A Double Life

The Picture of Dorian Gray was one of my favorite books that we read over this past month in English. Oscar Wilde is an interesting writer, and I enjoyed his witticisms throughout the entire novel. He has a way of slipping in wisdom and paradoxes in unexpected places. The greater focus of the novel, however, was on sins, and their effect on one’s soul. Unlike most people, Dorian Gray’s soul was not inside of his body, but projected into a portrait painted for him by his good friend Basil. The symbolic aging of his painting as Dorian turns to a wicked lifestyle shows Wilde’s perception of how sins taint lives. I thought this was an interesting observation, as I never considered the way that sin could affect me. I have grown up Christian, knowing that accepting Christ sets one free from the punishment for sin, but I never thought to consider how that could affect me physically, the way that it truly shapes who we are, even if it is not outwardly seen by others.

I thought it was interesting to note the double life that Dorian seemed to have; he had an outward personality which was docile and sweet, and seemingly innocent. This was mostly due to his appearance, which Basil would describe as god-like. However, on the inside, Sir Henry had corrupted him. His desire to see and know all beauty had led him down a horrible path, one of deceit and murder and corruption. Later on in the month as I was reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author wrote a very interesting explanation for the dual nature of man’s personality. He said that we all had an evil part of us, one that most people underuse, so it is too weak to take on full form in a person. Dr. Jekyll, however, actualized his in Mr. Hyde, and could transform into this person, someone who was nothing but pure evil. It is interesting to note the parallel between the two books; both focus on the double life caused by the presence of both good and evil inside of everyone.

I think that this idea connects greatly to modern psychology and the advancements that have been made since the time both of these books were written. The idea of two entirely separate people residing inside of one mind describes people who suffer from bipolar or multiple personality disorders. The idea of Dorian Gray, who can maintain an outwardly respectable and innocent appearance while being inwardly evil reminds me of books I have been reading about serial killers. Reading these books has been making it hard to sleep at night, but I have learned a lot about the way their minds work. They look like perfectly normal people, there is nothing physically to indicate their severe mental disorder.

While both of these books were creepy and dealt with phenomena outside of the natural realm, one thing stood out to me as a life lesson I could take from the two: be the same person outside that you are inside. Don’t just look good, truly be good as well.

A New Perspective

We read a lot of books throughout the month of February, but the one that hit me the hardest was A Thousand Splendid Suns. I had never really looked into the Muslim culture, nor given their people much thought outside of the context of the 9-11 tragedy. However, this book opened my eyes, and certainly made me grateful for the lifestyle we have here today. Having spent this entire unit on women in literature, and the nature of their oppression, I find it amazing to note that we in America are concerned with the wage gap between men and women, and our objectification in the media, while in the Muslim culture women are literally considered objects. It was hard for me to read about Mariam being signed over to a much older man when she was barely a teenager by her own father, and to recognize that there was no choice for her in the matter. She became his property, and from then on had no rights of her own. Even harder was watching true love be ripped from Laila with the war killing most of her family, and to her knowledge, Tariq. The way that Rasheed paid someone to break Laila’s heart in order to gain her for himself was sickening.

I also never expected to find the level of domestic violence that was present in the story. It never occurred to me that in another culture it could be acceptable for a man to beat his wife, that it was even justifiable because his job was to “keep her in check”. What got me the most, however, was that Mariam killed Rasheed in self-defense, and to save Laila’s life, but she was still sentenced to death. This blows my mind. A woman had so little rights that saving her own life was valued less than the life of the man who beat her. Domestic violence is an issue that we raise a lot of awareness for in America, not just for abused women but also for abused men. I can’t believe that another culture could take it in stride the way it was in the book.

While reading the novel, there were many times I was in tears about the injustices the women faced, and the overall violence of the world they lived in. Every time they turned around, another militant group was taking over their area and changing the rules. Some gave women more rights, and some reverted back to traditional Muslim values. All however, came in and were subsequently overthrown with incredible violence, which destroyed many families and killed far too many innocent people. Reading this book gave me a new perspective on the bombing of the twin towers. I assumed, as a child, that the country on a whole hated us, and that was why the attack had happened. It never occurred to me that it could just be a small, radical faction with a vendetta, and that the rest of the country was powerless to their rule, as much as they didn’t agree with what was happening.

This book gave me a perspective I hope never to lose- that I am so incredibly lucky to live in a country where I am free to dress the way I like, marry who I love, and get the education I desire.

Feminism

This past month in class we have been focusing very heavily on feminist literature. While I never, ever considered myself to be a feminist, this unit has caused me to question that. Reading A Doll’s House was extremely uncomfortable, because I couldn’t handle the idea that a woman might be considered nothing more than a pet or an object to the rest of the world. Nora, the main character, had been sheltered from any proper schooling by the men in her life. She therefore had no concept of the way society worked or what the real world was like. Instead, she remained inside her “bubble” where she did very few things. She had children that she barely knew how to take care of; that was the nanny’s responsibility. She does the sewing and the shopping, and even shopping is above her head, as she is frivolous with money. To her husband, she is little more than a pet. He calls her his “little bird”, and their relationship is best described as completely superficial. He takes her to parties and dresses her up to perform for the crowd, and then whisks her away before she can socialize with anyone. As a woman in today’s society, I can’t imagine being confined to that role. I don’t want anyone else to decide what I can wear, what I am allowed to do, and if my husband tried to liken me to a bird there would be some huge issues. There is something so demeaning about the way that she is treated, almost as if she is less of a person then the men who control her. I am glad that as a society we have progressed beyond that point, and that I have the option of choosing a career and picking a husband based on love and not money or security. However, I still do not think our society has completely reached gender equality. I read an article from 2012 that covered the wage gap between men and women. It showed that when comparing a man and a woman with the same type of college education, similar grades, and holding the same type of job, a man would make 5% more right out of college, and the gap increases as the years go on. By 10 years out of college, it is up to 12% more. I had heard about the wage gap issue in past years, but had never put too much weight on it because I figured it averaged the overall salaries of all men and women. In that case it is more understandable why there would be a difference between the salaries because many women work part time in order to take care of the children. The instance above, however, makes me angry. If I work extremely hard in college to prepare for my position, there is absolutely no reason that a man with equal qualifications should get more money. Until this issue has been resolved, our society is still sexist and women will still be continued to be seen as lesser. So how do we solve this problem? We teach our children to respect women. We stop objectifying them in magazines and on television. It is only then that the wage gap will disappear, because the world will finally view women as people, not objects.