I just finished reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. The story is about obsession and how far one is willing compromise his integrity, his worth for the superficiality of physical appearance. Dorian Gray had his portrait done by a painter, Basil Hallward, who was infatuated with the young man and as a result produced one his finest works ever. Gray meets Lord Henry, a friend of Hallward, who shares his somewhat self-indulging world views which lead to Gray’s moral decline. The disintegration of Gray’s values shows up in the portrait while none leaves its mark on his youthful face that remained so even as the years go by

It is not realistic, but the underlying theme is brutally factual. It goes to suggest that perhaps all of us have our own “portraits”, a side hidden from the world, a side that bears all our doings, the grudges we hold, the gossip we spread, the discontentment we harbour. We hide this under lock and key, not willing to confront who we truly are, seeking consolation in the perfect canvas we present to the rest of the world, basking in compliments, fueling our expanding ego to leave no room for guilt and repentance.

Gray was afraid to face his nemesis, as we are all when it boils down to confronting the less-than-perfect self, and so, he had to learn the tragic way. His obsession with undoing his wrong led to a vicious cycle of heinous crimes.

Scars are there to remind us how not to inflict the same wound again, it doesn’t go away with precaution or change of methods. Such only serves to aid prevention.

Perhaps if we do not focus on what has already been done, it becomes a lot less about undoing and more about progressing. One good deed will not erase the malice, but it does get us into the cycle of goodness.