Customer Reviews

Dr. Heidegger's Experiment (Tale Blazers: Wraparound)

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Ambiguity is a key element in much of Hawthorne's writing, but it is especially evident in "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment." Dr. Heidegger has evidently discovered a potion that can return youthful vigor to even the most decrepit old sinners he uses as the subjects of his experiment. But almost everything that happens in the story is up for question. For instance, how did Dr. Heidegger's youthful love, Sylvia, really die? And did the potion really work, or was it merely group hypnosis? Do the subjects really get younger, or, as the mirror suggests, are they still living in a world of blissful illusion? As usual, Hawthorne teases us with possibilities, but his final answers remain elusive.

I had not read Hawthorne in quite some time, but DR. HEIDEGGER'S EXPERIMENT was a nice surprise. It has a differnt feel from the Hawthorne I remember.

Let me say outright, that I wwas not approaching the story for its allegory or its inherent moral statemnts. I was simply there for the read. My wife, an AP English teacher, actually asked me to read it. What I found interesting is that we had slightly different takes on the nature of Dr. Heidegger. While neither one of us considered DH to be the benevolent, wise sage that most take him for, she felt he was more "like" those he used in his experiment: namely, he had never learned from his past meddling in his arts (that may have led to the death of his beloved). I felt like he was actually malevolent. He had to know the effects of the elixr were temporary, yet rather than tell his guests that, he chose to be vague about it all, knowing (as he seemed to) that they would react as they did. In the end, the experiment is exceptionally cruel, even though (and because) it plays on the the guests terrible natures.

Still, I thought the atmosphere of the story was good and creepy. The opening details of the study lend themselves to much speculation on the reader's part as to what the nature of Dr. Heidegger is. I imagined Heidegger sitting there with a sly, knowing smirk the whole time.

Well worth the quick read and it can easily lead to a wide variety of discussions, debates and disagreemnets. Always fun when a story can get folks thinking.