Stories are dangerous, as some say, but maybe it’s the person who tells such stories to conjure fear, panic, havoc, and worst of all, evil, which is truly dangerous. Who might this person be, you ask? And is it even a person? Well, if you continue reading, you’ll find out. 

A weightless yet tangible entity, not quite a human being for it was light as dust and pure of soul, was floating through a beautiful garden filled with white roses and peonies. All entities lived in harmony and peace, and they closely resembled one another in gender, race, shape, and form since there was no such thing as distinctions or rankings. Now, you need to understand that these entities only knew what each other looked like, they did not know their own appearance because any reflective object or substance was not of existence. Now, to return to this secluded entity called Good, came across a large wooden door blanketed by hanging ivy. On this door was a heavy metal lock secured over the latch, but Good was not in the least bit concerned with this big lock since the wood that made up the door was poorly constructed. With one push, the door came crumbling apart. Beyond the door was an empty area overgrown with weeds and dying flowers. Good had never seen such a terrible sight and was about to leave when it saw a tall shiny structure in the far corner of the space. Good slowly made its way over and was pleasantly surprised to find another entity staring right back at it. Except the entity didn’t say anything, it didn’t even move. So Good reached out its hand to greet this peculiar entity, but Good’s hand hit something firm. What Good didn’t know was that it had found the only mirror in all the universe that was created before the entities, but because all entities had no knowledge of such a creation, Good was very confused and scared. After several minutes of staring at itself in the mirror, Good, who was very clever, realized it was its own reflection staring back. 

The next day, Good returned to the strange object and spent hours on end enjoying the sight of itself, and after a few days past, Good wasn’t able to leave its reflection. Suddenly, in the bright and early morning, the reflection made an unusual face and spoke in a voice that was not Good’s own. 

        “I am going to tell you a story, and you’re going to listen. My name is Evil, and now that you’ve become acquainted with self-obsession and vanity, you will understand the story.” So Evil told Good all things terrible, sickening, frightening, and unpleasant, all things that encompassed Evil. After listening to the story, Good backed away from the mirror to try to escape it. This was silly because no matter where Good went, Evil would be there. It was now a part of Good. 

        “I don’t like your stories, take back what you said. I don’t want to remember what you told me!” Pleaded Good. But it was too late. For once a story is told, it cannot be called back. And so Evil was created by Good’s narcissism, and that, readers, is how evil came into the world. 

When choosing how to retell this story, The Picture of Dorian Grey immediately popped into my head since the role of an evil double seemed suitable as the conjurer of bringing evil into the world. As well, the idea of narcissism and vanity as representing “evil,” whoever or whatever evil may be, tangible or invisible, was a suitable fit, and the use of a mirror, rather than a portrait, acts as a metaphor of a reflection into one’s soul. 

I found it a little challenging memorizing the entire story at first, but after repeating it to my sister multiple times, it was like describing my favourite book. However, as others have already mentioned, each time I told the story, I either added, excluded, or changed an element of it, which reflects the notion of storytelling. Stories have such a significant impact on us whether we recognize it or not, and understanding that even though the structure of stories can change over time, the overall message or idea remains intact. 

Works Cited

Williams, Zoe. “Me! Me! Me! Are we living through a narcissism epidemic?” The Guardian, March 2, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com. 

Ross, Alex. “How Oscar Wilde Painted Over ‘Dorian Grey’” The New Yorker, August 1, 2011. https://www.newyorker.com.