Mr. Medbourne is symbolically equivalent to greed, which is common in materialistic characters. Mr. Medbourne, who carried the name of a merchant in his younger years, represents the way human ideals fall toward virtues opposing basic ideals such as truth, trust, and generosity. Colonel Killigrew represents the sins and moral corruption of a society striving for ideological truths but internally cluttered with hypocrisy. A ruined politician, Mr. Gascoigne is directly related to the lessons that are absorbed with the coming of old age, and how in a moment a pool of morals developed over years of experience, can evaporate into a shallow puddle. Offered the opportunity of youth, the four symbolic characters suffer the loss of the wisdom attained with old age and all focus their beliefs on the idea that youth is the principle of eternal happiness. Symbolic objects such as the mirror hanging in the oaken closet, is a reminder of previous failures made by Dr. Heidegger, the intellectual scientist. Dr. Heidegger is yet another allegory himself. He takes on a God-like figure because of his ability to control the mind of the four subjects of his experiments. His subjects" lust for achieving youth and their desire to achieve what they cannot have, becomes the dominant theme in this story as well as Hawthorne's other relevant works. .
"You came so nearly perfect from the hand of nature, that this slightest defect shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection.".
A dissatisfaction with imperfection and a desire for perfect mortality, whether gained naturally or scientifically, is the theme implied with this excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's, "The Birthmark". By using contrast, Hawthorne develops a distinct division between mortal truths and scientific ideals. The small hand upon the cheek of Georgiana, for example, is an illustration of mortality amidst all humanity because it is the only sign of defect that she carries.
