Flattery and the Case Against it - A blog post on The Picture of Dorian Grey

[I haven't finished the book yet, but this post is based on what I have read so far.]

The Picture of Dorian Grey, a very complicated, compelling book about an artist, and his job. There are a lot of different ideas, and opinions in this book, like inspiration, flattery and people's souls. One of the most interesting ideas that is not quite presented to the reader, but presented to the characters, is about flattery.

In the beginning of the book, Basil Hallward, a painter, is on the finishing touches of his latest portraits. Lord Henry, an acquaintance of Basil's, sees the portrait and is amazed by the beauty of the subject who was painted. Lord Henry asks the meet the model, and Basil refuses saying he doesn't want him to meet Dorian, (the model), because he doesn't want Henry almost contaminating him with compliments. My thesis on why he doesn't want Henry to meet Dorian is because flattery can give people a false sense of themselves. If Dorian gets flattered he may think he is too good to be painted and could be doing other things than modeling for a painting. 

To conclude, The Picture of Dorian Grey is a very worthwhile book to read, and I know this already and I'm only in the first fourth of the book. The book is a good way to bring in new opinions on things such as inspiration, like is being inspired by something, stealing the idea or not; if you're inspired by something it's not original is it? This can relate to life, as well. Flattery of course, has it's uses, especially if people don't think much of themselves, but should we flatter? Could it have a negative outcome rather than the positive one we want?