Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
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Dr. Heidegger's Experiment is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, about a scientist who claims to have been sent water from the Fountain of Youth. It was first published in the collection, Twice-Told Tales in 1837.
[edit] Plot summary
Calling four old friends together, he shows them its power by dipping a 55 year old rose blossom in the water. It is renewed, as though it had just been plucked. A dying butterfly is later similarly refreshed.
The four friends drink the water, and are restored to their former youthfulness. They begin frolicking together, and during their playfulness, knock over the pitcher which contained the water of youth. The doctor implores them to stop, and as he does so, the rose is seen to wither. It becomes "as dry and fragile as when the doctor had first thrown it into the vase". The water's effect was not permanent, and the four people return to their previous aged state. They resolve to go to Florida and drink, morning, noon and night, from the Fountain of Youth. Dr. Heidegger, after observing these effects on his friends, is content to live life out the way nature wants it to be. He sees the harmful effects of the water and acknowledges the fact that science isnt always good. Many of the characters return to their old foolish ways as they were younger.
[edit] Major themes
It reflects the Nationalistic period, where the strange and picturesque were incorporated in many of the authors of the time including Hawthorne.
