Mr. Heidegger's Experiment Summary & Analysis

Mr. Heidegger's Experiment (Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864) Summary & Analysis Type of Work Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" is an amusing short story centering on an old doctor who gives four elderly acquaintances what the doctor tells them is water from the Fountain of Youth. Publication The story first appeared in 1837 in The Knickerbocker, a literary magazine published in New York City. It was republished in the same year in Twice-Told Tales, a collection of Hawthorne's stories. Setting The action takes place in dim and dusty study of the title character's home in an unidentified locale in the United States. Characters • Dr. Heidegger: Elderly physician who gives four friends what he says is water from the Fountain of Youth. • Mr. Medbourne: Old man who once was a successful merchant. He lost all his money on wild speculation. • Colonel Killigrew: Old man who squandered his youth on sinful pursuits. • Mr. Gascoigne: Old man who fell to ruin as a politician with a bad reputation. • Clara Wycherly: Old widow. She was once a striking beauty who engaged in scandalous behavior. • Sylvia Ward: Deceased woman. She died on the day that she was to marry Dr. Heidegger. Point of View After hearing tales about Heidegger's experiment, the narrator tells the story to the reader. The narrator thus is recounting what he heard, not what he witnessed. He uses first-person point of view to begin the story, note the last sentence in the first paragraph, then tells the rest of it like a third-person narrator. Tone The tone is lighthearted and playful, as the following sentence in the third paragraph suggests. “Over the central bookcase was a bronze bust of Hippocrates, with which, according to some authorities, Dr. Heidegger was accustomed to hold consultations in all difficult cases of his practice. In the obscurest corner of the room stood a tall and narrow oaken closet, with its door ajar, within which doubtfully appeared a skeleton. Between two of the bookcases hung a looking-glass, presenting its high and dusty plate within a tarnished gilt frame. Among many wonderful stories related of this mirror, it was fabled that the spirits of all the doctor's deceased patients dwelt within its verge, and would stare him in the face whenever he looked thitherward.” Plot Summary Old Dr. Heidegger invites four elderly friends: Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne, all with white beards, and the wrinkled Widow Wycherly, to his dim and dusty study to request their help with an experiment. Each guest had fallen on hard times. Medbourne had lost all the money he made as a successful merchant to wild speculation. Killigrew had squandered his good years on sinful pursuits and now is paying the price with aches and pains, gout, and other maladies. Gascoigne, once a politician with a bad reputation, is now living in obscurity. Widow Wycherly, once a striking beauty, now lives in seclusion to avoid confronting stories about her scandalous behavior. Medbourne, Killigrew, and Gascoigne once were among the widow's admirers and, says the narrator, had been “on the point of cutting each other's throats for her sake.” Cobwebs, a bust of Hippocrates, a mirror, and oak bookcases adorn the room. On one wall hangs a portrait of a lady who, fifty-five years before, was to marry Heidegger. But, on the day of the wedding, she felt out of sorts, took one of her husband-to-be's prescriptions, and died. Among the books is a volume on magic bound in black leather. As Heidegger and his guests sit at a round table with champagne glasses in front of them, the old doctor takes a withered rose from between the pages of the book and says his brideto-be, Sylvia Ward, gave it to him to wear at their wedding. After she died, he placed it in the book. He asks his guests, “Would you deem it possible . . . that this rose could ever bloom again?” “You might as well ask whether an old woman's wrinkled face could ever bloom again," says the widow. Heidegger then places the rose in a vase of water. In a few moments, the dry rose blooms. Its petals are red, and its stalk and foliage green. His observers say Heidegger has merely played a clever trick, like ones he had performed for them before, and ask how he did it. He tells them the water is from the fabled Fountain of Youth, sought in Florida centuries before by Ponce de León. Heidegger says the Spanish explorer looked in the wrong place. However, the fountain does exist, he says. It is in the southern part of the Florida peninsula, near Lake Macaco. An acquaintance of Heidegger sent him a sample of the its water—the water in the vase. Killigrew does not believe Heidegger's story. Nevertheless, he asks what effect the water has on humans. Heidegger tells the colonel and the others that they may see for themselves, for he will give them enough water to restore their youth. As for himself, the doctor says, “having had much trouble in growing old, I am in no hurry to grow young again.” So he will simply observe what happens. The doctor then pours an effervescing liquid into their glasses. All four reach for their glasses, believing they will be swallowing nothing more than a pleasant refreshment. Heidegger stops them to provide a cautionary word: “Think what a sin and shame it would