Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde
Literature that reflects the concerns of contemporary society is of great importance because it warns as well as informs the reader about what dangers can affect the individual in society, not necessarily only in a physical sense. Whether people desire to read something that deals with these concerns in society or not, it is crucial because it allows them to escape their present state and explore a new concept, such as that in fantastic literature. This allows people to come back to reality with knowledge of the unknown or strange, yet also gain the knowledge to understand the issues that affect people every day in modern society. Alexander Solzhenitsyn writes, “Literature that is not the breath of contemporary society, that dares not transmit the pains and fears of that society, that does not warn in time against threatening moral and social dangers-such literature does not deserve the name of literature; it is only a façade.” The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, reflects Solzhenitsyn’s quote by warning the individual of the evils found in the duplicity of human nature and the threat this may pose to society as a whole. The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde reflects Solzhenitsyn’s belief that literature must inform readers about issues that society faces, or otherwise it is merely a superficial illusion. The story reflects this statement, by exploring the duplicity of human nature, showing how this duplicity can corrupt an individual’s mind, and revealing why humans have this dual nature. The duplicity of human nature is revealed in the book through various aspects of behavior displayed by the characters.
The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde reveals the dual nature of humans in the form of an uncontrollable mental disorder. However, Stevenson is not necessarily giving a literal interpretation of this chemically enhanced split personality disorder. He tries to reveal the underlying dual nature...
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