Man has always had the desire to acquire knowledge to improve his standard of living and society as a whole. It has allowed the development of glorious civilizations and the discovery of tools that allow us to survive efficiently. Without the attainment of knowledge man would still be in a primitive state. Accessing it involves the responsibility not to exceed our limits, which can lead us to lose our humanity and become unnatural. “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the story of a scientist, Aylmer, whose life revolves around his scientific research. His scientific obsession is interrupted and replaced by a union with a beautiful woman, Georgina. Aylmer's love for science and his wife are in constant battle, Aylmer loses his sense of self, devoting his time to laboratory work and observing any unusual differences in Georgina. In turn, he loses his natural ways of behaving and physical attributes. He now has a "slender figure and a pale, intellectual face, no less suited to a type of the spiritual element" (1025). Aylmer is no longer a human, but an entity that replaces humanity due to his obsession with removing the birthmark. On the other hand, his assistant Aminadab is described as a man with “great strength, his disheveled hair, his smoky appearance and the indescribable earthiness that encrusted him, seemed to represent the physical nature of man” (1025) . These two characters represent different ends of a spectrum. Aylmer portrays an individual who lacks a natural outlook on life, always seeking to overcome nature. While Aminadab depicts the raw man, endowed with brute strength and an earthly physique. There is a stark contrast between Aylmer and Aminadab's beliefs about what to do with the birthmark. Aminadab, states "If she were my wife, I would never part with that desire" (1025) showing us how nature should have imperfections within it, while Aylmer believes it is better to free his wife from such a monstrosity that defiles she is almost perfect