“The first thing that struck her eye was the furnace, that hot and feverish worker, with the intense glow of its fire”(pg 272). The imagery in Hawthorne’s “The Birth-mark” sets up a feeling of sinister atmosphere. It essentially gives the reader the idea that they are spending time in a mad scientist laboratory. “He washed the stains of acid from his fingers” (pg 259). The washing of hands, creates an image of Dr. Frankenstein. You don’t know if he’s up to good or bad. All that is known is the fact that something weird or creepy is going down; essentially there is some mad scientist with dark dirty-ass fingers who’s trying to get clean for his love.
“But if any shifting emotion cause her to turn pale there was a mark again, which is a crimson stain upon the snow “. This gives the reader an image of what this woman’s looks like. She is very hot woman, but when she turns her face, people head for the hills. Essentially, through her perfect design, she was made imperfect through the little mark.
To touch on another element which we believe is present, is kyiro sqiro (misspelled) because there is a contrast of colors particularly dark and light, eg. crimson, and white snow. Irrefutably, these images set up a reader for the ultimate feeling that the story will have a tragic ending. The descriptions of the little freak hand that even her husband won’t go near makes the reader realize that this birthmark must be really creepy, if even her husband won’t go near it.
