Comparing The Couple Next Door And The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Plato, one of the world’s most renowned philosophers, once said “Things are not always the way they seem, the first appearance deceives many.” This principle is as true today as it was two-thousand years ago when Plato wrote it. The character personalities and plot schemes of Shari Lapena’s “The Couple Next Door” and Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” exemplify this concept of how people use their appearances to deceive others and seek personal pleasures in life. From the disgraceful kidnapping scheme that reveals unimaginable secrets in the The Couple Next Door to the soul and appearance exchange of the protagonist in the Picture of Dorian Gray it is conspicuous that there is a distinction between a pleasant appearance and a moral

They use their affable or innocent appearances to enclose their thoughts of greed to determine the best course of action to satisfy their appetite for materialistic gains and non-tangibles. Although, displaying honesty, integrity, and hard work is considered the noble path for obtaining prosperity in modern society, people find it far too rigorous to walk that direction. On that account, many humans become tempted to adopt the use of deception as the preferred approach. For instance, in the novel The Couple Next Door the main plot is centered on solving a conundrum of a baby girl being kidnapped. In fact, Marco Conti, the father of the baby, is the perpetrator that performs the kidnapping. To the media, Marco puts up a front as a concerned father, saying, "We love Cora more than anything. We want her back. We say to whoever has her, please, please bring her back to us, unharmed."(Lapena 49). In contrast, when he is disguised as the kidnapper, he hides his daughter away as he seeks a ransom from his wife's mother to save his dying business. Marco epitomizes the effectiveness of a friendly appearance and displays the abhorrent use of deception to satisfy human greed. Marco later develops an unscrupulous mindset saying, "Nobody makes that much money without taking advantage of somebody. It's much easier to make money if you don't care who you hurt. If you have scruples, it's much harder to get rich.” (Lapena 66). Marco's unscrupulous

Recurrently, people often do this because they have a reputation to maintain. A person's appearance or demeanor exhibits a lot to someone that is being interacted with, namely one’s behavior, manners, and personal traits. One’s appearance is often utilized as a tool to modify a person’s perspective of who one may be. Humans do this as a method to wash away their past immoralities and renew their identity with a moralistic one. This behaviour is seen in The Picture of Dorian Gray, where Dorian Gray decides to sell his soul, while keeping his youthful good looks. His appearance makes him look much more virtuous as a person and as a result many of his acquaintances were convinced of his innocence; "Mind you, I don't believe these rumors at all. At least, I can't believe them when I see you. Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face. It cannot be concealed."(Wilde 143). Despite all of the rumors he hears, Dorian's friend Basil believes that Dorian's immorality is not factual, and instead he still considers that Dorian is righteous person because his outer beauty does not exhibit a person that has performed misdeeds. In similar fashion, Dorian also meets another one of his acquaintances named Lady Narborough who is believes in the same notion. " Lord Henry is very wicked, and I sometimes wish that I had been; but you are made to be good -- you look so good." (Wilde 171) Lady