But by doing this the characters represent a very key point. They show that some people don’t learn from their mistakes though they said that they would. This is the allegory Hawthorne is trying to covey. All the characters didn’t learn from their mistakes the first time, and now they are making them again. All wasted away their life in haste, moving from one task to the other with ought thought. The  writer Henry David Thoreau makes a similar point in his work Walden Pond. He thinks that people should step out of the rat race and take time with their tasks. Pick something important and take time to do it. Don’t just rush through it and move onto the next thing. Haste makes waste.

            But through all, there must be a shining beacon of hope and example. Dr.Heidegger is that example. But one character through all this did display the quality of learning from his mistakes. Mr.Heidegger chooses not to drink, but to watch the experiment. He knows that he doesn’t wish to grow young again. He looks forward to the events and surprises that await him. He knows he can’t change past events by growing young. But he realizes he could remedy them by moving forward. That is why he represents wisdom. He did learn from mistakes.

            But despite Dr.Heidegger’s attempted guidance, the largest fault of all occurs at the very end of the story. When the water from the fountain of youth wears off, and the group grows old again, Dr.Heidegger makes a statement. He says “For if the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not stoop to bathe my lips in it.” Dr.Heidegger learns from this experiment of his. But his test subjects did not. Thinking him crazy, the group decides for themselves to set forth on an expedition to find the fountain and thus displaying that they did not learn from their mistakes. Not the first time, nor the second, and they surly wont the third time. This is the allegory Hawthorne is displaying in his story. That one must learn from their mistakes and look to the future, not to the past.