Ashley Ducrepin
AP English 11 – Mr. George
04.06.2010
God Does Not Call Us to Bring Our Sins to Heaven and Earth
There is a God who calls upon his children to confess their sins for they will receive absolute salvation. One may seek forgiveness solely from the almighty, omnipotent being who is capable of forgiving our sins: “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). The object of confession is to achieve redemption, and since nobody but God can grant this, one’s confession to the public is pointless. Therefore, Dorian Gray is wrong in his belief that there is a God who calls “upon men to tell their sins to earth as well as to Heaven” (Wilde 228). Dorian’s erroneous belief sprouts from his false understanding of Christianity. Along with the characters of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter, Dorian Gray lives in a society based on sin, ultimately hindering their ability to seek redemption from the public. Thus, it is these characters’ duty to rise above the sin that surrounds them and confess their sins solely to a most just God.
The town portrayed in The Crucible is best known as a sham theocracy. The court system attempted to prove their infallibility despite the many lies and deception they based their lives on. They even tried to prove that they were just as perfect as God at the expense of other people’s lives: “Postponement now speaks a floundering on [Judge Danforth’s] part … [Danforth] should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law” (Miller 129). Ultimately, the people who make up the court system are not free from sin, therefore they have no jurisdiction in the condemning of souls. Seeking redemption from a court system full of sinful people is just as senseless as a relapsed drug addict seeking help from an alcoholic. They claim to be a religious based society, yet they defy one of God’s most important law: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned” (Lk 6: 37). This is one of the few sins the court system is guilty of, the court’s fallacies were also demonstrated through their inability to see who was actually deserving of punishment.
God is the only being that is incapable of making errors, a quality that can never be obtained by a human. The court wrongfully persecuted, John Proctor, a man who sought redemption from the only one able to grant it: “I confess to God, and God has seen my name … it is enough” (Miller 142). Although Proctor eventually gave in and publicly confessed, it was not until he confessed to God that he felt satisfied. It, once again, asserted the senselessness in confessing to a society blinded by sin. Abigail Williams’ lies were the igniting spark and fuel that set the witch hunt ablaze, yet the court failed to see this. This erroneous notion that radiated throughout the towns of Salem and Boston was the same one implemented within Dorian Gray; they all believed that a sinner must “suffer public shame” (Wilde 228). However, one should be granted with salvation after confession, rather than be tortured by the overwhelming emotion of shame.
In Boston, society’s objective was to bring shame upon Hester Prynne for her sin of adultery. They did this by forcing her to bear a physical embodiment of her sin as well as making her stand on a scaffold for hours where she was the object of ridicule and cruelty: “‘they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead’” (Hawthorne 49). Despite their beliefs, it was made crystal clear that shame does not bring one to salvation. In Hester’s case, shame brought her to benevolence while the emotion brought Dorian to murder.
Even before being the “subject of the sermon”, “punishment of children”, or the “punishment of new eyes” (Hawthorne 79), Hester found redemption. She acknowledged her sins and looked to dissolve any feelings of shame through charity: “Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in charity, on wretches less miserable than herself … she employed in making coarse garments for the poor” (Hawthorne 77). Though Dorian never publicly confessed his sin as Hester did, he felt overwhelmingly shameful when confronted by Basil Hallward, who was unaware of the bargain he made. Instead of suppressing this emotion or using it for good, Dorian allowed it to evolve into “an uncontrollable hatred for Basil [that seemed to be] suggested to him by the image in the canvas [that] whispered into his ear by those grinning lips” (Wilde 162). Dorian, who killed Basil as a result of shame, exemplified the danger in experiencing public shame. Dorian admitted that “the murder had been simply the madness of the moment” (Wilde 227). The minor shame that came about due to Basil’s concerns drove Dorian to madness. If the shame that caused Dorian to kill was not even public, it makes one wonder how destructive Dorian would be if he were forced to stand on a scaffold for hours being the object of crude and taunting remarks. Even if Dorian could handle facing public shame, he could never bring himself to confess.
