A mystery story would not be considered a mystery without the use of suspense. Suspense is the hook that keeps the reader attached to the story and eager to read its contents fully. Without it, there would be no reason to want to solve the puzzle created by the author. Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, does a good job of using this literary element in a way that makes his story interesting and brings light to common Victorian behaviors. Dr. Jekyll’s discovery allowed him to quite literally separate the good and evil within himself into separate people, which led to some serious consequences for him. Innocent people were injured or murdered because of his evil alter-ego, Mr. Hyde, eventually leading …show more content…
He allows himself to ask questions about the mystery of Jekyll and Hyde, but he does not allow himself to even speak about the possibility of Jekyll being involved in supernatural phenomena, even though he knows something is amiss. Based on this, the reader can see that Victorian society did not like to speak about things that could disrupt the order that they centered their lives around. Even though Utterson had the perfect opportunity to unveil the truth about Jekyll, he willingly chose not to reveal it in order to maintain the doctor’s reputation, since that would have caused his whole world to change. The reality that Victorian people believed in might have been a facade in numerous ways, but Utterson’s secrecy throughout the story conveys that sticking to social norms was more important than uncovering the truth during that era. Another character that refused to talk about Dr. Jekyll’s secret was his ex-friend, Dr. Lanyon. Aside from Jekyll, Dr. Lanyon was the first person to find out about the truth of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and he was the most opposed to the work that his old friend
In the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson emphasizes how secrecy is used to protect one’s self-image and ensure no destructive secrets of one’s past become public knowledge. In the book, the plot is constantly driven forward by deceit; Mr. Utterson does not know the relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and he wants to find out. Secrecy is one of the main themes in the book as it constantly surrounds the character of Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll's personality is serious and never unusual or abnormal, however his true repressed personality is revealed in the form of Mr. Hyde. This suggests that Stevenson is trying to show man’s repressed, inner nature, and how all men have aspects of their being of which they are ashamed and
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a book of suspense. It is about a person named H. Jekyll that has 2 different sides to him. Jekyll has a good side, which is a totally different human being compared to the bad one. Jekyll is a very respected guy in the daytime (which is the good side), and a bad person in the nighttime. After so long, people find out why he has this odd characteristic to himself.
As many can tell by reading this we all know Hyde ends up being the evil one all through out the story.
Utterson says that Hyde’s appearance has “an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation.” Utterson’s use of bad language reflects his dislike for the unsettling Hyde, who has a creepy aura. When compared to Jekyll, who has a very inviting persona, Hyde is the complete opposite. Utterson brainstorms theories as to why Hyde used Jekyll’s money, in hopes of saving his friend. He came up with the conclusion that “Hyde suspects the existence of the will, he may grow impatient to inherit.”
Mr. Hyde was a very rude hurtful person. He hated everything and everyone. I think
When Utterson notices Lanyon's sickly appearance, Lanyon answers dramatically, calling himself “a doomed man.” With his outside demeanor of a man of size, Lanyon hides a deep sense of hopelessness and inevitable fate, and this contrast draws attention to his internal struggle. When Utterson confronts Jekyll about his strange behavior, Jekyll reveals the truth about his alter ego, Mr. Hyde. The narrator describes Utterson's reaction, stating, "The lawyer listened gloomily; he did not like his friend's feverish manner" (Stevenson, 1886, Chapter 6).
Dr. Jekyll is an upstanding citizen and as a doctor, helps out those who need him. He even wants to help out the heartless Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll tells Mr. Utterson, “I do sincerely take a great, a very great interest in that young man” (bbc.co.uk). By the end of the story the reader knows that Dr. Jekyll wants to help Mr. Hyde because they are the same person. Dr. Jekyll is the yin - the good, while Mr. Hyde is the yang - the evil. Mr. Hyde, the other main character, is a very unsightly being. In the novella his description is, “Mr. Hyde was pale dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation” (Stevenson, 1684). When Mr. Utterson looked upon Mr. Hyde, he was filled with disgust and loathing, and fear that was inexplicable. Mr. Gabriel Utterson, who is a secondary character, is described as a “rational, respectable, calm, and curious man” (bbc.co.uk). Naturally he would want to understand what kind of man would trample all over a child and just leave him or her there on the ground, in the middle of the night, no apology, and without sending for her parents. He is also persistent in dealing with trying to find where Mr. Hyde is located. “ ‘If he be Mr. Hyde,’ he had thought, ‘I shall be Mr. Seek’ “ (Stevenson, 1683). This was something that he couldn’t let go of, and he needed to find out who Mr. Hyde was. Mr. Utterson is also caring; he cares about Dr. Henry Jekyll, who also happens to be his
By experimenting, he is able to free the evil in him and giving it a life without caring about the needs from his other side. As Dr. Jekyll says, “With every day and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and intellectual, I thus drew steadily to that truth by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two." Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, two opposed components that make up a “normal” individual. Good and evil are no longer related and become two independent identities, They are different in mental and physical composition, and they stay constantly at war with each other. Hyde's evil now is now independent and no longer requires good to justify his actions.
Hyde is not one hundred percent evil, he seems to personify the pure evil side of human nature. He does still
This book, published in 1886 by C. Scribner’s Sons, is called “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. The book was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and is a mystery book. The book is also quite short and is only 138 pages long. The book, so far is quite strange. It’s very interesting because the author is very interested in writing about evil. That fact alone adds to the suspense about this mystery book.
Throughout the novel, it is important to examine what Utterson suspects of Jekyll. While Jekyll clearly is acting strange, Mr. Utterson is blind to the fact that this is truly Dr. Jekyll¹s problem and instead blames Mr. Hyde for blackmail. The question remains, blackmail for what?
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a classic mystery story, enticing to all audiences merely upon it’s suspense alone. When Stevenson first wrote the story (after recalling a dream he had) he had only the intentions of writing such an entertaining tale. Yet at the suggestion of his wife, he decided to revamp the mystery to comment on the dual nature of man and of society in general.
Secondly, Mr. Hyde is evil because he stepped on a girl. According to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde book, “A child running from a doctor’s; and these met, and that human Juggernaut trod the child down and passed on regardless of her screams. ”(p.15). Thirdly, he is a scary man. Everyone is getting afraid of him.
Hyde is known for his sheer violence of his actions throughout the book. In the beginning, he is introduced when he tramples a small child in the street and leaves her screaming in his dust. We know about his nefarious actions before we even know his name. Mr. Enfield describes Hyde’s actions as,” the man (Hyde) trampled calmly over the child’s body.” I take true evil to not only trample a child but to do so calmly is a whole new monstrosity.
They did not know the situation that had begotten the doctor, the same person frightening them. They “huddled together like a flock of sheep” (Chapter 8) and ran out to Mr. Utterson as though he was a savior of sorts from their mystery. (Chapter 8). Dr. Lanyon feared the mere mention of Dr. Jekyll because he had witnessed the evil version of him, and he had also seen the transformation process. "I cannot bear the topic…" he said amid fear of speaking about the issue.