One of the biggest themes that the author tries to get across to the reader is that every person has good and evil in them, but they are not equal. Throughout the book, there is a huge struggle between good and evil between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. These two men are actually the same person, but Dr. Jekyll takes a potion to turn himself into Mr. Hyde so he can do evil deeds. He does this because everybody has urges to do evil things, but Dr. Jekyll could not risk losing his reputation as a “good” guy in the society that he lives in. The main question is if good and evil can be separated, or is everyone stuck between the fight of both.
There is also Dr Lanyon, who is seen to be completely opposed to the science of Jekyll but loses his Victorian values to his curiosity when Jekyll reveals his secret. The contrast of “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case” to the narrative of Mr Utterson in the other chapters of this book shows duality because Mr Utterson uses the other characters as a point of view whereas Jekyll’s statement of the case looks from only his perspective. Stevenson uses the lasting moral message that good and evil are conflicting inside people - the way that savagery and civilisation contrast and our effects on religion and science. Robert Louis Stevenson uses the character of Sir Danvers Carew to portray that civilisation and religion are important for good people whereas Mr Hyde shows evil through his curiosity of life and his height to represent youth, showing that Jekyll’s youthful sins; which were not explained in detail are replicated as Hyde. This is a comment on Victorian values that Stevenson is making.
This quote from Beowulf shows how the men in Herot are at peace until the monster, Grendel, ruins the serenity of the hall. The author implies that Grendel is a true monster and the he is evil. This, therefore, introduces the clear contrast between good and evil in Beowulf. The author of Beowulf skillfully uses the theme of Good vs. Evil to depict the differences of Grendel and the humans.
Augustine's views seem to come from the concept of "the love of god." His theory starts by him trying to find a solution, the problem being evil. The problem at hand basically is that if god is so infinite in power then evil just can’t is here; but evil exists, therefore god couldn’t possibly. Augustine argues saying that all things start out as good, not perfect, and are like liable to becoming evil. Evil is simply the lack of good.
He solved this problem by saying that god is responsible for the evil in the world by defining evil as “privation”. By this he means when we use worlds like “evil” and “bad” we are saying that something does not meet our expectations of what it should be like ( by nature). Augustine wrote that evil is not a substance but is in fact an absence of kind feelings. Augustine also said that god can’t be blamed for creating evil himself that occurs in the world. As he said that in fact evil comes from angels and human beings who chose deliberately to deny and disobey what God had taught them, by turning away from him and what he had wished for mankind.
Mill would say that if God is omniscient then surely he is aware of our suffering and would therefore intervene in the evil as he loves us all. Yet God still allows our suffering to continue which suggests that God is not powerful (omnipotent) at all and cannot stop us or save us from this evil. Mill also believes that the natural disasters and natural problems within the human body such as curable or incurable cancers and diseases such as motor-neurone disease (causes of the body to shut down slowly) for example show faults in the design. These disaster show poor design but how can an all knowing
Hoan Truong Mrs. Masters CP English 11 October 28 2011 Purity from Within Good v. evil played as an extremely important theme in both the Beowulf and Grendel text. In Beowulf, Grendel, the mean bloodthirsty monster, obviously represents evil; killing innocent human lives because of his mechanical animalistic behaviors. Beowulf on the other hand was looked up to as a hero. In the human perspective; he was described as strong, courageous hero. In contrast Gardner portrayed Grendel and Beowulf completely different than how Orwell did.
To continue Kesey expression through strong-willed lead roles who differentiate from the crowd, he created the character of Randle Patrick McMurphy, to showcase his own rebellious ideas into, “a defiant man in a madhouse where madness was the only affirming and clarifying response to the dehumanizing tyranny of an authority figure” (Great American Trip). Though the use of psychedelic drugs contributed to Keseys expression, he states that, “Drugs don’t create characters or stories any more than pencils do. They are merely instruments that help get them on the page” (Ken Kesey). It is in this novel that Kesey sets out to relay his ideas that he lives his life through. He first begins by constructing a setting of societal influence, a mental hospital.
The boys in Lord of the Flies demonstrate this natural goodness and evilness for when they are free from society, their arguably natural goodness (seen in Ralph, Simon and Piggy) is revealed, but also the natural evil (seen in Jack, Roger and most of the boys) is also revealed. The one other direction we can take our interpretation is to reject this is a realist text and consider to be a fantastical story presenting issues for society to consider. For example, if Ben is not a real 'type' but rather represents dysfunction, then society is asked what it does with this dysfunction. This view also lets David and Harriet off the hook, questioning society's treatment of them as parents of a dysfunctional child, rather than questioning their parenthood. Harriet knew that Ben was going to be different compared to the other
Philosophy also says that the wicked are weak and have no power, and the virtuous are strong and powerful. Evil people lose power and strength striving for things that don’t matter. Boethius agrees with this statement, but it still bothers him that the wicked harm the virtuous and are not punished. Lady Philosophy attempts to show him that the wicked are rewarded by their lack of existence, and the wicked are denied happiness. The wicked see punishment as a good thing because they have a chance to be corrected.