The Inherent Good and Bad in All of Us

By: Sonnet Xu

I recently wrapped up my old independent reading book, H is for Hawk, and started my new book,

The Picture of Dorian Grey. I’ve heard of it before and always wanted to read it, but because of my

lack of familiarity with Wilde’s writing, it remained buried in my “to read” list. After a suggestion

by my english teacher I began reading it, and it was very surprising.

Because of how well known it is, I already had a rough idea of how the novel was going to progress,

and although I’m not quite done, the book still surprised me. The Picture of Dorian Grey tells the story

of a young, innocent, and pure man’s eventual moral downfall because of his obsession with remaining

beautiful and young. This piece of literature goes surprisingly well with the other work I’ve been reading

for school, The Lord of the Flies. 

Both of these stories follow a male’s digression because of their circumstances or beliefs, and both strongly tie

into the concept of virtuous vs. wicked. Although in both works, this is outwardly expressed, a majority of this

conflict is actually an inward battle because “each of us had heaven and hell in him.” This quote by Dorian

shows that all people have the ability to do great good and evil, and no one is born characteristically pure or dark.

People have the choice and opportunity to make the right decisions, and most of those decisions are driven by your

lifelong conditioning and the effects of society, and less the inherent “scruples” in all people.

This assertion is also somewhat paralleled in The Lord of the Flies, as we see that as boys are left alone and

removed from the civilizing effects of society, and no longer have to worry about the consequences of their

actions, they degrade into savages, and express the implicit corruptness they have so long suppressed.

These somewhat pessimistic works of literature prompt the question, “are the civilizing effects of society

ever enough to truly outweigh our internal immorality?”