Tales of the Unexpected - Responsibility

A human tends to shrink from its responsibility. Especially, when one has the right of choice, and when the result of the decision would bring huge burden on her, evasion of responsibility comes more alluring. This tendency could be easily found in children’s behavior. For example, one day, I played chess with my youngest brother James, betting a duty to do the dishes. The middle brother John watched 7-year-old James having a battle of wits with me. When the situation reached to the final stage, I noticed that James fortunately got a chance to win the game. ‘You’ve got a big chance!’ I cried. But James seemed to not understand how to finish it. Suddenly, John started to urge him to move his pawn to 5B. Having no any better thought, poor James pretended to think a little bit, and asked John again and again if he is certain. ‘I’ll guarantee it.’ Finally, James reluctantly moved his pawn saying, ‘All right, then. You swore.’ And of course, John’s tactic was of nonsense. Smiling a bit, I checkmated the king and ended up the game. James, excessively enraged, shouted out to John. ‘You guaranteed! You said you’ll guarantee!’ John rapidly ran out of the room. Likewise, when one has a right of decision, shifting a responsibility on to another’s shoulder is captivating; one is thereby making a kind of substitute of her responsibility. If the suggestion makes him win, that’s good for him; if not, he can switch the burden on the suggester.

By <Taste>, Roald Dahl focuses on capturing this human instinct – shirking one’s responsibility. He is also delivering several other sides of human nature by other characters. But those are somewhat typical in his short stories of <Tales of the unexpected>. In <Taste>, what’s noticeable is the daughter’s revelation of human nature to ‘reluctantly’ hide behind a suggester to whom the whole responsibility of the result will be ascribed, when she has a right to make a decision that will hugely influence her own life. At first, when Mike suggests his daughter to bet her marriage with Richard Pratt, she requires his father to guarantee the good result. “What if I lose?” “I keep telling you, you can’t lose. I’ll guarantee it.” (I.13 3) But it is obvious that no one could authentically guarantee it. So by asking for his guarantee meaninglessly again and again, the daughter tries to assure that the responsibility of the result is shifted on him. However, Mike, who uses every word to persuade her, in fact does not have the right of choice; a practical right of decision is of his daughter - betting her marriage with Richard Pratt is the same as betting her future life. Therefore, the daughter’s behavior makes an ironic situation that one who makes decision is different from one who takes responsibility. The point is that, if she loses the bet, her father certainly cannot take any responsibility. And even though she notices that fact, she reveals weak human nature of recklessly shirking one’s own responsibility in front of an unguaranteed future.

-         For the last time, she hesitated. Then she gave a helpless little shrug of the shoulders and said, “Oh, all right, then…” (I.13 8-9)

This passive attitude towards her decision reveals her weak nature more clearly. By doing so, she is verifying that she is never confident about her choice, and she will not take responsibility of the result.

When the large wet ‘keyhole’ (I.13 27) seems to activate well, that is, when Richard Pratt seems to guess the wine thing right, the daughter reassures his father’s guarantee. “Come on, Daddy. Turn it round and let’s have a peek. I want my two houses.” (I.18 23-4) However, it seems that she lost in her bet. The worst situation occurs now. The daughter could not do anything except keeping recalling that she shifted her responsibility to her father. But that is merely crying over split milk. She, facing irresistible burden to take on, expresses her helplessness through inflamed anger. “But, Daddy, you don’t mean to say he’s guessed it right!” (I.19 1-2) This reveals the weakest mechanism of human nature: anxiety expressed in rage.

And the ‘keyhole’ was a fake.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Morality and the Art

 At first glance, Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” might appear as a novel written to express his aesthetic persuasion that blind pursuit of beauty brings a catastrophic outcome. After all, when the readers finish the book, they notice that Basil Hallward pays for his sin of unconditional seek of aestheticism by losing his life – as he pursues an absolute beauty, he does not consider the morality of the object of his portrait. In this regard, it seems that Wilde argues the absolute necessity of consideration of morality on an art work, through the novel. However, one might find the plot quite nonsensical, since Basil – who onlooked Dorian Gray’s excessive hedonism - does not seem as a sinner who deserve the punishment, but rather seems as merely an innocent victim of Dorian’s brutality. Moreover, according to Wilde’s several writings in his lifetime, he usually kept a perspective insisting that morality is simply among the materials which an artist may use to pursue aestheticism. That is, works of art are legitimate objects of aesthetic judgment, but not of other judgment such as that of moral. In all probability Wilde intentionally formed a paradox between his opinion expressed through the novel and that through other writings. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that he made up the unsettled view to persuade his contemporary artists that an artist must realize his full potential by performing art for art’s sake, but not restrict his creativity by pursuing sake of virtues other than beauty. Performing art for specific values, such as moral enlightenment, makes the artist’s freedom of expression get into a rut, thereby distorting the original artistic inspiration. If an artist focuses on chasing aestheticism, adequate consideration of other values including morality would take place subsequently, an order that makes an efficient delivery of what he or she tries to say through the work. Therefore, Wilde says, whatever values the audience would perceive from a work of art, its artist has to eliminate self-censorship by focusing only on developing its aesthetic value for her smooth artistic expression. In this sense, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is merely a book including Oscar Wilde’s paradoxical argument to reinforce his genuine persuasion about appropriate attitude of an artist when performing art.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Influences of Lord Henry: Egotism

When one feels jealous of other as a matter of love, one would behave either way: struggling to come between those two who love each other, or giving up his or her personal affection toward the person whom he or she has loved. However, taking each way could not give much influence to them. The former way, as a momentary expression of jealousy, would end without any significant change in the affection between them, but with recognition of the nature of a person’s feeling and with maturation of oneself. The latter one would apparently be vain. But Lord Henry, although being jealous of Sibyl Vane, gives so considerable an effect on Dorian Gray that this influences even the whole plot of the novel.  

