The Significance of Physical Markings in Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter and "The Birthmark"

Whitman often writes about the wondrous qualities of the human body in his poetry. This is especially evident in his poem "I Sing the Body Electric." He writes, "And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul?" (section 1). Always a central element in Whitman's work, the body is both an ostensible and central subject of many of his poems. Whitman strongly believes the body reflects the soul. Therefore, we can deduce that physical markings, which decorate the body, also reflect the soul.
Melville and Hawthorne also recognize the importance of the human body. However, instead of f…