The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapters 9-10

"Don't leave me, Basil, and don't quarrel with me. I am what I am. There is nothing more to be said" (114).

I am what I am. That is quite an interesting way to make a defense. Dorian implores Basil to ignore his actions and blindly accept him? Doing what Dorian asks will afflict Basil with the mark of a disloyal friend. An individual's identity is constantly changing. An ancient Chinese proverb (with no definitive author) once said that once one stops changing, they start dying. This could not be closer to the truth. An ideal friend would actively pursue the goodness in another, regardless of the personal risk. Imagine if the parchment of Dorian's philosophy was woven into the bills of legislation that is issued by our modern day government. The government could hostilely strip America of its rights, leaving our civil bodies exposed and open to abuse. The violation of our rights could be justified under the farce that government is taking the necessary steps in order to preserve its identity.



"His own soul was looking out at him from the canvas and calling him to judgement. A look of pain came across him and he flung the rich pall over the picture" (123).

The author makes the role of Basil's painting remarkably similar to the role of one's conscience (which is to act as an internal system for determining right and wrong). One's conscience screams like a banshee whenever an objectively wrong act is committed. The deafening blast is inescapable regardless of apathy's earplugs that vainly struggle to quell the noise. Dorian's conscience was replaced by a visual personification of his actions. Rather than constantly clench his ears in the hopes of drowning out his guilt he moves the source of his problems into the virtually soundproof realm of his old playroom. One's conscience calls from deep within us, immune to all riddance. Even if Dorian did not stow the painting away, but use it like a conscience, he could only reference the painting after he has committed the act. Dorian can only hear the echoes of the painting while his dead conscience screams in silence.