Dr.Heidegger's+experiment

**Short Stories - Literary Devises __Title: Dr.Heidgger’s experiment__ **

**Point of View:** first person, limited omniscient


 * Protagonist:** Dr. Heidegger. He is an old gentleman who does an experiment on reviving the youth of humans.

The protagonist of the story is round and dynamic. Dr.Heidegger, the protagonist, is well described and his opinions are clearly shown. The reason why he is dynamic is because his perspective on youth and aging changes through out the story as the experiment goes on.
 * What type of character is the Protagonist?**


 * Antagonis**t**:** Dr. Heidegger.(Himself)

The story takes place at Dr.Heidegger’s study. It is described as a dim and old-fashioned chamber, filled with dust and spiderwebs which gives an idea that it is not well-kept. Also the study sounds pretty stark since only a few bookcases, a mirror and a portrait of his wife were mentioned. The mood of the story generally seems to be mysterious and creepy. I think the time of the story would be around 1900’s because the story sounds pretty old and this fact can be abstracted from the description of Dr.Heidegger’s study. However, it does not sound ancient old, so around 1900’s would be the most appropriate assumption. A reader can know that the story begins around late afternoon because of a quote: //It was now so nearly sunset that the chamber had grown duskier than ever//; and ends around midnight.
 * Describe the setting**


 * Type of Conflict:** Man VS himself


 * Describe the main conflict**: The main conflict is about Dr.Heidegger trying to find out whether giving second chance to humans, by growing young again, would be a benefit for human. He wants to know this before he tries it on himself, because he doesn't know if it's actually beneficial or safe. Dr.Heidegger is struggling within himself to make a decision on whether he wants to grow young again or not.


 * Describe the Climax of the Story:** The story builds up as the four friends drink more and more of the elixir. They become crazy and act foolish: They mock Dr.Heidegger which is to make fun of old people, and argue over silly things. Their voices get louder, their actions become wilder and their desires for youth become bigger and stronger. Then at point when they are at the most exciting range, they knock down the table and lose all of the Water of Youth. I think the part when the four friends are at their craziest and wildest mood, the part just before the vase that contains Water of Youth shatters is the climax of the story.

The protagonist, Dr.Heidegger, changes as the experiment goes on. At first, he is not sure how old people would react if they were to go back to their youth again. When he first tries it on his rose and sees the, once dead and withered ,rose reviving and bursting into bloom, he thinks that the same positive thing would happen on humans. However, as he sees the foolish behaviours of the old ones, he comes to a conclusion that humans do not learn from their mistakes and experiences.  **Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.** The relationship between the title and the theme is that they both have the same concept and idea. The theme of the story is that humans do not learn from their mistakes or experiences and that wisdom does not come with age or from experience. Dr.Heidegger finds out this fact from the experiment and the title of the story is “Dr.Heidegger experiment”.
 * How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?**

If the main conflict is hypothesis, the theme is conclusion. The main conflict is about Dr.Heidegger trying to find out if humans learn from their previous mistakes and experiences and the conclusion, which is the theme, is that humans do not learn from their mistakes and experiences and that it is futile to have strong desire and regret when you will just repeat the same mistake again.
 * How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?**

The climax of the story is when the four friends become young again by drinking the elixir and act the way they did in their past. This part helps to illustrate the theme because in climax, one can gather the fact that the four friends made the exact same mistakes as they did in the past. Because the theme of the story is humans do not learn from their mistakes and that aging does not provide wisdom or maturity, the climax perfectly illustrates the theme.
 * How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?**


 * Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):**

“ Youth, like the extremity of age...”
 * Simile**: “.. a small round table as black as ebony ….”


 * Metaphor:** “the skeleton had rattled in its closet.”  

 **Personification:** " The picture of the young lady had stepped one foot upon the floor...."  "...time had buried him..." 

**Symbol**  mirror- __(the result of) the failure of the past__ ( because Dr.Heidegger’s deceased patients appear in the mirror, who are the people Dr.Heidegger had failed to save. Also, when Widow Wycherly looks in the mirror after she becomes young, there still remains and reflects the old and withered Widow Wyherly. This can be another evidence because the old herself is the result of her failed past.) rose - symbol of Dr.Heidegger’s love and passion for his lover.


