An issue that I thought was relevant for discussion for this monthly connection blog would be an essential question from the unit of “Monsters and Ourselves.” The question that I thought we did not discuss in much depth in class is the question that asks, “Does everyone have a ‘price’ for their ‘soul’? (Whatever that price may be).” I thought that this question was especially important in the novel of The Portrait of Dorian Gray through the main character’s selling of his soul in order to gain eternal beauty. This question can also be applied to society and my own life in several different ways.
I thought that the question about the price of one’s soul was an important issue to discuss because we live in a society that says we should live only for present pleasures and that it is better to neglect or even sell one’s soul in exchange for instant gratification. This can be related to the novel of The Portrait of Dorian Gray through the main character of Dorian Gray. Dorian is a character that seems to have the idea that he is the most beautiful person on earth and that he would rather sell his soul to remain eternally beautiful instead of keeping his soul and growing old and ugly. Lord Henry Wotton is a character that shows Dorian that he should forget about his future and his dreams and to live only for the present. Dorian follows what Lord Henry is trying to tell him and accomplishes many things that he would not have done without Lord Henry telling him to do so. The other character that plays an important role in Dorian’s life is Basil Hallward because Basil is the person that creates the portraits of Dorian and shows Dorian his true beauty. Dorian realizes that he is worshipped for his beauty by Basil and uses his beauty in order to achieve things that he couldn’t accomplish any other way. Dorian soon begins to feel that his beauty is slipping and that he will not remain as beautiful, and therefore as powerful, as he originally was. So Dorian decides to sell his own soul for the chance to remain as beautiful as he was in the beginning. Even after he sells his own soul, Dorian realizes that he cannot remain forever beautiful and he ends up committing suicide in the end.
This idea of having a price for one’s soul can be related on a societal and personal level. In today’s society, people are constantly pressured into selling their souls and doing things that are only of benefit for the present time. People are told to “sell” their souls for anything from the ability to be extremely wealthy to being able to be liked and “worshipped” by everyone they know. I find the idea of selling one’s soul for the pleasure of instant gratification through any means to be something that is morally, religiously, ethnically and personally wrong and that these people do not truly know the value of life or that they don’t take its meaning seriously enough to not sell their souls. I, personally, do not have a “price” for my own soul and I would never sell my soul for anything that is of this world. I believe that a soul is something that gives a person their personality and their essence of who they are. I also believe that a person’s soul is more valuable than any material or non-material object, idea, or value in this world and that it enables us to be able to have eternal life after we die in this world. Death is not the end of the world; it is the end of this world and the beginning of a new world. A person’s soul is the path or the “ticket” to this new world and a new life once we have experienced death and left our present world. I would not sell my own soul for anything because nothing in this world is more important than the chance to be able to live forever in the next. I would not even sell my soul to save the ones that I love in this world because we are all humans and we are all destined die and this world was never meant to last for all eternity.
In conclusion, I would like to summarize the main points of this blog by saying that the idea of selling one’s soul is an idea that I do not agree with. I think that there is not a set price for a person’s soul and that only the person can decide to choose to sell their soul or not. Nobody can make the decision to sell someone’s soul because that decision is only for that person to choose. I believe that there is no price for a person’s soul and that there is nothing in this world that I would consider in order to sell my soul. This is contrary to what society says because present society is concerned with saying that one should live for the moment and doing what one can in order to fulfill one’s needs of instant gratification. This is my monthly connection blog for the month of March about the price of one’s soul and my opinion on this topic.
I thought that the question about the price of one’s soul was an important issue to discuss because we live in a society that says we should live only for present pleasures and that it is better to neglect or even sell one’s soul in exchange for instant gratification. This can be related to the novel of The Portrait of Dorian Gray through the main character of Dorian Gray. Dorian is a character that seems to have the idea that he is the most beautiful person on earth and that he would rather sell his soul to remain eternally beautiful instead of keeping his soul and growing old and ugly. Lord Henry Wotton is a character that shows Dorian that he should forget about his future and his dreams and to live only for the present. Dorian follows what Lord Henry is trying to tell him and accomplishes many things that he would not have done without Lord Henry telling him to do so. The other character that plays an important role in Dorian’s life is Basil Hallward because Basil is the person that creates the portraits of Dorian and shows Dorian his true beauty. Dorian realizes that he is worshipped for his beauty by Basil and uses his beauty in order to achieve things that he couldn’t accomplish any other way. Dorian soon begins to feel that his beauty is slipping and that he will not remain as beautiful, and therefore as powerful, as he originally was. So Dorian decides to sell his own soul for the chance to remain as beautiful as he was in the beginning. Even after he sells his own soul, Dorian realizes that he cannot remain forever beautiful and he ends up committing suicide in the end.
This idea of having a price for one’s soul can be related on a societal and personal level. In today’s society, people are constantly pressured into selling their souls and doing things that are only of benefit for the present time. People are told to “sell” their souls for anything from the ability to be extremely wealthy to being able to be liked and “worshipped” by everyone they know. I find the idea of selling one’s soul for the pleasure of instant gratification through any means to be something that is morally, religiously, ethnically and personally wrong and that these people do not truly know the value of life or that they don’t take its meaning seriously enough to not sell their souls. I, personally, do not have a “price” for my own soul and I would never sell my soul for anything that is of this world. I believe that a soul is something that gives a person their personality and their essence of who they are. I also believe that a person’s soul is more valuable than any material or non-material object, idea, or value in this world and that it enables us to be able to have eternal life after we die in this world. Death is not the end of the world; it is the end of this world and the beginning of a new world. A person’s soul is the path or the “ticket” to this new world and a new life once we have experienced death and left our present world. I would not sell my own soul for anything because nothing in this world is more important than the chance to be able to live forever in the next. I would not even sell my soul to save the ones that I love in this world because we are all humans and we are all destined die and this world was never meant to last for all eternity.
In conclusion, I would like to summarize the main points of this blog by saying that the idea of selling one’s soul is an idea that I do not agree with. I think that there is not a set price for a person’s soul and that only the person can decide to choose to sell their soul or not. Nobody can make the decision to sell someone’s soul because that decision is only for that person to choose. I believe that there is no price for a person’s soul and that there is nothing in this world that I would consider in order to sell my soul. This is contrary to what society says because present society is concerned with saying that one should live for the moment and doing what one can in order to fulfill one’s needs of instant gratification. This is my monthly connection blog for the month of March about the price of one’s soul and my opinion on this topic.
James
Good Work
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