As I have been reading this book I have become drawn to the character of Dr. Lanyon. He seems as though he's a minor character but, the parts that he comes up in the book always pop out at me. The theme that i think that Stevenson is trying to get across through this book is that once you have seen all of the evil in the world there isn't anything more to live for. There is an example of this when Dr. Lanyon is laying in bed dieing.
He says ""I have had a shock," he said, "and I shall never recover. It is a question of weeks. Well, life has been pleasant; i liked it; yes, sir, I used to like it. I sometimes think if we knew all, we should be more glad to get away.""
He is saying that something has frightened him so much hes gone into shock, hes dieing. Dr. Lanyon is saying how if everyone saw how bad things really were in the world some of them might give up on life right then and there. I think that Dr. Lanyon portrays Stevenson's theme very well.
I agree with your perspective, Dr. Lanyon had seen something very unpleasant. I have a feeling he had seen Dr. Jekyll transform into Mr. Hyde or maybe he had murdered Sr. Danson Crew right in front of her eyes. Stevenson has put out a theme that if you have seen all evil, you should give up on life right there and then. I agree with that, because in that case everyone would give up on life. There is so much negative energy in this world , and you cant just give up and go die. You have to face the world and usually things are balanced out, which is good because people actualy enjoy living today.
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