be, if, with your peculiar advantages, you should not become patterns of virtue and wisdom to all the young people of the age!" The four decrepit guests laugh at the idea that they would ever go astray again, then drink the liquid. In a moment, color flows into their cheeks; their faces take on a cheerful look. They ask for more, and Heidegger obliges. After they drink again, their gray hairs begin to change to black. Their eyes brighten. None is now beyond middle age. Killigrew tells the widow that she is charming, and she gets up and hurries over to the mirror. The three men are in such jovial spirits that one would think the liquid is intoxicating. Gascoigne begins talking politics and patriotism, now and then reducing his voice to a whisper, as if telling a secret. Killigrew is singing a song, and Medbourne is doing calculations and planning a project to deliver ice to the East Indies by hitching whales to icebergs. The widow, meanwhile, is quite satisfied with her image in the mirror and comes back to the table for another drink. Heidegger refills all the glasses. After they drink, they return to joyful youth. How wonderful they feel! “The most singular effect of their gayety was an impulse to mock the infirmity and decrepitude of which they had so lately been the victims,” the narrator says. They ridicule their attire. One mimics an old man limping across the floor, another pokes fun at Heidegger, and they all jump merrily about the room. The widow says, “Doctor, you dear old soul, get up and dance with me!" Saying he is too old for such frolic; he suggests that she dance with one of the three nowyoung men. Medbourne, Killigrew, and Gascoigne then close in on her, vying to become her dance partner. At that moment, the mirror seems to reflect images of four withered and wrinkled old people acting nonsensically. The men fight over the beautiful young woman. The table overturns and the container of precious water falls to the floor. An old butterfly that had wandered into the room drinks some of the spilled water and, rejuvenated, flits about the room and lands on Heidegger's head. Heidegger, who is holding the rose, then calls the revelers to order. Weary and with a feeling that their youth may be slipping away, they sit down. Heidegger then observes that the rose appears to be returning to a state of decay. A few moments later, it is as dry and shriveled as when he removed it from the book. He says he likes it just as much now as when it was fresh and full of color. The butterfly flutters off his head and falls to the floor. The four guests lose their youth. They are old again. The effects of the fountain water were no more lasting than the effects of wine. Heidegger says, “If the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not stoop to bathe my lips in it, no, though its delirium were for years instead of moments. Such is the lesson ye have taught me!" However, Heidegger's guests all decide to travel to Florida to drink from the precious waters “morning, noon, and night.” Themes People's Reluctance to Reform If only I had a second chance. We've all heard people speak those words, naughty children, expelled students, drug addicts, gamblers, adulterers, prisoners up for parole. Unfortunately, too many of them relapse into their old ways when they get that second chance. In “Dr. Heidegger's Experiment,” four elderly reprobates laugh at the idea that they will repeat their behavior of the past if they become young again. But as soon as the elixir returns them to youth, they begin acting in a way that sullied their reputations in the first place. Heidegger thus succeeds in his experiment, demonstrating that at least some people are reluctant to reform their ways. Mystery Hawthorne heightens the fanciful effect of the story by interweaving it with mystery. In particular, he leaves several questions unanswered, including the following: • Did Heidegger prescribe the wrong medicine for his fiancée? Did he give her poison? Did she commit suicide? The story says only that “she had swallowed one of her lover's prescriptions, and died on the bridal evening.” • Did all the seemingly supernatural happenings described in paragraph three really occur? For example, did the chambermaid hear a skeleton rattling or did she merely imagine that she did? • Do Heidegger's four guests drink an alcoholic beverage or do they really drink water from the Fountain of Youth? Is it possible that Heidegger is simply working a clever magic trick? Real life, of course, is full of mysteries. For example, why are scientists unable to find a cure for the common cold? Did extraterrestrial beings really land at Area 51 in Nevada? How did the ancient Egyptians construct the Great Pyramid of Khufu? Can two or more human beings really communicate via extrasensory perception? What causes deja vu, a split-second feeling that you are reliving an experience exactly as it happened? Why does the Madagascar palm tree bloom with small flowers only once every one hundred years? Dr. Heidegger's fictional world, it seems, reflects in some ways the real world. The Power of Suggestion Does Dr. Heidegger give his friends an alcoholic drink? Or does he give them water from the Fountain of Youth? The reader cannot be sure. But if he did give them champagne or another wine, their behavior indicates that they are highly susceptible