PODG: #6

            Oscar Wilde alters the path of his main character in these chapters. Throughout the novel Dorian is portrayed as a young, innocent, boy who, although he has recently become corrupt, is always seen as some hero. In these chapters Dorian can no longer play the naïve little boy he once was. He is a murderer and will do anything to avoid getting caught. However, Wilde does attempt to portray Dorian as sympathetic one last time: “Suddenly he remarked that every face that he drew seemed to have fantastic likeness to Basil Hallward” (Wilde 119). Guilt creeps into Dorian just as it did after hearing of Sibyl Vane’s death. These feelings of accountability force the reader to sympathize for Dorian, as one has from the beginning of the book, until one realizes that Dorian is a murderer. His guilty conscience is also evident as he waits for Alan Campbell: “The suspense became unbearable. Time seemed to him to be crawling with feet of lead” (Wilde 122). This scene alters the tone for the rest of the novel, from a lighthearted, youthful story to a dark, ominous disintegration of innocence.