Conflict Demonstration - Persuasive Essay

    Take a few minutes to really think - How often to you look in the mirror, or wonder how

 you look every second of the day? Individuals focus their attention of their life more to looks

 than their family, health, schooling, jobs, etc.  Being beautiful and looking youthful is all that

 should matter anymore.  It is indeed a fact that most people feel at their best when they 

receive complements daily on their hair, makeup, and weight.  Turns out this sense of mind 

didn’t start with our generation.  It started before the 1900’s. 

    The Picture of Dorian Gray published in 1891 by Oscar Wilde, has an unusual conflict 

dealing with beauty and age. Dorian Gray, having promised his soul in order to live a life of

 perpetual youth, must try to reconcile himself to the bodily decay and dissipation that are 

recorded in his portrait.  Dorian’s dream was to live a life to always be beautiful and look 

youthful.  This was not a problem to him until he became face to face with love and reality. 

Dorian tries to run from the ugliness of age throughout his life.  He runs from it, but he is 

also fascinated with it, obsessively coming back again and again to look at the signs of age in

 the portrait. 

    It is believed people are often judged at an early age about what their hair looks like and 

what clothes they are wearing.  This will only follow them throughout their entire life.  It 

starts in junior high:  Sam is wearing a green sweater with a brown skirt, Melanie will be sure 

to let Sam know how she feels about that, which will only cause hurt and cause Sam to be self 

conscious.  This will follow her throughout high school and college.  Once she becomes in her 

30’s after having kids and is starting to bring on the old wrinkles, Sam will find herself to 

wonder what people are thinking.  
 
    Dorian was not about to let anyone see his true beauty, for him, his life would be over if 

that happened.  Dorian did live with this portrait for years and he would be sure to check it 

very often, to figure out how he could change it and see how his ugliness has increased on the 

portrait.  Once Dorian has had enough with this, he finally broke down and decided to try to 

kill the picture, which killed himself. 

    Trying to kill an image of yourself will end up killing you inside.  Everyone is beautiful 

inside and out, no matter what you hear or think.