spanish train station, a place of waiting and transition, immediately establishes a mood of indecision. The "hills like white elephants" are the central, yet ambiguous, symbol. For Jig, the woman, they initially represent a potentially fertile, perhaps even beautiful, future, a "lovely and peaceful" landscape. However, the American's dismissive interpretation—that they "don't really look like white elephants"—strips them of this potential, aligning them with an unwanted pregnancy, a burden. White elephants, in many cultures, are rare, sacred, and often burdensome to their owners. Jig's comparison suggests her internal conflict: the potential child is both a precious, perhaps even sacred, thing and a heavy responsibility she is being pressured to discard. The cordoned-off bar and the beaded curtain separating the two worlds within the station further symbolize the couple's emotional distance and the barrier the unspoken topic creates between them. The dry landscape itself, devoid of life-giving water, reflects the barrenness of their relationship and the potential emotional void if the pregnancy is terminated.
The contrast in symbolism highlights the authors' thematic concerns. Hawthorne uses the birthmark to critique the Romantic and Enlightenment ideal of perfectibility, demonstrating the destructive nature of obsession and the inability to accept human imperfection. Aylmer's quest for an impossible ideal leads not to transcendence but to destruction, a stark warning against the pursuit of absolute control. Hemingway, on the other hand, uses the ambiguous landscape and recurring images to explore the disillusionment of the Lost Generation and the quiet desperation of making life-altering decisions in a world stripped of clear moral guidance. The symbolism in "Hills Like White Elephants" is less about a specific flaw to be eradicated and more about the profound existential weight of choice and the erosion of genuine connection. The lack of resolution in Hemingway's story underscores the ongoing nature of such difficult decisions and their lasting impact.
Ultimately, both stories demonstrate the power of symbolism to convey complex emotional and philosophical ideas. Hawthorne's overt, gothic symbolism forces a confrontation with mortality and the dangers of hubris, while Hemingway's understated, environmental symbolism invites the reader into the couple's internal struggle and the bleakness of their prospects. Though separated by time and style, both writers masterfully use symbolic elements to probe the human condition, revealing the persistent anxieties surrounding imperfection, choice, and the pursuit of an idealized existence.