The Picture of Dorian Gray....

"We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us. The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification... Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful. It has been said that the great events of the world take place in the brain. It is in the brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place also." -The Pictures of Dorian Gray

This quote begins the demise of Dorian Gray. Here was this young beautiful man who didn't have a care in the world, and here with this one quote spoken by a supposed friend, his whole world is turned upside down.

Growing up, I really did not like to read, especially the books that were assigned to us by teachers. However, come Junior year of high school the teachers actually began to pick some what interesting books to read! Amazing! Senior year I read The Picture of Dorian Gray. Yes, I read it front to back. One of the few books I actually read in high school to say the least. Anyway, I found that book dark, eerie, and somewhat intriguing and entertaining to read. Oscar Wilde is known for his flamboyant writing, but yet powerful all the same. Yes, the book is "messed up" and odd, but it is a well written book. 

For those of you who have not read this book, or for those of you who have plans to read this book. . . READ IT. You will be amazed at how this book takes a hold of you and will make you want to read (or so in my opinion at least). And once you begin reading it, continue to read, don't just decide to read a few pages and stop. Otherwise you will be lost and confused. 

As I do with all my quotes, I am going to analyze.

"We are punished for our refusals." What does Lord Henry mean by this? Well he could mean that the things we refuse to do could come back to haunt us in the end. Or he could mean that by refusing people we are punishing our inner selves. I for one think it is a combination of the two. If we refuse to do something, for example not taking the trash out or cleaning the room when told, there will result a punishment. . . grounded. Another example would be if we were to refuse to do a paper, once you refuse to do that paper, your punishment is obviously a failing grade. Therefore, we become punished by those things that we refuse. 

"Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us." By this, I believe that Lord Henry is saying that things that we struggle with in our mind (thoughts, ideas, imagination) never go away. They continually stay within our mind and begin to eat away at our brain. This eating away causes a feeling of poison. This poison being that you cannot get your mind off of it. Now, there are many positive things that can eat away at your brain. For example, wanting to cure a disease or come up with some type of solution to a problem. But then again there are things that come into our imagination that makes us sick to our stomachs that we wish would just go away. 

"The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification... Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful." Once the body has sinned there is no taking it back. Now there is something that those of religious affiliation believe in called forgiveness and absolving from sins that makes at conscious effort to take away the feeling of guilt away from our brain, yet does it really take it away from our mind, body, or those with whom we have sinned? If we resist this purification then the act or the sin will just eat away at the mind as well as the body. The mind will continually want and try to commit the sin again, yet it has already been taken away from the body. 

"It has been said that the great events of the world take place in the brain. It is in the brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place also." There is definitely some truth to this statement. Have you ever thought about a situation and began to freak out about possibilities of this situation? Once you plant a bad seed in your mind it begins to effect how you feel, how you act, and even begins to make you feel anxious. People can make things up in their mind, to the point where the most heinous things are believable. They can stretch the truth, they can make you feel like the worst person in the world, the brain is a very powerful tool. 

I recommend that you go and read this book. I wouldn't go as far to say that it is one of my favorites, but it is definitely good for sure. And there is much much more to this book than the quote that I explained. This quote is only the beginning of the mysteries of the book. So, that is all blogging world. I bid you adieu until next time. 

Peace through Love.