Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" - Allegory

Question 1

allegory

Answer 1

• we should be content with where we are and what we have
• we can become agitated in old age when we think about our present difficulties and/or our past regrets
• our friends and who we are on the inside are often what truly define us
• while it’s easier to change when things are good, we often don’t think to change until something bad happens, and even then we don’t change unless there’s a consequence
• we are often too fixed in our beliefs to want to change them
• politicians have the power not only to deceive others, but also themselves

Question 2

one of the themes of Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” that is illustrated by the passage below, is that
Paragraph 51: “Yes, friends, ye are old again,” said Doctor Heidegger; “and lo! the Water of Youth is all lavished on the ground. Well, I bemoan it not; for if the fountain gushed at my 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!”

Answer 2

the Water of Youth is only an illusion; it doesn’t change what we really are inside

Question 3

one of the themes of Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” that is illustrated by the passage below, is that
paragraph 21: the doctor’s four venerable friends made him no answer, except by a feeble and tremulous laugh; so very ridiculous was the idea that, knowing how closely repentance treads behind the steps of error, they should ever go astray again

Answer 3

that we are too often sorry in adversity but not sorry enough to change in good times

Question 4

one of the themes of Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” that is illustrated by the passage below, is that
paragraph 29: Mr. Gascoigne’s mind seemed to run on political topics, but whether relating to the past, present, or future could not easily be determined, since the same ideas and phrases have been in vogue these fifty years

Answer 4

politicians philosophies don’t change much over the years

Question 5

one of the themes of Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” that is illustrated by the passage below, is that
paragraph 18: for my own part, having had much trouble in growing old, I am in no hurry to grow young again

Answer 5

we should be content with where we are and what we have

Question 6

which quality or characteristic does the character Mr. Gascoigne symbolize in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”?

Answer 6

egotism