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"The Birthmark:" or Rejection of Puritan Society The article "Birthmarks and Bioethics" by Nick Gillespie challenges the role of "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne by insinuating that the short story is a mere scratch of the surface for more important bioethical issues. Gillespie argues that Hawthorne's approach to bioethics remain in the interest of what was available and known at the time of his life, but that by today's standards more depth should be expected of a piece before it becomes used as an example of bioethics. Gillespie is interested in bioethical advances that may better human life by treating diseases and serious genetic mutations rather than the views of his predecessors who were interested in bioethics as a solution for mere cosmetic imperfections. It may be true that Hawthorne was interested in writing about the use of bioethics for perfecting the human race but when the research is done it becomes apparent why. It seems that Hawthorne was, as most of us are, a creature of his surroundings, mimicking the culture in which he was raised, (and eventually condemning it) and abiding by the wishes of the government that ruled at the time "The Birthmark" was written. Born on July 4, 1808 into the "race of the c