What view of human nature does Stevenson present in the novel "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"?

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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

What view of human nature does Stevenson present in the novel “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”?

In “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, Stevenson presents many aspects of human nature. Human nature is what we are all like instinctively. For example we may hate someone just because of the way they look. This is human nature because we instinctively hate the person and we do not know why, we just feel hate inside, this is just one example of human nature. Many aspects of human nature are presented throughout the novel.

Stevenson shows how the minor characters demonstrate emotion in different situations. At the beginning of the novel Mr Hyde bumps into a girl who is running down the street, he tramples her and leaves her screaming. When Hyde is returned to the girl a group of people had gathered, including a doctor. The doctor saw Hyde and desired to kill him, this demonstration of hate towards Hyde reveals that hatred is a part of human nature. Even the doctor, who is supposed to save lives desired to kill, this goes against his duty as a doctor to preserve life. Stevenson shows that hatred is a large part of human nature because all people can have the desire to kill no matter who they are.

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“But the doctor’s case was what struck me…he was like the rest of us: every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that Sawbones turned sick and white with the desire to kill him.”

Ambition is shown when Hyde kills sir Danvers Carew and a police officer is talking with Utterson. Utterson identifies Carew’s body and when Utterson tells the officer that it is Carew’s body, the officer becomes ambitious. The police officer thinks that he may get promoted if he helps to solve such a serious case. The officer does not care that an important MP has been ...

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