A comparitive essay between the representations of evil in; Lord of the flies by William Golding and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

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Garreth Hemmings 01/11/02

How Do The Writers

Golding and Stevenson Explore The Theme Of

Good and Evil Within Man?

Refer to 'Lord of the Flies' and 'The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'

The themes of good and evil are used constantly throughout both of the books but they are portrayed in different ways by the two authors. As the authors wrote each of the books in different time periods this greatly affects the ways in which they show these themes. Through this essay I aim to show how each of the authors explore the good and evil within man, then compare and contrast the way in which they present their ideas and finally summarise the story styles in the conclusion.

The answer to the above question, how do the writers explore the themes of good and evil within man is of course different with each author.

Golding uses lots of symbolism, everything connected with the book is symbolising something. Stevenson however uses more basic methods; he shows evil by the disfiguration of Mr Hyde and the bubbling drink he uses character definition to describe good and evil. Take Mr Utterson for instance, the story begins with a comprehensive description of his character "rugged countenance... lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow loveable." "It was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of down going men." Basically he comes across as a bit of a drab individual but sturdy and a man with standards. Contrast this with Mr Hyde. When we first meet him it is when he is confronted by Mr Utterson, "Mr Hyde shrank back with a hissing intake of breath." "The other (Hyde) snarled allowed into a savage laugh; and the next moment,