This is a great question. We need to remember that this
tale is an example of an allegory, in that it is a story in which characters, settings,
and events stand for abstract ideas or moral qualities. Let us focus on what happens in
the tale. Dr. Heidegger invites four old friends round for dinner and offers them the
chance to grow young again. Firstly, he gives them an example using the
rose:
"This
rose," said Dr. Heidegger, with a sigh, "this same withered an crumbling flower,
blossomed five and fifty years ago. It was given me by Sylvia Ward, whose portrait hangs
yonder; and I means to wear it in my bosom at our wedding. Five and fity years it has
been treasured between the leaves of this old
volume."
The rose is clearly
very important to him, symbolising his love for the dead Sylvia Ward. However, it is
this same rose, that once it has bloomed again, and then withers, that the Doctor talks
about at the end, saying:
"I love it as well thus, as in its dewy
freshness," observed he, pressing the withered rose to his
lips.
This is highly
significant, because unlike his guests, Dr. Heidegger has learnt the moral lesson of the
story - we must not overvalue youth at the expense of age. Dr. Heidegger is able to
accept that ageing has its own benefits, and thus he is not desperate or foolish enough
to rush back to his youth and repeat his mistakes like his guests. He recognises the
value of the wisdom that he has gained with age and does not want to lose
it.
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