Quote: “In the wild struggle for existence, we want to have something that endures, and so we fill our minds with rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of keeping our place.” – From chapter 1

Comment: This sentence really stuck out to me when I read it, I can’t pinpoint quiet why. I can see the truth to this statement however, people do strive to leave something of themselves to be remembered by when they die. But I don’t believe that its just through learning facts or just thinking, some might strive for a less academic approach, such as trying to hit the odds on the lottery or perhaps a less law-abiding method of being known. Some people look to making themselves attractive to others on social media to be remembered, while others may troll people.

Connecting this quote to later in the first part of the book, Dorian Gray freaks out when he sees his portrait thinking about how he will not look the same someday. In other words, he wants to ‘keep his place’ he threatens to kill himself when he starts aging. That would be a way to be remembered, everyone would hear the tragedy of the man who was so distraught in aging he ended it.

Question: If we are all doing our best to be remembered after we die, then are we even focusing on the living aspects of our lives?