This is the final indicator that the birthmark was more than just a mark on his face, but was a potent symbol of his inner life.Īny hint of friendly feeling towards an Oriental seemed to him a horrible perversity. Once Flory dies, the birthmark fades in vibrancy. Flory is only able to forget his birthmark when he taps into those traits at last. In terms of weakness, the birthmark is a visual manifestation of his shortcomings in terms of lack of confidence, self-awareness, and courage. He is embarrassed by his birthmark and tries to hide it in the same way he generally hides his true self from everyone else. In terms of difference, the birthmark cements the reader's understanding that Flory is not like the rest of the Englishmen. Flory's shortcomings would be noticeable without this excrescence on his face, but it is important as the ultimate way in which Elizabeth is able to see just why she and Flory cannot be together. Narrator, 17.įlory's birthmark is an interesting symbol of both his difference and his weakness. Seen from the left side his face had a battered, woebegone look, as though the birthmark had been a bruise -for it was a dark blue in colour. The first thing that one noticed in Flory was a hideous birthmark stretching in a ragged crescent down his left cheek, from the eye to the corner of the mouth.
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