#5

  In Oscar Wildes, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde deals with the concepts of atonement  and guilt.  Dorian Gray is a character representative of the sinful man.  Dorian has committed his share of iniquity.  Dorians sinful lifestyle comes to a a crossroads when he murders his old friend Basil Hallward.  The motive for murder is that Basil chooses to chastise him for the wickedness that Dorian has allowed into his life.  After murdering Basil, Dorian is faced with options.  He can either atone for his sins and turn from his wicked ways, or he can move deeper into a lifestyle of debauchery.  Dorian chooses the latter path.  He decides that he will live by pleasuring his senses.  He will stamp out his sin by committing more sins that please his physical senses.  Upon reflecting on his choice Dorian comes to the conclusion that, "His soul, was certainly sick to death.  Was it true that the senses could cure it?  Innocent blood had been spilt.  What could atone for that?  AH! for that there was no atonement; but though forgiveness was impossible, forgetfulness was possible still, and he was determined to forget to stamp the thing out, to crush it as one would crush the adder that had stung one" (Wilde 135).  Dorian feels that atonement for the sins he has committed is impossible.  Instead of working toward making right what he has done, he adopts an attitude that leads to destruction.  This attitude is one in which a person refuses to repent for one's sins and instead proceeds to sweep wrong doings under the carpet and ignore them as if they never happened.  In doing so sin is allowed to fester.  Dorian does not learn from the incident.  Instead, he learns that he can commit a sin as egregious as murder and then get away with it.  This all comes back to the fact that Dorian lives a hedonistic lifestyle.  Sin and guilt do not bring pleasure, repressing sin and guilt over wrong doing does bring pleasure.  It allows one to operate as if an error were never committed.  This is Dorian's intent in stamping out the memory of murdering Basil Hallward, to please himself and feel no pain or remorse.