A contributing factor to the story “The Doll’s House” by Katherine
Mansfield is the characterization of Kezia as she travels in her
innocence through the symbolic world of experience. Kezia is
essential to the plot because she represents a taboo, offering
opposition to common ways of thinking. Through the portrayal of
Kezia, as she interacts as the symbolic eccentric, Mansfield
emphasizes the powers and blind justification of conformity within
a society.
The story commences with the arrival of the doll’s house sent to
the Burnell children. The Burnells take a great liking to this
new acquisition. As the two older children admire the red carpet,
red plush chairs, and gold frames of this highly ornamented house,
Kezia, the youngest of the girls, takes an interest in the rather
simple lamp. In fact, “what she liked more than anything, what she
liked frightfully, was the lamp.” This infatuation symbolizes her
impeccability in comparison to the others as she is drawn to the
unadorned lamp. Kezia proceeds to find fault with the state and
proportions of the doll’s house and perfection with the lamp in
its simplicity. As others take interests in the gaudy nature of
the house, Kezia rebels: “But the lamp was perfect. It seemed to
smile at Kezia, to say `I live here.’ The lamp was so real.”
Conflict intensifies as Kezia remains the odd ball. The
appreciation of the lamp is a metaphor for the actions to come.
Kezia likes the lamp because she does not know any better. Thus,
she decides to befriend the Kelveys because she doesn’t see
anything wrong in doing so. The Kelveys are a family that are
shunned because of their economic status. Throughout the town,
“Many of the children, including the Burnnels, were not allowed
even to speak to them.” Without a second thought, school children
and their families followed in the consuming tradition of looking
down upon these unprivileged people. Kezia offers offset to this
common path of thinking and questions such a blind following. She
asks her mother, “Can’t I ask the Kelveys just once?” To which,
the response is, “Run away, Kezia; you know quite well why not.”
Mansfield successfully expresses the enveloping and controlling
nature of conformity through the juxtaposition of Kezia’s
innocence to the prejudiced views of those who live in the world
of experience. While others remain to push Kezia’s nonconformist
Heroes and Monsters in Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essays
Heroes and Monsters – Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The theme is Heroes and Monsters. Doctor Jekyll qualifies for both titles. A hero is someone who is considered a person who rises to an occasion that other people fear. Also, a person does not have to be a hero to a large number of people, being a hero to one person I important enough. A monster is considered a heros enemy. The word monster can be a number of things but the main definition is something or someone that is evil and has no remorse for its actions. Doctor Jekyll falls under the category of hero because of his struggle to get rid of the evil in man. He does this by inventing a potion that will destroy evil in the mind and body in order to make a perfect and righteous human. Doctor Jekyll has a great cause his battle because he has experienced this evil first hand. For the reason that no one knows about his project he is only a hero to himself, for now. Doctor Jekyll is also considered to be a monster. When Jekyll takes his potion the evil takes over his body and his whole personality changes. He changes from a hero into a monster. He begins to hurt people and cause trouble. The worst part is that he even enjoys his transformation and he has no pity or remorse even though he knows that what he does is wrong. For instance he starts a bar riot and he laughs at it as if it was a joke. When he begins to have Ivy living with him he does far greater damage than in the bar. He not only hurts her physically but mentally. He makes Ivy think that he will counter anything she does wrong in an excruciating way. Ivy is scared to leave the house when he is gone and she is afraid to talk to her friends about him. The end result was her death. The difference between the two sides of Doctor Jekyll is mainly that one is evil and one is good. While Beatrice is gone and Jekyll is staying with Ivy in the from of Hyde he remains Hyde for a long period of time. This is because being Hyde becomes like a drug to him. He loves to be evil. Towards the end when he is on his way to his wedding party Jekyll believes that he and the people around him are safe because he vows to never drink the potion. Little does he know that the evil has taken over his body and can take over when he feels the slightest emotion. In the end he tried to protect the people he loved by telling them that they could not see him anymore. Then he transformed and almost killed them. Once his friend realized what he was he knew that he had to help Doctor Jekyll. When Hyde was about to attack him, the friend knew that he had to kill him. Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were now dead.