Surely you have heard the expression, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." In Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde discredits this proverb and shows that words can actually take over a person's life and damage them forever. In this novel, the reader witnesses Dorian Gray's fateful pact, his temptation to explore lust, and his futile attempt to escape his narcissistic behavior. We see this corruption in Dorian as he faces the hardships of life, particularly being constantly under the influence of Lord Henry's influential words. Youth is a long-standing trait that many aspire to, but ever elusive with mortality. The obsession with being young easily corrodes many lives. When Dorian's reprehensible life is brought to light, the reader sees the fraud taken to the extreme through death. Dorian's tireless quest to be imperishable comes into action on the very day Lord Henry enters his life. Lord Henry recognizes Dorian's innocence and realizes how rare it is. As the trio gathers in Basil's study, Lord Henry decides to take the opportunity and fill Dorian's good virtue with his cynicism. Lord Henry states: “When your youth is gone, your beauty is gone, and then you will find that there are no triumphs left for you…” (p. 24). This quote suggests that youth is all to live for and Dorian takes Lord Henry's views into deep consideration. In fact, he is amazed by his new knowledge. Lord Henry managed to control Dorian's thoughts in a very short time. Dorian's anxiety grows as he contemplates this message and it changes his life forever by translating his evolving wickedness into the painting. Throughout the novel, ... middle of paper ... he faced all the misery that befell him. he endured. He finally decides to start a new life with innocence. He is happy with his decision and assumes that the portrait is now free of blemishes. When he discovers that it still contains the sinful soul of his past, the only way to start over is to destroy the monstrous image. In doing so, Dorian unknowingly takes on the burden that the portrait has brought and thus commits suicide. Over the course of the novel, Dorian encounters and becomes trapped in the temptation of evil and falls victim to the words that changed and ended his life. He allowed the imagination of youth to control him, obsession to swallow him, and hatred to destroy him. Although Dorian ultimately kills himself with the knife stained with Basil's blood, the influence of words alone proved to be the weapon that caused Dorian's death..