Both Dorian Gray and Reverend Dimmesdale struggled internally with the burden of their sins. The Reverend’s torment was evident through his physical transformation: “his cheek was paler and thinner, and his voice more tremulous than before” (Hawthorne 111). On the other hand, the burden of Dorian’s sin sought out to dominate him and send him in a state of paranoia: “what sort of life would his be if, day and night, shadows of his crime were to peer at him from silent corners, to mock him from secret places, to whisper in his ear as he sat at the feast, to wake him with icy fingers as he lay asleep!” (Wilde 206). As Dorian stated, the only way they could rid themselves of these tortures was to confess and be the object of disgrace, however they were not able to due to their society. In Boston, Dimmesdale was highly respected for his priesthood: “in [society’s] eyes, the very ground on which he trod was sanctified” (Hawthorne 130). On the contrary, Dorian was praised solely for his good looks: “‘Dorian, with your pure, bright, innocent face, untroubled youth – I can’t believe anything against you’” (Wilde 154). With high expectations set, it made it extremely difficult for them to publicly confess. Dorian acknowledged the difficulties in confessing: “even if he did confess, who would believe him?” (Wilde 228). Thus, it explains why Dorian failed to fulfill his claim, again demonstrating the invalidity of his statement. In the end, Dimmesdale was able to find salvation without public confession, while Dorian continued to struggle with his sins, because of his refusal to ask God for forgiveness.
With the possibility of public confession out of the picture, the only way Dorian could satiate his feelings of shame and terror was through confession to the Lord. God would relieve any feelings of discomfort within him if he would simply ask for forgiveness. However, because Dorian has a false understanding of Christianity, he could not bring himself to confess despite Basil’s urgings. Basil encourages Dorian to pray for in turn he will be absolved of his past sins, but Dorian argues that “‘it is too late’” (Wilde 162). Again, Dorian is erroneous in his statement and Reverend Dimmesdale is a contradicting example to this. After seven lengthy years of physical and mental torture, Dimmesdale’s ailments were finally alleviated through salvation. As Basil attempted to explain, it is never too late to ask God for forgiveness. Throughout the text, it seemed as though Dorian did everything possible to evade repentance: “though forgiveness was impossible, forgetfulness was possible still, and he was determined to forget” (Wilde 189). There is nothing wrong with putting a sin from the past in the past, however one must be forgiven first; it is not the other way around. Hester Prynne sought out exoneration, received it, and moved on using charity as a means of forgetting. Dorian only sought out to forget through the use of drugs in attempts to rid himself of the guilt: “the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new” (Wilde 189). Dorian failed to grasp the true meaning of Christianity. It became increasingly clear that Dorian needed to confess his sins to the Lord, but he could not do this until he acknowledged his sins.
Because of the terror that began to dominate him, Dorian had no choice but to admit his sin, whether it was to himself or to others. The only thing Dorian failed to realize was the mere fact that he was responsible. This one factor separates Dorian from Hester, Proctor, and Dimmesdale. Unlike Dorian Gray, they were all able to find redemption because they owned up to their sins. Dorian met Basil and Lord Henry, two men who had an overwhelming influence on him. This strong and undeniable influence led Dorian to believe that he could not be held accountable for his dreadful actions: “‘Whatever my life is, [Basil] had more to do with the making or marring of it than poor Harry has had’” (Wilde 173). The first step to absolution is actually admitting that one is at fault for their sin. Without this recognition, Dorian simply cannot confess: “If we claim we have not sinned, we make [God] out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 John 1: 10). Dorian continued to blame everyone and everything, but himself, thus there was nothing to confess and with no confession, there is no absolution. To further prove that he was not to blame, Dorian sought out to destroy the portrait , hoping to be free from any feelings of guilt: “He would destroy it … [the knife] would kill the painter’s work, and all that that meant” (228). Dorian’s decision to eradicate the portrait, which was also a physical representation of his conscience, was his worst act. In the end, his worst and final sin demonstrated Dorian’s helpless situation. His statement remains untrue, but for Dorian Gray, there is no alternative.
Hester Prynne is the only one who exemplifies the positivity in experiencing public shame. However, she did not find redemption due to the public shame, she found it herself. Therefore, the only thing God calls us to do when we sin is to confess solely to him. Of all the characters discussed above, the only one who failed to grasp the true meaning of Christianity was Dorian Gray. As a result, his fateful end was much more agonizing than anyone else’s. It was evident that Dorian was to blame for his actions, in spite of the many influences he encountered. Yet, he attempted to avoid confessing his sins by blaming Lord Henry, Basil, and the painting. He realized that if he continued to put the blame on someone other than himself, he would not have to confess a sin that was not his fault. However, his plan backfired and ultimately showed that one must simply admit their faults and ask for forgiveness. The God, that Dorian speaks of, who commands one to confess their sin to Heaven as well as to Earth does not exist. The only thing a most just God asks of his children is to acknowledge their sins, confess their sins, and in turn He will “forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1: 9).
