Knowledge is Power for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Jekyll
Living in the 21st century is very exciting. The ever-changing world of technology is proof of that alone. Still, if you examined the last 20 years of history you would find examples of enormous changes in technology and the use of power in our world. The Cold War came to an end resulting in the fall of the Soviet Union, and the crumbling of the Berlin Wall are examples. Looking beyond the last 20 years we have seen wars come and go, governments topple, economies change, and the assassination of world leaders. Power can be an enormous thing. If used right it can have an overwhelming positive influence. Used incorrectly it can have disastrous effects.
Science and technology has advanced like never before. We have seen new medical vaccines to cure such horrific ailments as Polio, Small Pox, and further progression in the fight on AIDS. Medical procedures have advanced also, incorporating the use of science and technology to perform difficult surgical procedures, and other complicated calculations.
The Human Genome is another exciting advancement. Creating a human road map and having the understanding of how and why things happen is invaluable. Just imagine walking into the Hospital and in exchange for a drop of blood you would receive information about what ailments you will see in your lifetime, what disease you might die of, and when. This kind of study has advanced our interest in cloning. With such successes as Dolly the sheep, and human embryo testing, scientist have seen enough success to continue advancing this exciting new field.
Advancements like these in science and technology have to begin somewhere. Wielding this kind of power in the 21st century begins with a certain type of individual. A person like this probably has some characteristics of the fictional characters being studied in the 19th century. Power can be more than just form of knowledge, and control; it can be a way of life. Characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Henry Jekyll are proof of this.
Two individuals, who would seem so different, are more alike then one might think. The similarities between the two are undeniable. Both Characters are from England and from roughly the same period. The two characters may live differently but require the same fulfillment. First you have Dr. Jekyll whose a pillar of his community, a well-regarded man of wealth and proper upbringing, the host of many social functions, competitive, and is described as " a large, well made, smooth faced man of fifty, with something of a stylish cast" (12).
The previous chapter before the two confessions is reasonably remarkable. Poole, Dr. Jekyll’s butler, provides another portrayal. He offers many comparisons between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. (“My master (…) is a tall, fine build of a man, and this was more of a dwarf.” (p.38)). The affirmations of the poor butler are all correct except perhaps the most important: This “thing” that is in the cabinet is in fact Dr. Jekyll.
As we progressed through the course, Modern World, the students were able to see various incidences of how technology either enhanced or deteriorated a civilization or a nation. One of the primary reads in the course was Headrick’s book, Power over Peoples. It is important to look at Headrick’s work and see just what is meant by his title, Power Over People. From what students have gathered, this means the use of technology as a means to gain an edge over another civilization, hence, using your power or technology to dominate another group of people. Furthermore, it is important to note just what is meant by the term “technology.” According to Headrick, technology is “all the ways in which humans use materials and energy in the environment for their own ends, beyond what they can do with their bodies.” From this definition, we can gather that technology is the ability to manipulate other things in our environment. It is also important to note that usually with greater technological power; one can take control over others. For example, Headrick gives the example of Europeans in their colonial era. More recently; however, Headricks view point can be viewed in a somewhat different manner. While superior technology can give one group an advantage initially, there is also a “window of opportunity” with the technology. An example of this is air power. When air power first started, it was unstoppable in traditional battle, but as time advanced the mighty planes became less effective when they encountered new tactics and asymmetrical warfare such as what happened in Vietnam. As we advance to 1999, time brings about another dilemma where the superior power uses technology, only this time there was both positives and negatives based on dif...
Technology is supposed to be seen as such an advancement and great accomplishment. What others may not always know is sometimes it isn’t all fun and games, it can be dangerous. As seen when we created the atomic bomb and guns, their only purpose is to destroy and cause pain to others. Although they are not always in use, they are a constant threat to our well being. We need to take into consideration the positives and the negatives of the technology we create today.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson during the Late Victorian era. Although "this horror story owes its allegiance to Gothicism rather than realism, many critics suggest that Robert Louis Stevenson 's tale of a man split between his respectable public identity and an amoral secret self captures key anxieties of the fin de siècle" (Norton 1669). The Late Victorian era was “the state of mind prevailing during the final decades of the nineteenth century” (Norton 1668). In the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, there are some reflects of the breakdown of Victorian values that took there undergo of their citizen responsibility as a whole.
