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The strange case of dr.jekyll and mr hyde essay
The strange case of dr.jekyll and mr hyde essay
The strange case of dr.jekyll and mr hyde essay
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The ambiguity of human nature itself is reflected in the degradation of morality in society. Social mores are explanatory justifications for controlled behavior in society. This behavior can be evil or inhuman and yet still be deemed essential for societal harmony and individual protection. The Heart of Darkness is actually the realization that madness stems from deciding one's own fate versus following the traditional paths laid out by society. The duality of human nature as expressed in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, also acts as an example of conforming to societies pressures. Society causes man to question his place in the universe, and either accept the reality that he is only a small part of consciousness, or fall into an apathetic state of absurdist thought as in Camus's The Stranger. Madness is closely linked to social mores, it stems both from being isolated; forced to confront one’s inner demons as well as the realization that society itself is a mirror of human nature. The moral ambiguity of The Heart of Darkness is dominated by a society which corrupts human nature. (quotes) Me...
Clearly, these two stories say some very profound things about the human condition. Given the right conditions, there is evil in all of us that is just waiting to surface. And we were all innocent once, but some event made us lose it. Finally, people are all manipulative given the opportunity. These conclusions aren’t just drawn about the characters in the novels. These are things that are true for each and every human who ever lived, and everyone who will live. We are flawed creatures, and through the aid of great writers like these, we begin to realize it. Really, we shouldn’t need them to tell us about ourselves though. Just look at the world around you, and you will know.
Humanity is ultimately dark, it’s just we don’t dare to admit it. Humanity is like a ying-yang, it comes with the dark and the light, but we focus on the light in dark times; we always try to hide away the dark truth. Hiding away the darkness, making society seem perfect; humanity is really terrifying, knowing about the darkness that we all try to hide, is even more alarming. We commit genocide, spend more money on war than peace, child abuse, domestic violence, suicide, and more. We created this place in which all this happens, but we don’t accept it, we shun it. Keeping it locked up, we pretend it doesn’t happen. We don’t acknowledge any of this. We choose to wear rose-colored glasses, rather than seeing the truth of it
What is madness? Is madness a brain disorder or a chemical imbalance? On the other hand, is it an expressed behavior that is far different from what society would believe is "normal"? Lawrence Durrell addresses these questions when he explores society's response to madness in his short story pair "Zero and Asylum in the Snow," which resembles the nearly incoherent ramblings of a madman. In these stories, Durrell portrays how sane, or lucid, people cannot grasp and understand the concept of madness. This inability to understand madness leads society to fear behavior that is different from "normal," and subsequently, this fear dictates how they deal with it. These responses include putting a name to what they fear and locking it up in an effort to control it. Underlying all, however, Durrell repeatedly raises the question: who should define what is mad?
Within the article Stephen King continuously states that we humans all have insanity within us. In the article,
Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Trans. Richard Howard. New York: Pantheon, 1965.
Henry Miller, a famous American writer, once said “Man has demonstrated that he is a master of everything except his own nature.” The discourse on human nature dates back to ancient times, and this conversation is as complex as it was since the beginning. Considering that this is an abstract topic and a major theme in Western philosophy, there is no unanimous understanding of human nature. For example, Hobbes describes the original state as a constant state of war filled with misery, greed and evil. Rousseau describes natural man to be peaceful, timid and innocent. People like Rousseau would argue that civilization is miserable, and that human nature is a perfect place to escape from civilization because man is free and more equal in the
In the book The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde one of the main focuses is how there are two different sides of man, the “good” side which Dr. Jekyll represents and the “bad” side which Mr.Hyde represents. The moral of the story is that man needs both “good” and “bad” for the two put together and how man deals with it is how man is defined. In the story Jekyll makes a drug that separates the “good” and “bad” in man and it will furthermore become true that man needs both “good” and “bad” to be defined. After reading The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and exploring the “ good” and “bad” sides of man it will become evident that there are two sides of man.
The controversial topic of insanity manifests itself commonly in Romantic writing, and has been one much disputed over time. Some say that people who seem crazy are so above our own level of thought and understanding that we can’t possibly begin to identify with them and that we can find genius in the form of ordinary lunatics who connect to God and divinity in ways “normal” people don’t comprehend. Throughout works such as “The Cask of Amontillado and “The Castaway”, the authors question insanity with ideas that show the possible outcomes when one looks deep inside themselves for a divine spark or intuition. Both of these stories address madness in different forms, and madness itself is Godly experiences gone wrong; the person who receives the divine vision is unable to handle its raw truth.
Edgar Allen Poe may just be both-- a 19th-century genius and a literary lunatic. His tales mentioned here, of mystery and murder, are wrought with insanity, instability and the ramblings and doings of mentally deranged psychopaths. Though his themes are many, and the character motives always up for interpretation, the theme of madness and insanity seem to grab hold of the reader and pull him or her directly into the story. Critic Patrick Mcgrath ends his essay, “Method to the Madness,” by stating, “The reader who’s been successfully enlisted as a kind of psychiatric detective will find herself engaged with minds blind to their own dysfunction, which makes them as rich in complexity as any in our literature.”
One who is righteous, pure, and ethical obtains a solid moral compass. A lack of morality in an individual results in insanity. This is shown in Timothy Findley’s The Wars; the war corrupts individual’s integrity which ultimately leads to their insanity. Robert Ross and Rodwell depict lunacy as war demoralizes them. As individuals receive commands that violate their virtues, as a repercussion a person will become irrational.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, the dual nature of man is a main theme. Jekyll says: "Man is not /truly one, but truly two"(125), meaning all people have both a good and a bad side. Dr. Jekyll creates a potion to fully separate good and evil, but instead it awakens a dormant character, Mr. Hyde. Throughout the novel, Stevenson uses society, control, and symbolism to tell the reader about human nature.
Throughout history, many historical philosophers have contributed as to how the human mind has two sides. Human beings tend to have good and evil within them, the duality of right and wrong, bliss and distress. There is always an impulse to act against society in terms of violence and the laws, although this varies depending on the individual. In the novella “ The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” Robert Louis Stevenson introduces a foil interconnection between moral choice and behavior through Jekyll and Hyde. However, ironically set in the Victorian era, a time when peace and prosperity took place.
The sickness of insanity stems from external forces and stimuli, ever-present in our world, weighing heavily on the psychological, neurological, and cognitive parts of our mind. It can drive one to madness through its relentless, biased, and poisoned view of the world, creating a dichotomy between what is real and imagined. It is a defense mechanism that allows one to suffer the harms of injustice, prejudice, and discrimination, all at the expense of one’s physical and mental faculties.
The Road is a phenomenal example of how raw human nature shapes peoples’ decisions. It addresses the behaviors of people neither informed nor controlled by a social order. In the essence of The Road, people’s actions are highly dependent on the person’s basic needs. A lack of basic human needs often results in the more disturbing view of human nature. (Gilbert pg. 43) Betrayal, suicide, and cannibalism are all examples of behaviors that human nature can bring out of people.
Closing: ”Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence- Whether much that is glorious, whether much all that is profound does not spring from disease of thought from moods of mind exalted at the expanse of the general intellect “ (Edgar Allan Poe)