Sin Essay

Nathaniel Burns-Sarno
Advanced Placement English/Mr. George
April 6, 2010
Final Essay on Sin: Topic 2

The Rewards of a Just God

“Better for him that each sin of his life had brought its sure, swift penalty along with it. There was purification in punishment. Not ‘forgive us our sins’ but ‘Smite us for our iniquities’ should be the prayer of a man to a most just God”(Wilde 226). This is the belief of Dorian Gray, the main character of The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. Such a belief seems logical, as punishment brings about more reformation than forgiveness. However, when applied to the entire world, Dorian’s belief loses much of its validity. One who is just believes in the “fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law”(dictionary.com). Therefore, logic would dictate that a most just God would reward each of our actions. Of course, that does not mean that wickedness should be met with approval. The word “reward” often carries a positive connotation, causing many to believe that it is the opposite of punishment. However, the act of rewarding someone does not always imply gifts in exchange for good behavior. A reward is defined as “Something given or received in recompense for worthy behavior or in retribution for evil acts”(thefreedictionary.com). The Crucible ,by Arthur Miller, and The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, both involve the main characters being rewarded for their actions. In being rewarded, the characters of both texts reform to become better people. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, however, the main character never truly reforms as he is never truly rewarded. Without rewards, we have no way of knowing if our actions are righteous or wicked, and no way of knowing when we need to repent for our misdeeds. That is why the prayer of a man to a most just God should be “Reward us in accordance with our actions, and show us the error of our ways”.
John Proctor, the main character of The Crucible, committed adultery with Abigail Williams, the niece of reverend Parris who leads the girls in Salem in a plot to have Proctor’s wife put to death. Proctor’s reward for this sin comes in the form of vexing feelings of shame and regret. The weight of his sin soon becomes too much for Proctor, causing him to simply act as if the sin had never taken place. By ignoring his feelings of guilt, Proctor ignores the reward fate had given him for his sin, a decision that soon lands him in more danger than before when Abigail goes to the court and accuses Proctor’s wife of witchcraft. In order to save his wife, Proctor is forced to accept the reward that fate had given him and use it to direct his actions.
Proctor confesses his adultery to the court, a decision that later leads to him being accused of witchcraft. He is scheduled to be put to death if he does confess to crimes that he did not commit and condemn innocent people who were accused of witchcraft. Proctor initially agrees to the terms in order to save his own life, but is unable to bring himself to sign a testimony, as he does not want his name to be used for the court’s own gain: Proctor’s name was his most valuable possession, so it makes sense that fate would have him tarnish his own name if he were to bring about the deaths of innocent people. Proctor is unwilling to accept the potential punishment, and is thus unwilling to commit the crime. Proctor chooses to die rather than allow the court to use his name to bring about the deaths of even more innocent people. It is then that Proctor decided that the only one he needed to confess his sin to, is God, who is in charge of his fate: “I confess to God, and God has seen my name on this! It is enough!”(Miller 142). Through his confession, Proctor accepts the penalty of his sin and clears his conscience, which allows him to enter into the afterlife and accept the eternal reward that comes with his martyrdom.
Hester Prynne, the main character of The Scarlet Letter, was one of the most beloved women in Boston until she committed the sin of adultery. She is constantly reminded of her sin, just as Proctor was. However, while Proctor is rewarded by his fate, Hester is rewarded by both her society and fate. Hester’s society rewards her with a scarlet A, that she is forced to wear as a symbol of her adultery, while fate rewards Hester with a daughter, Pearl, who serves the same purpose. Hester’s view of the scarlet letter and Pearl demonstrates that she has a complete understanding of the fairness and purpose of her rewards. Rather than cursing the world for the hand that she has been dealt, Hester graciously accepts her rewards and uses them to learn from her mistake: “this badge hath taught me –it daily teaches me-it is teaching me at this moment”(Hawthorne 101). Hester also demonstrates an understanding of the lesson that the scarlet letter and Pearl teach her, and makes great strides to improve herself. Through her hard work and dedication, Hester was able to completely redeem herself in the eyes of the town and the eyes of God: "Such helpfulness was found in her,-so much power to do, and power to sympathize,-that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able"(146).
Hester is the prime example of how effective it is when rewards received from different sources are all completely just. Oftentimes, a person is praised for their qualities by one person, but scolded for the same qualities by another person. This causes the person to become confused as to what it truly acceptable behavior, and prevents the person from truly being rewarded. Such is the case with Dorian Gray.
