Doctor J's side of the story

Authors note: In Jekyll’s narrative, the truths behind Hyde are finally revealed. In a rather unsurprising end, it turned out that Jekyll and Hyde was the same inner-man, but two separate appearances.

In his own words, Jekyll described his life as a perennial war between his two sides. A war that was sometimes hidden, but other times sprung out from nowhere. The drug that allowed Jekyll to change between himself and Hyde had horrible side effects. The ebullition had a putrid taste and was uncontrollable. Jekyll’s transformations were beginning to occur randomly, and Hyde was showing his hideous face more and more often. Hyde was created with all of the evils and impurities that Jekyll despised of in himself. Hyde is like all of us, showing that we cannot control our evils, and no matter how hard we try we will never be perfect. Hyde provides Jekyll with a way to commit heinous acts and receive no consequences. With no penitence, Jekyll is resuscitated through Hyde, and vaingloriously refers to him as a son. With a new outlook on life, Jekyll has the ability to live two separate lives while only being one man.

Hyde and Seek

Authors Note: Who can honestly understand all the motifs and symbolism in this story? Did Robert Louis Stevenson truly write every word to stand in the place of a larger and more meaningful symbol found in our society? No one can be certain, but after several hundred references to a dinner composed of the sharing of wine, the talk of both good and evil, and a coming sacrifice foreshadowed by the heavenly fog that o so conveniently falls every time Hyde shows his hideous face and a chapter named The Last Night maybe he meant something regarding Christ?

Bless me, Poole Utterson cried with lamentation, as Poole unexpectedly showed up at his doorstep to bring the news that Jekyll was sick. However, this was nothing new, every time the name Hyde came up Jekyll's already frail and virtually diaphanous body took another blow and one step closer to an inevitable death. While Utterson hearkened to Poole explain that he suspects foul play, they both know no matter what Hyde had some input into what Poole is talking about. To prepare to see any horror, Utterson's only answer to Poole is to rise--into heaven? doggedly--and throw on his hat and greatcoat--halo and angel wings? The evil within Hyde is so exorbitant that the only way to combat its power is to bring along the essence of the very purest good and the element of Christ himself. Is it only a coincidence that Utterson is the vessel to take on this spirit, or is he truly a walking Christ on earth?

Jekyll and Hyde 2

Authors note: Throughout chapters 5 and 7, Jekyll is left to suffer for the heinous acts that his doppelganger, Hyde, has committed. Jekyll really took on a Christ like persona accepting all of Hyde’s sins as his own and enduring that pain to preserve Hyde.

After the murder of Carew, Jekyll is locked away in his house hidden behind the red baize with the only light glimmering in from the three windows at the top of his home. Jekyll is slowly being drained of his own life—and he knows it. To signify his final days, he holds a dinner at his residence. With a toast of wine and talk of the murder, the group realized that there is a drowning fog, sinking down and smothering the city. Jekyll tells Lanyon that he is the chief of sinners and sufferers. Hyde is the sinner that Jekyll is responsible for, Hyde is the evil that makes Jekyll suffer, and he is the burden forcing Jekyll to sacrifice his own life for forgiveness. An act that is inscrutable to any other human, is only justified by reasons Jekyll will not release.