The Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a horror fiction and
psychological thriller that explores the evil and good sides of humans. In the
novel, Robert uses a mysterious tone and the third person limited point of
view, as the story follows Mr. Utterson, to create suspense and provoke the
reader to continue reading the novel.
The story begins
with Mr. Utterson, a respectable lawyer, and his distant kinsman, Richard
Enfield’s Sunday walk through the city of London. Everything seems normal
hitherto, until they see the door of a building. Mr. Enfield then told Mr.
Utterson a story that relates to the mysterious building. After knowing the
strange story and reading through the will of Mr. Jekyll’s, a famous London
doctor, Mr. Utterson begins to notice an eccentric person named Mr. Hyde, for
Mr. Jekyll declared that all of his possessions will belong to Mr. Hyde after
he had died or disappeared.
Throughout the novel,
Mr. Utterson is always trying to figure out the connection between Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde; because Dr. Jekyll protected Mr. Hyde, a monstrous
creature that seems below humanity, when Mr. Utterson tried to persuade him to
think more thoroughly about the will. The author chose the name ”Hyde” for this
character because he is mysterious. And Mr. Utterson makes the pun ”If he be
Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek,” while he was waiting for Mr. Hyde to show up.
The author
illustrates the psychological theory of dualism, id, ego, and superego in the
novel. Dualism refers to the philosophy view that the universe contains two
radically different kinds of being, spirit, body, or mind. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,
Stevenson shows concern for dualism. He believes that humans have both the evil
and the good sides, which is one of the main ideas of the book.
There are id, ego,
and superego in the structural theory of the mind, which is first introduced by
Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis. Id refers to one’s
desire, and it is the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses are
showed. And ego is the part of the mind that is rational and conscious.
Superego works to balance the id and the ego. In the novel, Mr. Hyde is recognized
as the id, and Dr. Jekyll is recognized as the ego.
This novel explores
the humanity and makes us realize that we have an evil and a good side within
us. And by reading the novel, we can apprehend that as humans, we are
constantly struggling the battle of good versus evil. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has a profound meaning
to me, I really recommend people to read this book and explore whom they really are deep inside.