When Dorian Gray is first mentioned in the novel, little is known about him. Basil Hallward, a painter and close friend of Dorian Gray, initially describes him as a beautiful young man who “has a simple and beautiful nature”(Wilde 16). Such a description intrigues Lord Henry Wotton, one of Basil’s closest companions, and fills him with the urge to meet Dorian. After warning Lord Henry against attempting to influence Dorian, Basil allows Henry to meet Dorian while he paints a portrait of Dorian. Upon meeting Dorian, Lord Henry begins sharing his thoughts and opinions with the young man. Dorian behaves in accordance with Basil’s description of him, innocently and naively hanging on Lord Henry’s every word. When Dorian states that his appearance does not matter to him, Lord Henry warns Dorian that his beauty will fade with age, and thus he must cherish his good looks while he can. This revelation greatly upsets Dorian, who declares his disdain for the portrait Basil painted of him as it will never age: “How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young…If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!...I would give my soul for that!”(28). Little did Dorian know that his velleity was to be granted.
Dorian soon falls madly in love with an actress named Sybil Vane, whom Dorian finds to be sacred. He decides to share the news of his infatuation with Lord Henry, who laughs at Dorian’s devotion to Sybil, but agrees to come with Dorian and Basil to see her perform. Sybil is also in love with Dorian, so much so that she grows bored of the fake love that she acts out and is too enthralled by her real love for Dorian to put any effort into her acting. Unfortunately for Sybil, Dorian was only in love with her for her acting and is disgusted to find that she has lost her talent: “Yes…you have killed my love! You used to stir my imagination. Now you don’t even stir my curiosity. You simply produce no effect…I wish I had never laid eyes upon you!”(91). When Dorian returned home that night, he found that the expression of the picture had become cruel. Dorian attributes this change to the agreement he made to give his soul if the painting would age instead of him, and realizes that “For every sin that he committed, a stain would fleck and wreck its fairness”(96). Dorian vows never to sin again and to escape Lord Henry’s influence, but soon finds that his declaration was made in vain.
Dorian continues to follow Lord Henry’s influence and live a life of sin, causing the painting to grow more and more gruesome. Many of Dorian’s friends become disgusted with his behavior and decide to sever any ties they had to him. Basil, who is worried about Dorian, confronts his friend about his change in conduct. Dorian responds by showing Basil how his portrait had changed from a magnificent beauty to a horrible abomination, mirroring Dorian’s soul. When Basil attempts to convince Dorian that it is not too late to make amends for his actions, Dorian becomes enraged and murders Basil. Dorian then blackmails Alan Campbell, a former friend, into destroying Basil’s corpse.
Dorian soon desires to rid himself of the pain that his sins had caused him. Rather than admitting to his sin publicly or searching for some way to repent for his actions, Dorian decides to “cure the soul by means of the senses and the senses by means of the soul”(189). Dorian accomplishes this by turning to drugs in the hopes of forgetting his sin: “There were opium dens, where one could buy oblivion-dens of horror, where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that where new”(189). This proved to only be a temporary solution, as Dorian found that feelings of guilt would still rise within him. Finding no escape from his pain, Dorian attempts to reform and become a better person. However, when he decides that his desire to reform is due to his vanity, he loses faith that he will ever repent. In the end, Dorian decides that the only way to achieve peace is to destroy the painting, believing that the act “would kill the past, and when that was dead he would be free”(228-229). By killing the painting, Dorian ended up murdering himself.
Dorian is never truly rewarded for his actions, as he is never reprimanded for his wicked actions, nor are his desires to reform met with encouragement. This is mostly due to Lord Henry, who influenced most of Dorian’s actions. Lord Henry was never brave enough to put his beliefs into action, so he influenced Dorian to live according to his words in order to see the result. Whenever Dorian feels any pangs of remorse, Lord Henry advises him to ignore his feelings and focus on receiving pleasure. Lord Henry also constantly flatters Dorian, which leads to Dorian developing a feeling of superiority.
Another factor that leads to Dorian never being truly rewarded is the deal he made to trade his soul for eternal youth. Without his soul, Dorian is unable to receive positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement, as he simply cannot bring himself to care about the world around him. Since everything is pleasurable for him, nothing truly is pleasurable.
The prayer of a man to a most just God should be “Reward us in accordance with our actions, and show us the error of our ways”. In The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, characters were given rewards in accordance with their actions which caused them to see the error of their ways and reform. However, in The Picture Dorian Gray, no characters’ actions are met with the proper reaction. People are praised for being selfish, and reprimanded for caring about someone else. This leaves the characters unable to reform and dooms them to continue living in their sin. A fair and just God would never allow the innocent to suffer or the wicked to prosper. Without proper rewards for our actions, we are left unsure of how to behave.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. United States: Viking Penguin Inc, 1953

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York, New York: Bantam Dell, 2003

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray, New York, New York: Barnes & Noble Inc, 2003

<”dictionary” http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/justice “dictionary”> April 3, 2010

<”thefreedictionary” http://www.thefreedictionary.com/reward “dictionary”> April 3, 2010