Literature
FRANKENSTEIN AND DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are very interesting from an analytical point of view. The books primarily tell the tales of ambitious scientists trying to defy the rules of nature with respect to the human capacity to give and take life. In both cases, the end results are disastrous and both scientists en up regretting their previous creation. These two stories, from the community point of view, tell the tale of the duality of all human beings with respect to their ability to do good as well as to do evil.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is more blatant with respect to its advocacy of the duality of human beings and their resultant capacity for good and for evil. This is because Dr. Jekyll is brought out a man more or less obsessed with eliminating evil from the world. This reflects on the modern day community where evil deeds are frowned upon while good deeds are commended and highly advocated. Dr. Jekyll seems convinced that if he can separate the good side of people from their evil side it is possible to eliminate evil from the world entirely. This is because the world will be full of people who with the capacity to do only good. Evil in essence will be completely eliminated from the world. “Destroy o lord and divide their tongues, let death seize them, let them go alive down into hell for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them,” says Dr. Jekyll This concept relates to the state of mind of the global community today. All aspects of life that are deemed as evil and as undesirable are condemned at the slightest opportunity. There seems to be forces aimed at a significant reduction or utter elimination of evil from the world. A good example is the interventionist policies that the United Nations employs against nations doing actions that are undesirable or in the context of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde evil. These interventionist policies are mainly aimed at ousting governments and regimes that are considered as being unjust to the people. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde also tell the tale of the addictive nature of evil that is found in most communities today. A good example is that of serial killers who are unable to stop committing acts of murder once they start. A simple case is presented in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where Dr. Jekyll finds himself committing acts of evil and what ensues is his incapacity to stop committing such acts. “What is man?” asks Mr. Hyde showing his disregard for human life. Despite all of his efforts both intellectual and physical, he is completely unable to stop committing acts of evil thus adding an ironic twist to his tale. This is clearly reflective of the modern day community with respect to aspects of life such as increased rates of crime and other unspeakable acts that are committed by citizens.
The duality complex is also brought out in Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein also traverses the boundaries of the human capacity to give life. He creates a creature but then ends up abandoning the creature. The duality complex of the community, therefore, comes out in Dr. Frankenstein as the embodiment of good while his monster is the embodiment of evil. The plunge of the monster into evil doing is however very interesting. The monster did not initially act like a monster. The actions of the monster were motivated by the greater community. This is because everyone who encountered the monster treated it as nothing more than a horrible monstrous creature. As a result, the monster started acting in accordance to what the immediate community said about hm. This is an example of how public opinion in any given setting can affect the actions of an individual. What he community says about any given individual collective greatly impacts the development of the given individual both in terms of the personality of the individual as well as the mental faculties of the individual. As a result of the treatment that the monster receives from the community, he becomes bitter with his creator and eventually vengeful. His grievances range from the manner in which his creator created him to the abandonment issues that ensued after his creation. In short, the monster is mad because his creator never cared about him at all after his creation. This also reflects the current state of the community. Child neglect is one of the leading causes of juvenile delinquency in the world today. Lack of interest shown by parents towards their children leads to the development of social deviancy by the children that if left unchecked develops into criminal activity. The duality nature of the community is clearly brought out n Frankenstein. The lesson is that lack of proper care of the young might result in their evil side completely suppressing their good side, thus creating monsters angry at both the world as well as their entire community. “My name is victor Frankenstein and I have lost everything in the world that is der to me,” says Dr. Frankestein showing he effects of his relationship with the monster he created.
Both Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tell the tale of the presence of good and evil in the community. These two opposing sides are brought out as a necessary part of the natural balance. Any attempts to suppress one side can have disastrous consequences for the community.