 * Foreshadowing (give both elements):** //“ it would be well that, with the experience of a life time to direct you, you should draw up a few general rules for your guidance, in passing a second time through the perils of youth. Think what a sin and a shame it would be, if with your peculiar advantages, you should not become patterns of virtue and wisdom to all the young people of the age!”// ( After Dr.Heidegger says this, the four guests laugh and say that they would never repeat their mistakes again. This quote and the laughter of the guests suggest that they will ,in fact, act the way they did in the past and make the same mistakes.)


 * Irony:** The irony is that the four guests had laughed and said they would never make the same mistakes as they did in the past, and that they had enough experiences and knowledge to behave maturely. Yet, once they became young again, they repeated the same mistakes and showed immature and foolish actions.


 * Imagery:** //“ The crushed and dried petals stirred, and assumed a deepening tinge of crimson, as if the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber; the slender stalk and twigs of foliage became green; and there was the rose of half a century, looking as fresh as when Sylvia Ward had first given it to her lover. It was scarcely full-blown;for some of its delicate red leaves curled modestly around its moist bosom, within which two or three dewdrops were sparkling. “//

The story //“Dr.Heidegger’s experiment”// shows an important aspect of humanity; Humans do not learn from their mistakes and would repeat and make the same mistakes over and over again. Also it states that wisdom does not come with age or from knowledge. Furthermore, the story reminds the fact that humans are never perfect and that longing for the past or wanting to go back to the past is useless, since they will be the same as they were in the past. Because the story explains and talks about an aspect of humanity, it relates to the class theme ,which is, ‘humanity’.
 * Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**1)** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> **According to Dr. Heidegger, what is the purpose of this experiment?** According to Dr.Heidegger, the purpose of the experiment is to find out if he wants to grow young again, depending on the result of the experiment. He also wanted to know if humans would behave differently if they were to go back to their past since they would have a lot of knowledge and experiences from aging.

Dr. Heidegger’s friends are all melancholy because they had been unfortunate in lives and all of them despise aging and they have extremely strong desires for to be young again. Mr. Medbourne, who had been a prosperous merchant immediately acted as a merchant once he became young again. Colonel Killigrew, who had wasted his youth by fooling around, right away behaved in the same way as he did in the past and checked out Widow Wycherly and sang a jolly bottle song. Mr.Gascoigne who once had been a notorious politician, thought of political topics, just like he did in the past. Widow Wycherly, who only cared about her beauty, went to the mirror to see her face. All of the behaviours of these people are immature and foolish and they make the same mistakes as they did in the past.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2) **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**What do Dr. Heidegger's friends have in common? How does each of them behave during the experiment?**

The reason why Dr. Heidegger wouldn’t stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth is probably because he was unsure and scared of what might have happen and wanted to wait and see the result first. As he saw the experiment, he realized that humans do not become mature even if they go back to their youth after living a long life. His friends do not feel the same way as Dr. Heidegger. They were not deep enough to consider this fact because they only cared about the outer look.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3) **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Why would Dr. Heidegger not stoop to bathe his lips in the Fountain of Youth? Do his friends feel the same way?**

I believe that the narrator of the story is someone who had been observing all the people involved in the experiment or had heard about the experiment in detail. However, I do not think that he heard it from any of the people who had participated in the experiment because if it was one of them, the narrator should be more certain about the facts and their inside thinking.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4) **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> **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?**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The story states that maturity does not come from aging and humans repeat the same mistakes they made in their youth. Also the author points out the fact that humans seem to deny aging and always desire for youth. I agree with these views because I believe that aging doesn’t equal to wisdom and knowledge since old people show immature behaviours and lack of knowledge.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What points are made about youth and aging in the story? Do you agree with the views of the story? **

I feel it is desirable because living for 800 years means you will die but will live for a long time. Living for a long time is very different from living an eternal life and I feel like if you live for 800 years, you would get a lot of experiences and opportunities to try new things. However, there must be some conditions following, such as, physically stopping at the age of 25 and maintaining health. Another reason why extending humans’ life span desirable is because your friends and families, all the loved ones get to live together because the vaccine would to available to everyone. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Completion 5/5 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Effort 5/5  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Content 5/5  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Questions 12/12  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">total 27/27
 * 7)** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**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?**