In “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, a scientists
called Dr. Jekyll, created an experiment with a potion that would turn him into
Mr. Hyde a horrible creature. The idea of the author was to show the beast that
people have inside, that everyone has a bad side. Now I am going to talk about
some themes of the story.
The author implemented a theme called “The Duality of Human
Nature”. Jekyll was the good side and Hyde the bad one. Jekyll´s point of view
was that “Man is not truly one, but truly two”, and he imagined an “angel and a
“devil” fighting for the human soul. In Jekyll’s the good side was shown more,
and he knew that he had a bad one, Mr. Hyde. For example man and animal, Hyde
killed people because he wanted to but the animal kill for survival and they don’t
know what is bad or good. In this case Hyde is immoral and the animals are amoral.
Now I am going to talk about the other theme that the author
had introduced, “The Importance of Reputation”. Dr. Jekyll had a good reputation
with the high social class. You were not allowed to gossip, your reputation was
going to be destroyed. For example Utterson, thought that Dr. Jekyll was hiding
Mr. Hyde, but he did not say anything about it, because Jekyll was a really
good friend, and most probably because he would destroy his reputation. “The middle one of the three windows was
half-way open; and sitting close beside it, taking the air with an infinite
sadness of mien, like some disconsolate prisoner, Utterson saw Dr. Jekyll.”.
The author also
introduces the symbols, and one of them is Hyde’s physical appearance. His physical
appearance symbolized the misbehavior of his acts as he was ugly and deformed. In
one part of the story Enfield says. “I
never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed
somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity…” Hyde´s small stature represented that because he did
not appear for so long that he had stopped growing. And finally his harness,
that represented that he was Jekyll´s instincts, the animalistic side of Dr.
Jekyll.
“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” leaves you thinking,
if there is actually an evil side in all of us. I like the way the story was developed,
that everything was there for a reason and the developing of the character´s
deep information. In the other side I had learned that I should be more careful
at the moment of trying new things that might turn me into the other me.
