Human Nature In life, no individual is completely one characteristic. Human beings always possess both kindness and malevolence, gentleness and violence, honesty and corruption, and so on. Even though amounts of each opposing trait varies from person to person, one fact remains true for all- it is impossible to attain a purely angelic or purely evil soul. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, (The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2000), Robert Louis Stevenson explores the concept of a separation of the two traits. Stevenson portrays the duplicity of human nature through the use of theme in the injury of an innocent, development of a habit, and victory of evil.
All in all, Stevenson portrays the duplicity of human nature through the use of theme in the injury of an innocent. Dr. Jekyll, a kind-hearted doctor seeking a more adventurous life, formulates a potion to separate himself into two identities- good and evil, respectively Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (43). Unsatisfied with his current way of life, the doctor creates what he thinks is a panacea or cure-all for his problems. During the process of transforming into Mr. Hyde, Jekyll commits previously unthinkable crimes such as murder, all for pleasure. Robert Louis Stevenson states, “…the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds nothing to
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Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson utilizes theme to convey the dual psyches of humans through harm inflicted upon the blameless, genesis of a practice, and triumph of wickedness. At the end of the novel, Mr. Hyde takes over as the dominant personality of Dr. Jekyll for as long as he lives, because the supply of the exact type of salt used to make Jekyll’s transformation potion is completely exhausted. All humans have the capability to do great evil, but it is up to the individual to decide whether or not the good in them will preside over their