Within the text of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson portrays a complex power struggle between Dr. Jekyll, a respected individual within Victorian London society, and Mr. Hyde a villainous man tempted with criminal urges, fighting to take total control of their shared body. While Dr. Jekyll is shown to be well-liked by his colleagues, Mr. Hyde is openly disliked by the grand majority of those who encounter him, terrified of his frightful nature and cruel actions. Throughout Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson portrays the wealthy side of London, including Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll, as respected and well-liked, while showing the impoverish side as either non-existent or cruel.
Engineers are developing new systems to use genetic information, sense small changes in the body, assess new drugs, and deliver vaccines.
To begin with, Stevenson shows duality of human nature through society. During the Victorian era, there were two classes, trashy and wealthy. Dr. Jekyll comes from a wealthy family, so he is expected to be a proper gentleman. He wants to be taken seriously as a scientist, but also indulge in his darker passions.“...I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality/ of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in/ the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said/ to be either, it was only because I was radically both..."(125).
Jekyll portrays the good side of human nature in this narrative. He is the protagon...
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dual nature of man is a recurring theme. Jekyll constantly struggles with good and evil, the expectations of Victorian society, and the differences between Lanyon and Jekyll.
The story takes place during the Victorian age, a time when there were only two categories of people: good people and bad people. There was no way that one man could be considered acceptable without suppressing his evil side almost entirely. The reason that Jekyll restrained his evil side for so long was because of this dichotomous Victorian society. Most people, including Jekyll’s friends, Lanyon and Utterson, are content to stay molded in this ideal. However, Dr. Jekyll soon became tired of this hypocritical mindset and stated that he “it was rather the exacting nature of my aspirations.
Jekyll is given as a respected man raised in a wealthy family. During the era, people are meant to be well-mannered and polite without any sign or thinking of violence and crime; however, Dr. Jekyll secretly has a desire to perform evil. Conflicted with the ideal of society, he has repressed his emotion through many years and eventually he decided to conceal his pressure as he said, “And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life.” (48) From this quote, Dr. Jekyll discloses that he’s not desired to be cheerful, as many do, and decides to fake his pressure in front of the public eyes. After many years, he then realizes he was only hiding his true emotion. Eventually, to resolve his situation, he is inspired to create a potion that could transform himself to Mr. Hyde that could free him from the struggle between protecting his reputation and following his emotion and
...sner, Mary. "'A Total Subversion of Character': Dr. Jekyll's Moral Insanity." Victorian Newsletter Spring 1998: 27-31. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Kathy D. Darrow. Vol. 228. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Artemis Literary Sources. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
The Benefits of Human Cloning In recent years, many new breakthroughs in the areas of science and technology have been discovered. A lot of these discoveries have been beneficial to the scientific community and to the people of the world. One of the newest breakthroughs is the ability to clone. Ever since Ian Wilmut and his co-workers completed the successful cloning of an adult sheep named Dolly, there has been an ongoing debate on whether it is right or wrong to continue the research of cloning (Burley).
Technology has had a great impact on society when it comes to medicine. Medical technology has been around since the cave man began using rocks as tools to perform trephening. Since then there has been many new advancements in medicine due to technology. From painless needles to robots used for surgeries technology is around to stay.
21st century, we live in the era of technology-driven world. Human never stopped the development of technology, because we always have a natural tendency to pursue a higher level of human being. Technology is the best evidence of human intelligence, has shown that we are different from other animals. We live with technology since we born. Although it has intervene our daily life heavily that we can’t no longer live without, nobody can deny the achievements it has brought to us.