Quote: "It is impossible for you to refuse now. I tried to spare you. You will do me the justice to admit that. You were stern, harsh, offensive. You treated me as no man has ever dared to treat me-no living man, at any rate. I bore it all. Now it is for me to dictate" (175).
Explanation: Dorian is speaking to Campbell, explaining to Campbell how he had tried to spare him, how he tried to not be aggressive, but Campbell had forced him to. And he clearly stresses that Campbell is the only "living man" to have attempted to deny Dorian of his wish. He is clearly making a comparison of Campbell to Basil. They are alike in the sense that they do not appease Dorian to his every whim. But in the end both succomb to Dorian's desires: Basil to stop discussing the corruption of Dorian's soul and Campbell to burn Dorian's body and any evidence pertaining to the murder. So as of yet Dorian has had every whimsy he has had fullfilled; whether it be through his charm, blackmail, and if necessary murder.
Quote: "Your life? Good heavens! what a life that is! You have gone from corruption to corruption, and now you have culminated in crime. In doing what I am going to do, what you force to do, it is not of your life that I am thinking" (176).
Explanation: Campbell is responding to Dorian who says, "Alan, you have saved my life" (176). But Campbell brings up the point what type of life is he really saving? Is he saving a life that is worth saving in the first place? Dorian's life is filled with corruption upon more corruption with murder and blackmail topping it all off. Dorian has only known a life where his every capricious desire is met, where every person succombs to his will. He has lived a life of greed, vanity, and pride. He has never had to trully grapple with his sins, his vices, and his misdeeds. Buddhism says the meaning of life is to "end suffering by detatching oneself from cravings and conceptual attatchments" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life). Judaism say life is to "serve the one true God and to prepare for the world to come" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life). And Christianity teaches that man's purpose is "to glorify God and love him forever [...] love the lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbors as ourselves" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life). All of these religions preach of bettering ourselves so that we may care for others and we see Dorian has failed to do this; thus most of life, his precious youthful life, has been wasted and is not worth saving now.
Vocab:
Taper: diminish gradually
"He glanced at his own white taper fingers" (167-168).
Entreat: ask for or request earnestly
"I entreat you, Alan" (174)
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