Argument about the Nature of Good and Evil As Presented In the Novella
According to the Ester and Joshua (125), the concept of ‘evil’ takes on two sides; the broad concept and the narrow notion. The broad concept presents any bad state of affairs, wrongful action or a flaw in character. It is into two, which are the natural evil and the moral evil. Natural evil is non-intended bad state of affairs while moral evil, on the other hand, results from the intentional bad state of the affairs. The narrow concept presents only the morally unacceptable actions, characters, and events. ‘Good' on the other hand was associated with the notion of morally right behavior. Virtues characterize it as; honesty, generosity, courage, justice, sincerity, and love,
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Hyde’s evil nature instilled fear among all the people he contacted. Both his actions and appearance made people fear him. Mr. Enfield referred to him as “some damned Juggernaut”. (Chapter 1). Utterson also refers to him as a “human Juggernaut” (Chapter 2).By this statement, Mr. Enfield meant that Hyde was so powerful as a machine. He was relating to the time when he witnesses Hyde trample mercilessly over a young girl. (Chapter 1). During one incident, Hyde was said to beat up an old man (Sir Danvers Carew) with “ape-like fury” (Chapter 4) until he died. A lady servant watching the whole incident fainted out of fear. Dr. Jekyll’s servants also feared what they thought was the intruder who had taken over the doctor’s laboratory after killing him. They did not know the situation that had begotten the doctor, the same person frightening them. They “huddled together like a flock of sheep” (Chapter 8) and ran out to Mr. Utterson as though he was a savior of sorts from their mystery. (Chapter 8). Dr. Lanyon feared the mere mention of Dr. Jekyll because he had witnessed the evil version of him, and he had also seen the transformation process. "I cannot bear the topic…" he said amid fear of speaking about the issue. (Chapter 6)
Evil is portrayed as a form of slavery in the book. One of the effects of evil was the enslaving of the mind. One night, some period after Utterson had been told about Hyde, he had nightmares disturbing him the entire night. His mind was "enslaved" by the
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It is portrayed as a negation of evil, or where the people turned to when they wanted to defeat evil. Dr. Jekyll was religious. He cried out to God, and even in his bad form he was heard crying out to Heaven. (Chapter 8). His call meant that he believed in the existence of God. Utterson also believes in God. At one time, Utterson and his friend Enfield were walking near Dr. Jekyll’s house when he slammed the window in their presence from the window where he was sat. They did not know why he had done that but as they walked away from the incident, Utterson called on to God saying, “God forgive us, God forgive us." (Chapter 7). His emphasis on these words meant that he believed that God would hear them
By creating Mr. Hyde as this physically grotesque creature, it enhances the readers understanding of the power of evil. If Dr. Jekyll was only transformed mentally from good to evil, it would not have the same effect as transforming mentally and physically. The physical appearance of Mr. Hyde gave everyone who saw him an instant feeling of foulness and darkness. Dr. Jekyll wrote about his first encounter with Mr. Hyde in the letter he wrote to Mr. Utterson, “It came about that Edward Hyde was so much smaller, slighter, and younger, that Henry Jekyll. Even as good shone upon the countenance of the one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other,” (Stevenson. 71). Dr. Jekyll could take one look at Mr. Hyde and know that he was evil. This idea of evil being something that can be observed from ones appearance is not only found in Stevenson’s novel, but also in literature and media across the world. Another prominent example of evil being depicted as ugly is in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. Rowling writes about a group of ghost like creatures that feed on the souls of wizards called
Good and Evil in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Mr. Hyde shows that people regarded him to be The Devil or to be at
From the beginning of time, humans have questioned the validity of intrinsic duality of man. Are humans born with both pure goodness and pure evilness or is the latter cultivated? In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, one man, a scientist named Henry Jekyll, concludes that all men are both good and evil, so he decided to separate the two natures within one body. The outcome of his experiment resulted in the formation of a somewhat different product than he had imagined a creature by the name of Edward Hyde. Although Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the souls of one body, there are differences and similarities in their appearance and personality that illustrate the natural duality of good and evil within a man.
Have readers ever thought about the fact that authors write everything the way they do for a reason? In Fahrenheit 451, the books of the Bible that it references, relate directly to what is occurring inside the society of the book.