to the power of suggestion. Medical practitioners are familiar with this phenomenon. They call it the placebo effect. It occurs when a patient with an affliction responds to treatment consisting of a useless preparation, such as sugar pills, in the belief that he or she is receiving a medication. Hypnotists, magicians, politicians, and advertisers—among others—also use the power of suggestion in an attempt to get their listeners to respond in a certain way. Climax The climax occurs when Dr. Heidegger observes that the rejuvenated rose is returning to its withered state, signaling that his guests will do the same. Heidegger's Purpose As the first theme suggests, Heidegger conducted the experiment to determine whether people tend to return to their old ways if given a second chance at life. But why did Heidegger want to make this determination? Here is one possible explanation. Maybe he himself considered taking the elixir to relive a moment in his life that he regretted. First, however, he wanted to see how the elixir affected the others. So he tried it out on them. After noting their behavior, in particular, their reversion to their old ways, he realized that he too would revert to his old ways and therefore decided not to take the elixir. But what did he regret? What moment did he want to relive? Keep in mind the skeleton in his closet, a metaphorical representation, perhaps, of a wrongful deed or a mistake. Keep in mind too that his fiancée “had swallowed” one of his prescriptions and died. Let's put these two thoughts together. The skeleton in his closet could be a grievous mistake: he prescribed the wrong medicine for Sylvia. Or it could be a regrettable decision: he told her that he did not want to marry her after all. Distraught, she then overdosed on the prescription and killed herself. Finally, the skeleton could represent a foul deed: he murdered Sylvia after deciding not to marry her. Of course, it is also possible that Heidegger was simply attempting to carry out the experiment described under the first theme or that he was simply playing a clever trick on his friends. Vocabulary Hippocrates: Ancient Greek physician (460-370 BC) credited with establishing medicine as a science. For his contributions, historians refer to him as the Father of Medicine. brocade: Heavy fabric with a raised, woven pattern. coquetry: Flirtation. damask: Fabric such as cotton, silk, wool, rayon, or linen with a woven pattern. It may be used to make curtains, tablecloths, and upholstery. Ponce de León: Juan Ponce de León (1474-1571), Spanish explorer who joined Columbus on his second voyage to America in 1493. After his own voyage to the New World in 1513, Ponce de León discovered Florida while, according to legend, searching for the Fountain of Youth. East Indies: Southeast Asia. festoon: String of flowers, leaves, tinsel, etc., displayed in a loop from one point to another. transient: Temporary; transitory; for a short time. trolling: Singing with enthusiasm. waistcoat: Waist-length garment without sleeves that is worn under a suit jacket; vest. Figures of Speech Alliteration • bound in black leather, which common report affirmed to be a book of magic • what was once a rose • bursting in silvery spray at the surface • As the liquor diffused a pleasant perfume, the old people doubted not that it possessed cordial and comfortable properties • a mild and moonlike splendor Anaphora • Now he rattled forth full-throated sentences about patriotism, national glory, and the people's right; now he muttered some perilous stuff or other, in a sly and doubtful whisper, so cautiously that even his own conscience could scarcely catch the secret; and now, again, he spoke in measured accents, and a deeply deferential tone, • One limped across the floor like a gouty grandfather; one set a pair of spectacles astride of his nose Hyperbole • numberless centuries Metaphor • a sudden glow of cheerful sunshine brightening over all their visages at once Comparison of the look on their faces to sunshine • She examined whether the snow had so entirely melted from her hair Comparison of the color of her hair (gray) to snow • the exhilarating gush of young life shot through their veins Comparison of the vigor of youth to blood Personification • It seemed as if gray Time were calling them back from their sunny youth, far down into the chill and darksome vale of years. Comparison of time to a person • gigantic magnolias, which, though numberless centuries old, have been kept as fresh as violets Comparison of the freshness of centuries-old magnolias to that of violets Study Questions and Essay Topics 1. What does Heidegger mean by the following statement near the end of the story: “If the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not stoop to bathe my lips in it—no, though its delirium were for years instead of moments. Such is the lesson ye have taught me!" 2. Have you ever experienced a placebo effect? If so, tell your classmates about it. 3. Is Heidegger in the habit of conducting experiments in front of acquaintances? (A sentence in the story answers this question.) 4. Write an essay arguing for or against the use of plastic surgery to look younger. 5. Write an essay centering on a moment in your life that you regret and wish you could relive so that you could alter your behavior or make a different decision.