In my perspective, the author implies that Lord Henry is jealous of Sibyl. Of course it is intermittently mentioned that Lord Henry regards Dorian as merely an object of his experiment on sources and desirable pursuits of one’s passion. “…pulse and passion of youth were in him(Dorian)... It was delightful to watch him. With his beautiful face, and his beautiful soul, he was a thing to wonder at. It was no matter how (it) all…was destined to end.” However, even such parts are intentionally distorted to imply a notion that Lord Henry does not sincerely consider him as a mere object, but explains the world in a cynical way to benefit and reinforce the relationship between him and Dorian; Lord Henry says that Dorian’s love-related experiences would be a great study that would reveal secrets about one’s individualism, and that he hopes Dorian to ‘make this girl wife… and suddenly become fascinated by someone else.’ Basil responses to him saying: “You(Lord Henry) don’t mean a single word of all that… If Dorian Gray’s life were spoiled, no one would be sorrier than yourself.”

Based on his affection toward Dorian, although he acts in a very restrained manner, he reveals all his astonishment when he hears that Dorian and Sibyl are engaged. In this part, his responses to Dorian are obviously atypical of him. Giving doubts as he asks whether ‘did you(Dorian) mention the word marriage,’ Lord Henry starts to say things that would give a significant effect on Dorian’s philosophy and would ultimately cause a huge change on his life.

He murmurs: “Women are a decorative sex.” Just after Dorian explains his experience and moments of love with Sibyl Vane, Lord Henry instills his thoughts and consideration about women into Dorian. He says that ‘They(women) worship us, and are always bothering us to do something for them.’ Then he claims, “women, …inspires us with the desire to do masterpieces, and always prevent us from carrying out them.” Those notions of Lord Henry eventually evoke Dorian’s confirmation of his objectification of women; later, Dorian says “I want to place her on a pedestal of gold, and to see the world worship the woman who is mine.” This mention demonstrates his egotistical philosophy of women as ornaments and his male-centered focus.

“Pleasure is the only thing worth having a theory about.” Lord Henry attributes all his ‘wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful’ theories to Nature. “It belongs to Nature… believe me, no civilized man ever regrets a pleasure…” Due to Lord Henry’s insisting on Dorian to become one with individualism, namely, self-centered thoughts, Dorian at last focuses only on his pleasure, his comfort, his love, and his life – the absolute ‘unconscious egotism.’

After Sibyl Vane suicides, Dorian Gray regards the death of his lover as a ‘wonderful ending to a wonderful play.’ In front of Lord Henry, he describes the affair to be a ‘tragedy in which he took a great part, but by which he has not been wounded.’ Blinded with jealousy, using his eloquent conversation skills, Lord Henry takes a main role to dye Dorian Gray’s philosophy and individuality with an excessive egotism.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Chapter 1

Sangwoo Kim

 The journal starts with detailed, sensational depictions of the studio. Using several specific names of flowers, including lilac and laburnum, the author expresses sensual descriptions of the place so perfectly that the readers are about to mistake themselves for smelling real odor of such air and seeing that splendor scent, thus forming an appropriate atmosphere to unfold his characters’ dialogues.

 Lord Henry urges Basil Hallward, an artist friend of his, to exhibit his portrait of a beautiful young man. However, Basil keeps refusing his persuasion, saying that he has put too much of himself into the picture. Henry talks about common attitude of artists toward reputation, the relationship of beautiful appearance and internal intellect, and some cynical explanation of romance in his martial life: the conversation reveals the main characters’ personal values and perspective to the world so naturally by changing its themes. At the part of the conversation about fatality of physical and intellectual distinction, most readers might clap their hands and cry out senses of sympathy. Especially, artistic philosophy of Basil invoked a great appreciation on me, for I am sincerely fond of art activities: Basil says, ‘every portrait painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the model – the sitter is merely the accident, the occasion.’(I.5 16-7) The notion that a picture filled enthusiastically would betray the secret of the painter’s own soul made me deliberate over a definition of a sincere art. Moreover, not as a student who determined to take art minor at university, but as an ordinary person who has both public and private lives, I was made to ponder upon true aspect of secrecy and desirable attitude I should have toward it.

 After the conversation finishes with a butler’s indication of where Dorian Gray is – into the studio, Basil halts Lord Henry, who just tries to get from the garden to the studio room in order to meet Gray, by saying ‘Don’t spoil him. Don’t try to influence him. Your influence would be bad.’(I.14 5-6) Such expression, extraordinarily, left me a sense of attachment.