TPoDG ch. 11-12

"'I told him that it was absurd- that I knew you thoroughly, and that you were incapable of anything of the kind. Know you? I wonder do I know you? Before I could answer that I should have to see your soul.' 'To see my soul!' muttered Dorian Gray, starting up from the sofa and turning almost white with fear" (156).

Basil knows know that he has totally lost Dorian. When he had walked by Dorian in the fog, he had still had a naive hope that Dorian was still who he used to be. This is shown in the eagerness he portrays while he speaks to Dorian: "'Dorian! What an extraordinary piece of luck!'" (151). He sounds so happy to see Dorian, and later he is so disappointed in what he sees. It is no longer his friend Dorian, or even the Dorian he knew after the seeds of Henry's influence had begun taking root in his mind. The Dorian that Basil met on that fateful night of his death was the Dorian who not only housed the great garden of Henry's influence, but had also become his own person, separate from Henry, but just as evil as all of the Lord's wildest fantasies. That begs the question, does Dorian know that Henry is toying with him, feeding him with unrealistic passion? Especially with the murder- something Henry would never, ever do- especially to Basil: "He rushed at him, and dug the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man;s head down on the table, and stabbing again and again" (163). Henry would never go that far. Dorian has become a monster.

"The friend who had painted the fatal portrait to which all his misery had been due had gone out of his life. That was enough" (164).

Dorian has grown into the type of person who can not put the blame on himself. He must blame another, and that person, sadly, became Basil. He stabbed him to death in hopes that his misery would go away. Basil was his only hope of redemption. He cried as Basil tried to redeem him: "Dorian Gray turned slowly around, and looked at him with tear-dimmed eyes. 'It is too late, Basil,' he faltered" (162). What Dorian wants is just to live out his sins. He has gotten too used to them to stop, and he is too ashamed of them to want to face them. He is afraid of what he has become, as shown in his tears. He keeps hearing Basil speak of forgiveness, "'it is never too late, Dorian. Let us kneel down and try if we can not remember a prayer" (162). Basil's words fill him with a small feeling of hope, but his love of sin and fear of facing himself turn him violently against seeking redemption. Seeking it would be to accept the monster he has become, and also promise him a life of moderate self-denial most people live in. Because of that, he had to get away from the source of both of his pains, Basil.