The Subject of Order vs Chaos is somewhat of a cliche topic found in everything. It can be compared to good vs evil. Ralph represents the good in the world and Jack represents evil. With this topic, Golding describes the idea that all humans are inherently evil, by portraying evil actions done by Jack and his followers. Chaos and savagery come as a result of men trying to find pleasure without making sacrifices.
Through the minds of Palahniuk and Stevenson a common ground is reached in the two books Fight Club and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; both the narrator and Dr. Jekyll create their own misfortune in trying to fix the problems of the world, or better yet what they perceive the problems to be. In a sense the doppelganger of Dr. Jekyll and The Narrator create a misery that is eerie. These characters could be considered Byronic heroes; they start off admirable individuals but by the end of their journey we pity them. Another observation than can be made is through the birth of their alter egos Dr. Jekyll is in essence attempting to play God, and Tyler Durden (The Narrator’s doppelganger) believes he is God. The consequences of their decisions lead them to, ceaseless misery,
Although his actions are very insane, they can be seen as rational to reader considering hedonism. Devotion to pleasure, hedonism, makes Dorian be deceitful about his true self by deflecting the attention of the public from the mad man to the beautiful and intelligent gentlemen. Dorian is, young, sensitive, and emotional, meaning that he is susceptible to manipulation. Lord Henry takes advantage of that opportunity and gives Dorian the yellow book; this book opens up the world of hedonism and aestheticism which eventually turns his young life into an eternal oblivion of misery. Dorian develops a fear of aging so he tries to live his life as if it was his last day on earth.
Here we could say that he becomes an ‘unhappy victim’ of his own crime, as he is heading toward his ultimate downfall. ‘ One of the key themes of this story, good versus evil, is represented through the existence of Hyde, Jekyll himself, only having transformed his body into something deformed. ‘left an imprint of deformity’ The name ‘Hyde’ itself is a metaphor for this struggle to disguise and remain unseen. However, Hyde is not a monster. He is rather a brutish dwarf, with an inferior social status and younger thank Jekyll – this itself it a great advantage as he can he get away with his actions.
In pursuing his scientific experiments and validating his work, Jekyll claims, "man is not truly one, but truly two." Thus, in Jekyll's view, every soul contains elements of both good and evil, but one is always dominant. In Jekyll's case, his good side is dominant, but he knows there is evil inside of him. However, as a respectable member of society and an honorable Victorian gentleman, Jekyll cannot fulfill his evil desires. Thus, he works to develop a way to separate the two parts of his soul and free his evil characteristics.
In Melville’s Billy Budd, Claggart, the Master-at-Arms aboard the Bellipotent, is a symbol for evil or Satan. John Claggart’s name characterizes his role in Melville’s novel. His common English given name paired with the harsh, cacophonous name of “Claggart” typifies his role as a conniving figure of evil. The fact that Claggart is evil is inevitable because the physical descriptions of Claggart are less appealing than those of Billy Budd, the ideal of an uncorrupted man newly aboard the Bellipotent, and help indicate his evil nature (Smith). The narrator describes Claggart by stating, “his complexion…though it was not exactly displeasing, nevertheless seemed to hint something defective or abnormal in the constitution and blood” (qtd.
Take Home Essay I agree that man is good until negative external forces of society make man evil because it is human nature to respond and change according to our environment and the harsh reality is that evil exists. The counter argument is that man is born evil, and that good has to be learned. For example, children in the infant or toddler stages tend to be more stingy, greedy, selfish, or rebellious. Nobody teaches them things and these things can’t be corrected until they are taught otherwise. In the assertion ‘all people are good, but it’s the external forces of society that make a man evil’ I immediately think of the ‘Ballad of Joe Meek’.
*Lord Henry, who enjoys manipulating people to calm his hedonist feelings, imposing him by his radical, yet catchy theories of life. In the beginning of the book, when he meets Dorian, he tells him "[An influenced person's] virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of someone else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development.
The prologue introduces us to a nameless narrator who is living on the edge of society as a proverbial “invisible man.” The narrator’s central struggle revolves around the conflict between how others perceive him and how he perceives himself. He becomes obsessed with the past, allowing it to define him in the present. The narrator tells us of his previous efforts to be a part of society, by paying bills, working, etc, only to be continually judged and viewed by others as somehow less than human. Racism is prevalent at the time the story is written. The story portrays how other members of society view him in terms of racial stereotypes—as a mugger, bumpkin, or a savage.
Hobbes’ unorthodox thinking sparked debates with many intellectual adversaries, particularly John Locke, who argued that men were innately social creatures who could cooperate and coexist peacefully. Ultimately the works of Hobbes set the stage for a new topic of thought amongst philosophers of his era – man’s innate state of nature and its relevance to the governing of society. In Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, He argued that in the natural state of nature, without society or a governing body, man is innately evil. Hobbes believes that without the constraints of order or a common authority, men are driven into a state of chaos, conflict, and war against each other. Hobbes states that there are three principals in the innate state of nature which can cause such chaos and conflict; “…competition, diffidence, and glory.” Furthermore, Hobbes argues that this chaos and conflict is further motivated by man’s moral obligations, religious positions, and their respective rights to property.