Dr+Hegdedingers+Experiment

Time: Author is not specific, but most probably in the late 1800s or the early 1900s Place: Dr Heidegger's study: "A dim, old-fashioned chamber" with cobwebs and dust covering the furniture and walls. Along the walls were bookcases whose bottom drawers, at the time, were opened to reveal "rows of gigantic folios and black leather quartos", and whose upper's contained "parchment-covered duodecimos". Among the less ordinary was a bronze bust of Hippocrates, with which Heidegger conducted philosophical discussions; an oak closet inside of which stood a skeleton; a painting of the girl that Dr. Heidegger had wished to marry, until she died from complications of taking the wrong drug. The item of the greatest curiosity was perhaps the silver-clasped black-leather book that was fabled to be one of magic. Mood: At the outset of the story, the reader is made to believe that the room is a place where terrible experiments are carried out, and where an evil man keeps skeletons locked up in his closet. The reader sees, however, as the story progresses that Dr Heidegger is quite the opposite of all of these things, and is merely a scientific working machine. As the reader is pulled through this story, s/he visualizes, with some detached wonder these old people repeating the mistakes of their youth. pg161 para 3 "deathlike slumber" sleep as if in death pg 160 para 2 "small round table, black as ebony" very dark table pg 163 para1 "she felt almost like a woman again" the lady so far past her prime feels as if she is not actually a woman until she drinks the water pg 162 para 6 "...offspring of Natures dotage..." pg 164 para 4 "tremulous glitter of diamonds" The class theme of choices ties into the theme of this story in only one way that I can see. The theme of this story is wanting what you cannot have. Yet, say you were really old, and you were presented with the chance to become young again, would you choose to be young, or experience your life until death. This was really the main choice that the characters in this story were presented with. The characters all chose eternal life over death, giving them half an hour of wondrous pleasure, and then sadness at the fact that they really were old, decrepit and ugly-looking. Personally, if I were of their age, and had seen that much of the world, passing on would seem like another great adventure.
 * Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: Dr Heidegger's Experiment**
 * Point of View:** Third person Omniscient
 * Protagonist:** Dr Heidegger
 * What type of character is the Protagonist?** Round Dynamic
 * Antagonist:** Water from the fountain of youth, the old people themselves (see Type of Conflict)
 * Describe the setting**
 * Type of Conflict:** Man vs. fountain of youth**,** person vs self
 * Describe the main conflict:** The fountain of youth drives these old shriveled-up people into an insane vision that they are young again. For old people on the verge of death, nothing in the world is welcome to a moment of life in their youth. The prospect of being young forever makes the old guests almost drunk with happiness and pride in their younger selves. Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, Mr Gascoigne and Widow Wycherly forget their promise to the doctor, and they consequently relive the mistakes of their past.
 * Describe the Climax of the Story:** The climax of this story is when Dr Heidegger's patients realize that the water from the fountain of youth only simulates and shows the external effects of youth for maybe half an hour. After this point, the venerable old folks see their mistake and decide that they have bee foolish, and should have listened to the professor.
 * How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?** The doctor, though he knew all along that the water of youth would not bestow youth forever, he acts as if he does not know. He pretends that the experiment will make the old people forever young, and, in doing so, completes his experiment. His experiment, it turns out, is not to find out if the water works, rather it is to find out what the process of aging does to a person, and what the revers process does as well.
 * Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.** The theme of this story, I believe, is that humans never have all that they could possibly want. The old, who have had their own fair share of life, want to be young again, so that they can re-experience it, whereas the young, who have so much of life ahead of them wish to experience that in a matter of minutes. Though the actual title of this tale is not very revealing, - for Dr Heidegger could have any multitude of experiments- the small caption underneath the title foreshadows old people drinking water that will make them youthful. These old people will, without a doubt want nothing more than to be young again, something that they cannot have.
 * How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?** The old men and woman want that which they cannot get, youth. The one way that this can be restored to these people is through the fountain of youth, which, needless to say, they go to any lengths to drink. But, as one can see, the fact that they drunk the water and became foolish young people again shows that this brilliant idea is not in their best interests.
 * How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?** When the old lady and gents find out that they have not regressed in age, and simply had the illusion of youth, they find, with mundane finality that they cannot really have what it is not possible to have. What they really wanted most was beyond their reach, so they had better live in the now, and not wish for the past.
 * Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):**
 * Simile:**
 * Metaphor:** Many have heard of the metaphor of the skeleton in the closet, which usually means that the character is hiding a dark and sinister secret. This symbolic metaphor is literally portrayed with an actual skeleton perched upright in the doctors oaken closet. The narrator might give us this bit of information to make us wonder what dark secret that Dr Heidegger conceals in his open closet. perhaps it has something to do with Sylvia, his late fiancee...
 * Personification:**
 * Symbol:** pg 166 para 5 "my poor Sylvia rose... it appears to be fading again**"** this symbolizes the fact that the old people will too return to their old state.
 * Foreshadowing (give both elements):** The point at which Dr Heidegger warns his guests not to make the same bad decisions they made in the past foreshadows that these old people might not heed his words**.** Medbourne, a merchant by trade, would only do that which profits him. Killigrew, a military person might not care what ends are cut to achieve his ends. Gascoigne, a politician, would do as any government man would do, and not listen to public anyhow, only doing that which benefits his wants and needs. Finally, the beautiful Widow Wycherly could only think of her past beauty, and wouldn't care if the whole world went to pieces and she got her beauty back. These characters would naturally lean towards helping themselves before others. If, however, Heidegger had chosen a better array of old people, such as a philosopher or a theoretician, his final outcome might have been different. What happened in the end of this experiment, however was the old fools did not heed the warning of the doctor, and proceeded in fighting over the lost beauty of the Widow Wycherly
 * Irony:** The irony in this story is the fact that water from the fountain of youth does not restore youth, but instead it simulates it. After the brief haze of external, visible youth, they old people go back to their withered state and are left more unhappy than they were when they first drank. This is ironic because the fountain of youth has brought about more bad than good.
 * Imagery:** pg 163 para 1 The fascinating possibility of the old becoming young again is shown in this one paragraph. There was a "healthful suffusion of color in their cheeks, instead of ashen hue that made them look so corpse-like" that sentence alone puts into mind the image of the years of age and worry falling away, leaving the old guests in middle age.
 * Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.**