Embodiment of religious notions of good and evil. One of the main Christian concept is the one of temptation caused by the dual nature of humanity hence the concept of evil hiding in the light. This can be seen throughout the entire novella with the onomastic name of Hyde, as pointed out by Utterson’s pun, can also mean “hide”. Evil was therefore hiding, lurking, within Dr Jekyll the entire time but was emphasised by strict moral value and finally set free with Dr Jekyll transgressive experiments. This transgression to the natural and universal orders seem to affect his surroundings, the night is now “accursed”. The “constellations looked down upon (him)”, he defies God for he admits he had defied his “unsleeping vigilance”. This extract describes how the transformation operates on multiple level including the metaphorical one, it has also a highly religious value, showing the metaphorical meaning of good and evil and how it can be read as a cautionary tale of hubris. But then, what were social pressures at the time and how can this duality be explained
Jekyll confesses to Mr. Utterson that he and Mr. Hyde hate each other. For instance, Dr. Jekyll starts to hate Mr. Hyde when he says “goodbye for ever Mr. Hyde” (64). Dr. Jekyll says goodbye to his evil side. He loathes his evil side because Hyde has shown Jekyll and Hyde’s capability to murder. Furthermore, Mr. Hyde detests Dr. Jekyll because he’s a prisoner inside Dr. Jekyll’s body. In addition, the narrator states that, “Hyde and Jekyll now hate each other with equal passion” (69). Mr. Hyde’s imprisonment within Dr. Jekyll’s body makes Mr. Hyde dislike him, so he tears Dr. Jekyll’s books (69). Mr. Hyde’s disgust of Dr. Jekyll causes Mr. Hyde to ruin Dr. Jekyll’s most important personal belongings. Clearly, after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde hate each other
Utterson saw Jekyll since they were good friends he saw that this person in front of him was not his good friend. Dr.jekyll the good the kind and Hyde is turning him into a dark, and evil person. All these things that are happening to Jekyll is making his body sick, deadly looking. “This master Hyde, if he were studied though he , must have secrets of his own:black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekylls worst would be like sunshine.” (18 Stevenson) This quote shows that Dr.jekyll is good,compared to Hyde he is good. Even Dr.Jekyll’s Darkest deepest secrets compared to Hyde’s secrets Jekyll’s look like sunshine, and cant even compare to Hyde’s secrets. “Now that that evil influence had been withdrawn, a new life began for Dr.Jekyll.”(31 Stevenson)This Quote shows that Mr. Hyde is evil. Hyde’s evil influence on Dr.jekyll who was a good man and Mr.Hyde was turning him into something evil. With his evil influence gone Dr.Jekyll can be himself; a good man.”It turns me to think of this creature stealing like a thief to harry’s bedside; poor harry what a wakening!” (18 Stevenson)This quote shows that everyone had a bad feeling about Mr.Hyde, Utterson knew that Hyde was bad, and evil. Utterson hated to see his oldest friend Dr.jekyll get his life ruined by a a thief and and
The bond between good and evil is a very prominent theme in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The two characters are united into one human being, but contrast each other enormously. Although Dr. Jekyll represents the good, and Mr. Hyde represents the evil, both characters prove to have the other characteristics as well. Dr. Jekyll wants more than anything to separate the bond between good and evil, and performs experiments to obtain this goal. This results in the character Mr. Hyde who is filled with evil intentions. The narrator shows the evil of Dr. Hyde, “All human beings, as we meet them, commingled out of good and evil:
The tall upright Jekyll is a big contrast to the evil, small, ugly and cold-hearted Hyde. Hyde is judged religiously by the 'stars looking down on him' this is a metaphor for the whole society looking down on him. At this time the religious beliefs were still strong and although science was coming through and more people were turning towards science and believing less and less of the church's teachings, the religious population was still the majority. Hyde represented the scientific community whereas the
however Hyde did not answer all of a sudden he " broke out in a great
Being a purveyor of the law, he is in the position to oversee many "downgoing men" (Stevenson 1) and functions as an inspirational example of the refinement attributed to the upper class of which he is a member. However, Mr. Utterson is troubled when Dr. Jekyll, also a member of the upper class, wills his property to a then-unknown Mr. Hyde. He is "offended ...both as a lawyer and as a lover of the sane and customary sides of life, to whom the fanciful is immodest" (6). Utterson does not, however, pry into the affair until the inheritor is described as monstrous. This further demonstrates his sense of social obligation. Before hearing the story that Mr. Hyde trampled a young girl, Utterson is able to restrain his first impression of Dr. Jekyll's decree; but upon hearing the reputable account, he can no longer ignore his sense of social and moral obligation to make things right. Utterson suspects that blackmail is the reason for the atypical will, and whether for the purpose of legitimizing the monstrous story or having a primary account of Mr. Hyde, he seeks out this character before confronting his client, Dr. Jekyll.
Jekyll, and evil in Mr. Hyde are both trying to overpower each other. Both sides are fighting to dominate him, to become his only existing persona. Mr. Enfield describes to Mr. Utterson as to what he saw late one night: "Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground.” (3). The man Enfield talks of who trampled the innocent child was none other than Mr. Hyde. Consistently through the book, people of the town compare Hyde to “Satan” for his constant malicious wrongdoing against innocent people. The people he attacks are: a small young girl and a loved elderly man. These heinous acts could only be done by a completely cold hearted person. This shows how much his evil side attacks the good side of him. On the other hand, Dr. Jekyll tries hiding his evil Mr. Hyde side as well as he could. While reflecting back he states: “Many a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I was guilty of; but from the high views that I had set before me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame.” (42). Jekyll’s statement explains how he keeps his evil persona repressed. Instead of letting the darkness of Hyde consume him, Jekyll remains his status in society as a sophisticated
Hyde and was repulsed but in shock.When Utterson visits Dr. Lanyon again at his sickbed, he brings up Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Lanyon is immediately repulsed and cannot stand to talk about him. Stevenson shows this to his readers this by writing, “I wish to see or hear no more of Dr. Jekyll… I am quite done with that person, and I beg that you will spare me only allusion to whom I regard as dead”(Stevenson 23). Lanyon did not want to hear about Jekyll anymore because it was Jekyll who had caused him to go into shock when he saw Jekyll himself, turn into the infamous Mr. Hyde. Seeing this made Lanyon sick and he couldn’t bear it. This shows that when a certain evilness of when a person’s human nature comes into full light, people don’t want to see it, or they are not prepared. It is truly a gruesome sight and it is also part of that seer’s human nature to be repelled by that sight. It is simply not naturally part of a person’s human nature to have their dark side of their demeanor to be fully brought out of the darkness.
good and evil will in turn govern man's free will and enslave him. In the