A Thirst for the Unknown: The Dark Temptation of the Guide

8/13/2019 A Thirst for the Unknown: The Dark Temptation of the Guide

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Caitlin Wilkinson

A Thirst for the Unknown: The Dark Temptation of the Guide

The power of the unknown lies in its abilities to evoke the desire to uncover the mystery

beneath the shroud. Whether the temptation comes from the sound echoing from the bowels of a

darkened alley, the allure of that masked seductive figure wreathed in smoke and shadows, or the

public phone ringing under that flickering street lamp as you pass by, there is a pull to seek out

the source of that noise, to uncover the mystery behind the mask, to answer the call. Often there

are figures who provide the temptation that you could have taken no notice of; the noise was too

far away for you to hear, the smoke too thick, the phone off the hook. These figures, reminiscent

of Hermes and Thoth, take on their roles as guides to lead the hero to their destiny, or their

peril(Campbell, 60). As a guide, there is no moral prerequisites; the guides are often responsible

for leading the individual who has answered the call to face dangerous and often fatal trials and

tribulations (Peterseil, 3). Satan, Lord Henry, and Jace Wayland are three mercurial-figures who

have led the the heroes of their respective stories to face dangerous trials.

The representation of Satan as a dangerous figure is a widely accepted depiction of his

character. Satan is given the title of anti-hero in John Miltons novelParadise Lost, which seeks

to explain the events within the Bible from the experiences of Heavens fallen angel, Lucifer,

who was expelled and became the king in Hell known as Satan. In Book 9 ofParadise Lost

Satan attains the form of the serpent for which he is known for assuming in the book of Genesis

in the Holy Bible. His task is the same: Satan wishes to smite Him, who spurned him from

Heaven and whose power was too great for his unholy army to conquer. To accomplish this,

Satan encroaches into the garden of Eden, past the cherubic guards, and takes control of the

serpent whose form pleases Satan the most. He is small, cunning and beautiful and lures the gaze


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of Eve with his newly obtained figure. He stuns her with his ability of speech, which Eve thinks

is an ability that He, their creator, only grants to humans. Satan feeds her curiosity and poisons

her with the temptation that all guides provide their heroes, their prey; he informs her that the

Tree of Knowledge will grant her even greater knowledge and by creating a temptation juicy

enough to rouse her from suspicion, guides her onto the path of corruption, thereby leading

Adam to follow. Adam and Eve are two figures who represent the same figure in the story:

humanity. Because of Satans jealousy and vindictiveness towards His holy triumph, Satan

divested Hermes of the wings from his sandals and took the lesser gods role for his own in order

to lead humanity toward the path of corruption and, ultimately, death (Arguments, Paradise

Lost). Satan wrests the innocence of humanity away with the curling, dark intentions of

temptation and provides them with the lures necessary that invokes Adam and Eve to partake of

the forbidden fruit. The path that he sets them on leads to the trials of mortality and the

punishment for their original sin (Milton, Book 9).

In The Picture of Dorian Graywe are introduced to the namesake of the novel, Dorian

Gray. He is a rather genial, impressionable youth who has been blessed with extraordinary

beauty. He is the muse of Basil Hallward, the painter and acquaintance of Lord Henry Wotton,

our hedonistic Hermes in the story. Lord Henry is a man that believes in partaking of the

pleasures that the world offers. Lord Henry himself is drawn to the beauty of Dorian and

expresses his desire to guide the beautiful youth down the river of temptation and pleasure.

