English 110 Response Paper: Exploring Human Nature in Jekyll and Hyde

This essay delves into Robert Louis Stevenson's *Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*, exploring the complex theme of human duality. The introduction establishes the narrative's exploration of the internal conflict between good and evil, embodied by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The discussion section examines the concept of duality as a fundamental aspect of human nature, referencing religious and psychological perspectives, including Sigmund Freud's theories on the subconscious and the interplay of opposing forces. It highlights the internal conflicts, such as the struggle between a person versus themselves. The conclusion emphasizes the characters' internal conflicts, highlighting Dr. Jekyll's guilt and Mr. Hyde's unrestrained evil, and ultimately the consequences of suppressing or indulging in one's darker impulses. This essay argues that the novella reveals the inherent duality within every individual and the importance of recognizing and managing both aspects of the human experience for a balanced existence. The essay supports its arguments with textual evidence from the novella and references to relevant scholarly works.

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Student’s Name
Author Note

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Introduction
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the well-known narratives that highlights
the complexities within the science as well as the duplicity of the nature of human. The
influence of the story is based in the same way on the concept of good and bad. Dr. Jekyll is
an up-market group member who represses his urges for the darker side of life. He developed
a chemical recipe, which transformed him into Mr. Hyde, and Jekyll managed to regulate the
personification of all the evil impulses. This assignment selects the major theme of duality
within the human nature in respect to the query regarding human nature and behaviour.
Discussion
The belief that all men have good and bad is not new, but for thousands of years it has
been a part of most of the major religions. For example, Christianity is based on the belief
that, even though they seek to do well, people will always fall short. On a personal level, it is
not difficult to realize that both sides of our existence can be regulated. That's about what Dr.
Jekyll's doing. The subconscious seeks to hold negative thoughts and impulses away from
them, which are then discarded into the unconscious mind, according to early psychologist
Sigmund Freud. Such emotions, though, are not gone but still affect the conscious mind's
thinking and actions (Stevenson 24).
A real-life case of Jekyll and Hyde produces a split personality in an individual in
Freudian theory. Often it looks like Dr. Jekyll's goodness, but sometimes it comes out like
Mr. Hyde's badness. Of course, transformation is not, in fact, a physical transition, typically
not a total separation of the good and the evil in one person. Variations of good and evil
duality include: person versus animal, and humanity versus wildness (Dyer). Many fiction
works explore this duality based on some kind of inner conflict. In school, you have probably
heard about conflicts that drive fictional plays, one of which is a man against himself.

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In the entire book, because of their differences Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is hard to
think of being the same guy. It is clear that Mr. Hyde is absolutely evil but what is not as
surprising is that Dr. Jekyll, who is supposed to be perfectly good, has such impulses that can
not be fulfilled by himself. This novel explains why good people are doing bad things. Only
the strongest people want to know how far they can go and what they can achieve. Mr. Hyde
created this and unleashed his inner demons. Jekyll did this. There's no good person; Jekyll
says at one point "man isn't one, but two." And he understands that two individuals are inside,
and really soon, after the experiment, he discovers that he wants the one to match the other.
He understands that he knows that he's two personalities.
Conclusion
There's so much good in Dr. Jekyll's situation, he feels guilty for all his acts and he
knows exactly what's right and wrong. He still does what is socially appropriate and never
breaks away (McPhee). It's the same with Mr. Hyde, he's full of terrible things and he is
doing it all wrong. When he does the wrong thing, he experiences great happiness (Stevenson
41). Eventually the wrong thing begins and Jekyll discovers that his plan was incorrect. He
knows that each other manages well and poorly. It's not always the best choice to be too good
without a little bad life, so he decided to build an alter ego. It's the same because everything's
evil, good to balance it out.

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REFERENCES
Dyer, Thomas. "Professor Vonder Haar LITR 352 May 1, 2019 Hyding from Pleasure:
Repression in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." (2019).
McPhee, Iain, et al. "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: the strange case of the two selves of clandestine
drug users in Scotland." Drugs and Alcohol Today (2019).
Stevenson, Robert Louis. "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, ed. Katherine
Linehan." New York, NY: Norton 49 (2003): 17-61.