Skip to main content

Can a Scarred Soul be Redeemed?

After finishing reading The Picture of Dorian Grey, something that really stood out to me was how fake Dorian's "redemption" was. At the end of the novel, we learn that Dorian is trying to "better" himself. He boasts to Lord Henry that he has become a changed man, as he "spared" Hetty from the corruptions of associating with him. The novel also deals with the theme of redemption. As Dorian comes to grapple with the fact that living life as Mr. Faust will always lead him to carry burdens that a pretty, young face won't be able to solve, he wonders if he will ever be able to reach full redemption.

However, none of his actions seem to indicate that he is truly sorry for his actions. As always, Dorian is simply fixated on outward impressions. He would like to label himself as a new man, but he is unwilling to put in the effort to become one. He still feels no regret for the death of Basil Hallward, and he still justifies it, as he believes it's Basil's fault for painting the portrait of him, not his own for making the reckless wish in the first place. He also celebrates when James Vane is found dead, as he cares more about his own safety than living up to the consequences of his Hedonistic lifestyle.

Although Dorian might have believed that his soul was irredeemable, I would beg to differ. Of course, sins such as murder and the corruption of others will always remain on his hands, it is completely possible to change and become a better person. Many people lament, "I'm not the same person I was fifteen years ago," and they very well could be correct. One's self at the present is only dependent on the actions and beliefs that he/she possesses at the current moment. Their past self is not an indication of how they are right now. Whether or not Dorian could have ever been redeemed is a subjective matter, but if he truly believed in changing himself, he definitely could have worked towards it. 

Comments

  1. danielwMay 29, 2022 at 4:10 PM

    I agree. But I think the fact that Dorian started off as someone so pure and innocent made him much more susceptible to the corruption and all the ideas that can only justify his situation in a wrong way as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ruthesh ThavamaniMay 30, 2022 at 4:44 PM

    Yeah, I also think he used the "I'm too far gone to be redeemed" line as an excuse to not put in the effort of changing his ways. He was willfully ignorant of how bad his hedonistic lifestyle was and continued being a bad person.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Identity in The Color Purple

 If there is any word that can encapsulate the theme of The Color Purple , it would be identity. Many of the characters in the novel go about their day-to-day lives, trying to to find themselves or straying away from who they truly are. This can most evidently be seen in our protagonist, Celie. In the beginning of the story, Celie doesn't have a clue as to who she really is. She becomes emotionally shut off from the world after the abuse she endured from her own father, and as a result, she turns to writing. She writes her letters to god because he's the only one she trusts. She also believes that he's the only one who can save her. However, she soon learns that help doesn't need to come from outside: it can come from within her. After meeting new friends such as Sofia and Shug, she realizes that resistance is inside her. She doesn't need to live her entire life controlled by the abusive Mr. __. She learns this from Sofia, who is stronger than Harpo is and has spent...
1 comment
Read more

Eggplant Curry

While basic math and science are often objective in what they describe, those two things might as well be the only objective facts in our universe. Everything else is subjective: it depends on the person taking everything in.  Perhaps the most subjective emotion experienced is humor. Everyone has their own sense of humor, and what I may find funny isn't necessarily going to make someone else laugh. I think one of the greatest examples might be with The Office . A lot of my friends say that this is one of the greatest and funniest shows they have ever watched, but personally, I don't get the hype. Do some episodes have interesting premises? Yeah, they do. But do I find it funny? Only sometimes. Most of the humor in that show is kind of hit or miss, at least in my opinion.  Anyways, back to what I wanted to write about for today's blog. My brother probably has the most unique sense of humor out of anyone I know. You can never understand why exactly he finds something to be fu...
Post a Comment
Read more

This I Have Learned

"You can't ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving" - Paul Kalanithi  If there is one thing I found in high school, it's solace. Solace in the repetitive yet familiar layout of every school day. Solace in the supportive friends who collectively stress over the same classes. Solace in the words of Paul Kalanithi. As I first read When Breath Becomes Air,  I thought that author Paul Kalanithi was literally just like me. Only, he wasn't. He was everything that I wanted to be.  He was smart and successful.  He was in my dream job. He was rich (at least I think so, I mean which neurosurgeon isn't rich?). But perhaps what I most admired about him was his sense of mastery over remotely everything. There was nothing that he couldn't do. While his escapades in the art (science) of medicine were very exciting as someone whose dreams were to always dabble in the field of biology, what I truly fell in love...
1 comment
Read more