When expressly warned against influencing Dorian with his hedonistic beliefs, Lord Henry

replies people are afraid of themselves nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties,

the duty that one owes to ones self. Of course, they are charitable. They feed the hungry and

clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are nakedThe terror of society, which is the


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basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religionthese are the two things that

govern us ( Dorian Gray, 35). Lord Henry sways Dorian with the temptation of indulging in

ones every desires. Upon learning that Basils art has provided the perfection of agelessness that

his nature could not provide, Dorian follows the path that Lord Henry has taken upon himself to

lay out in front of the youth. When Dorian strays from Lord Henrys influences and what he

believes is best for Dorian, Lord Henry tempts him with fresh words and indulgences that lure

him back into the indulgence of temptation, causing him to fail his trials and succumb even

farther to the pollution of his soul. Under the role of Dorians guide, Lord Henry led the boy to

his eventual death: You and I are what we are, and will be what we will be The books that

the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame (Wilde, 161). Lord

Henry influences Dorian to detest the grotesque pictorial representation of the sins and shame of

his soul and in order to destroy the evidence of his conscious Dorian met his demise by his own

hand as he attempted to destroy the portrait.

The winged sandals are filled by our final dark mercurial figure who guides our heroine

into a deliciously dangerous path into a literal demons den: Jace Wayland. Jace is a main

character from theMortal Instrumentsseries alongside Clary Fray, our heroine. Clary is a young,

socially inept girl with an overbearing artist mother and a dorky best friend whose head over

heels for her. She begins seeing strange runes everywhere and answers the call of temptation to

understand what they mean, leading her into a risque club that has the name of the original

demons den: Pandemonium. Clary witnesses the death of what she considers tobe a fellow

club-goer at the hands of a devilishly handsome blonde boy with bold black tattoos covering

his body- the symbols she sees everywhere. Jace provides the allure of the unknown, the

resolution to the mysteries that shes been seeking and the provision of far more than she ever


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thought could exist. Our heroine is tempted into the world of shadowhunters by Jace, the herald

of the series. He reveals to her that all of the fairy tales, stories and myths that shed ever heard

of were real; Jace provided her with the mystery that was her heritage (Clare, City of Bones).

Why could she see him? Was her mother a shadowhunter, too? Who was Valentine? Who has

messed with her memories? And, of course, she seeks to solve the enigma that is Jace Wayland.

Jace is her guide into the world of shadowhunters and keeps her on the path that heads for the

answers to her questions. He assists her with the trials she faces and creates trials of his own due

to his status as a dangerous, dark guide. Jace offers her protection by teaching her how to survive

against demons, vampires and Valentine by using unique weaponry, the stele, and with his own

skills. Jace also places her in danger through his personal actions and forcing her to endure trials

that put her and those she cares about in danger. He has been her guide from the beginning,

through the dangerous interactions with creatures of lore, romantic liaisons, tempting mysteries

and previously insurmountable trials.

The thirst for the unknown is what allows these guides to manipulate their chosen ones

onto the path of their destinies, for better or for worse. Satan uses his wiles to force humanity

onto the path of death and mortality, Lord Henry uses pretty words and his seductive influences

to guide Dorian onto the hedonistic highroads to his self-implemented demise, and Jace teases

and taunts Clary with his beauty and secrets, luring her onto a path filled with demons, taboos

and self-discovery. Our shadowy guides may not all have the best interests at heart but they are

the figures that inspire the chosen ones to step onto the pathway to their destinies, obscured with

smoke, mirrors and mysteries that drive them onward to their fulfillment or their demise.

Works Cited


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"Arguments in Paradise Lost."Paradise Lost. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

.

Clare, Cassandra.Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. [S.l.]: Margaret Mcelderry Bks, 2013.

Print.

Milton, John.Paradise Lost. Ed. Gordon Teskey. 1st ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &, 2005.

Print.

Peterseil, Yakob. To make a Monster: Manipulation and Invention in Oscar Wilde's "the Picture

of

Dorian Gray" and Italo Svevo's "Senilita". Order No. 1435005 The University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006 Ann ArborProQuest. 22 Nov. 2013 .

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Stanley Applebaum. 1st ed. N.p.: Dover Thrift,

1993.

Print.
http://www.paradiselost.org/http://www.paradiselost.org/


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A Thirst for the Unknown: The Dark Temptation of the Guide