Seeking perfection essay

The girl on the train written by Paula Hawkins and The New Dress by Virginia Woolf deal with this obsession with perfection through the main characters. In The Girl On the Train the main character, Rachel, reminisces on what used to be a flawless relationship for her before it came crashing down.

The cons seem to far out-weigh the pros. Striving for perfection attempts to improve self-esteem and self-worth; but when that fails, feelings of insecurity, self-doubt, and regret will inevitably ensue. This desire, however, does give one something to focus on. It is when that focus turns into obsession that problems occur.

Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the obsession of perfection in the story, “The Birthmark.” He uses the scientist, Aylmer, and his wife, Georgiana, to show that striving for perfection is unrealistic. In the story, the scientist creates the perfect wife, but dooms her to death because no one on earth can be perfect.

There are many different perceptions and reasons for striving after perfection; but in the end, everyone ultimately comes up with the same conclusion. The desire for perfection stems from a desire to be happy, to live in an ideal existence, lacking nothing, fully developed, and complete.