30 pages • 1 hour read
Nathaniel HawthorneDr. Heidegger's Experiment
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1837A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Figurative Language
The figurative language Hawthorne utilizes in the story enhances the effects of many of the themes present. Imagery, metaphors, and personification are some of the techniques used to emphasize the influence of nature and time in the characters’ lives. What immediately sets the tone in the story is the description of Dr. Heidegger’s study in which his experiment takes place. The narrator states that the study is “festooned with cobwebs, and besprinkled with antique dust” (13) and that “between two of the bookcases hung a looking-glass, presenting its high and dusty plate with a tarnished gilt frame” (14). The “antique dust” and “cobwebs” emphasize Dr. Heidegger’s old age and venerability, as well as the four guests’ elderly condition. The characters, with their “ashen visages,” (15) gather around the small round table, “as black as ebony,” (15) to aid Dr. Heidegger in performing an experiment. Hawthorne’s word choice intensifies the setting and atmosphere throughout the story.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing occurs on several occasions. In the beginning, the narrator informs the reader that the three gentlemen had “once been on the point of cutting each other’s throats for [Widow Wycherly’s] sake” (13). Later, the same scenario unfolds. Again, before the guests drink the water of youth, Dr. Heidegger mentions that it would be a “sin and shame” if they did not become “patterns of virtue and wisdom” (18) having a second opportunity to experience youth. By the end of the story, the guests indeed become “patterns of virtue and wisdom” as they have not learned any lesson from the experience.
Irony
The irony of the story is that the outcome of the experiment does not teach those who participate in it. Furthermore, the water of youth doesn’t really give them more time in any meaningful way, only false hope that more time could be obtained. The narrator employs verbal irony in several passages, too, as when he says that some of the “fables” told about Dr. Heidegger “to my shame be it spoke, might possibly be traced back to mine own veracious self” (16).
Point of View
The narrator’s point of view adds a layer of reflection that heightens the meaning of the story. The narrator, who provides the main context of the story and characters’ descriptions, claims to have heard false or fantastic stories about Dr. Heidegger and his experiments. The reader is left to discern what is true and false and, most importantly, what ideas Hawthorne intends to convey about humanity, virtue, and sin. The narrator states, “Before proceeding further, I will merely hint that Dr. Heidegger and all his foul guests were sometimes thought to be a little beside themselves,” (13) leaving the characters open to interpretation. From the narrator’s point of view, the reader can form their own judgments about the four guests, Dr. Heidegger, the plot, and resolution. It is ambiguous as to what Dr. Heidegger intended to happen to the guests after drinking the water. The narrator’s point of view enables the reader to observe the story from different perspectives and have their own subjective opinion of the experiment.
Related Titles
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