1. According to Dr. Heidegger, what is the purpose of this experiment? What Dr Heidegger says and his true motive in the experiment vary a great deal. To his guests, he appears simply curious as to what to the properties of this wondrous water do to people, and to see if it really works. Yet, I feel that there is a hidden, deeper meaning to his experiment. He appears not the slightest bit surprised when his beloved Sylvia rose withers back to its old, forlorn state, and even less surprised when the old folks he invited over turn back into the old crinkled people that they once were. I believe that the hidden experiment was to find out what old people (or people in general) would do when given the deepest most desperate wish of their hearts. 2. What do Dr. Heidegger's friends have in common? How does each of them behave during the experiment? All of Dr Heidegger's friends were old, and all were tangled in a strange love knot when they were youthful. Widow Wycherly, throughout the experiment wishes to be younger, more beautiful, and thirsts to have her beauty back. The others, as they go through the experiment begin to re-live their past, as if were compelled to do so by some invisible force. Gascoigne recants convoluted political speeches that make sense to none but himself, while Killigrew sings jolly sailor's songs, and drops frequent looks at the beautiful Widow Wycherly. Medbourne, however is in his own world, and is making complex calculations pertaining to money and the East Indies. Yet as they grow younger still, the men all go after the Widow, and start going at each others throats to win the widow of bewitching beauty. 3. Why would Dr. Heidegger not stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth? Do his friends feel the same way? Comment Dr Heidegger would not drink the water from the fountain, because he found out that the water would, without question make the drinker replay the actions of youth, good and bad. His friends, on the other hand resolve to make a "pilgrimage to Florida" to bathe in the water and stay forever young. 4. Who is the narrator of the story? Though he is not a participant in the experiment, the narrator relates all the details. How does he know what happened to the doctor and his friends? How certain of his facts is the narrator? The narrator-though the author is not specific-is most probably a close friend or acquaintance of Dr Heidegger. The characters never really interact with the narrator, yet s/he knows all of the details of the experiment. This causes one to believe that the narrator was out of the room at the time, yet still close enough to the doctor to get the information. 5. What points are made about youth and aging in the story? Do you agree with the views of the story? The author makes several points about aging over the course of the story. His first being that 4 out of 5 old people are greedy, crotchety, purposeless and gray-looking. His other point is that young people are mesmerized with their own beauty and charm. On the other hand, he makes the point that if one learns from ones mistakes, s/he will become a much better individual. The first two opinions I disagree with, but the third has great truth. 7. Some scientists hope to develop a vaccine against aging. They speculate that human beings could live approximately 800 years. Do you feel this is desirable? No. The human mind's capacity to input information most probably shorts out after 300-400 years. Experiencing a vegetative state of mind for 600 years is not desirable to me. Even if this short-outing of brain is avoidable, I still would rather live a normal life and die a normal death, rather than extending my life for 800 years. Think about it, though, if you were born in 1200 AD, would you want to experience the black plague, the fall of Constantinople, the Mona Lisa being painted, Galileo's birth and god knows what else in one lifetime?

Completion 5/5 Effort 5/5 Content 5/5

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Questions Completion Mark 5/5

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