How far should science go to “improve” people's appearance? In the short story "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the birthmark symbolizes the morality that every living being is somehow flawed and perfection cannot be found on earth. While this is true, people have the right to seek perfection and what happens after they think they have achieved it is their business. The character Aylmer is a scientist and his wife Georgiana has a small hand-shaped birthmark on her cheek that is barely noticeable. Other men find him charming, but Aylmer convinces Georgiana to let him remove the birthmark for his own peace of mind, then she dies. However, despite how strange it may seem, medical practices today are safer than they were in the past. Science should be allowed to go all the way to improve people's appearance based on desire, need and to reflect society as a whole. The first reason why science should be allowed to improve people's appearance is because of pure need. It would be against the law to stop someone from pursuing their pursuit of happiness, even if it involves a boob job. I think one of the reasons Georgiana wanted to remove the branding is because she “early learned to cringe at its gaze.” I know how awful it must be to have someone look at you strangely because you're different. Just like people who get rhinoplasty to escape racial binaries. But in this story both people wanted perfection, to please the other. Aylmer was not a bad husband, despite his desire for perfection, he just mixed his control over nature with his control over his mistress. When people want something, they will go to the ends of the earth to get it, and that's how the cookie crumbles. It seems like an omen... in the center of the card... because of desire, need and to reflect society's ideals. Until the end of time, humanity will seek to perfect everything, scientific or otherwise. It's a race to get better, just like the Cold War. Ultimately, no one is better or less than anyone else. But if getting a little Botox makes a person feel better, so be it. Even in the end, Aylmer treated Georgiana like a science experiment, but perhaps the moral is simply to accept yourself. In any case, if you can't accept what you were born with, change it permanently. Well, that's life, and no law can stop the world from turning, nor can it stop human nature from getting in the way of life. So, let science continue to do its thing, inventions and improvements to the body will exist until the end of time. Works Cited “The Birthmark.” By Nathaniel Hawthorne. Np, nd Web. November 24. 2013. .