Hawthorne's "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment": Reality Or Illusion

Part I of Essay
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, one of the central ideas of the story revolves around the idea of reality versus illusion. Of course the overriding theme of the story dealt with the ethical dilemma of changing old age into youth, still a m ....

Part II of Essay
.... water's power, but in the same act of proving its power to his guests Hawthorne proves to us the power of the water because when the rose regains life nobody was drunk or had even attempted to drink the water. "The crushed and dried petals stirred, and assumed a deepening tinge of crimson, as if the flower were reviving from a death-like slumber;"(page 3) It is that clear cut, and completely undeniable considering that five people witnessed the act and not one had the slightest objection. After the first drink of the potion until t ....