“Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It 's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.” The quote by Eric Burdon can be put into constant play in the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. With a strong sense of mystery and danger, the theme of good and evil fits perfectly into Dr. Henry Jekyll’s personality. Today, some think that good and evil are two polar opposites that can be split apart in one’s personality. But, when looking at Burdon’s quote, it’s essential to realize that his words have weight in that we cannot be fully rid of evil. In Jekyll and Hyde, Dr. Jekyll is convinced that he can completely split himself into good and evil,
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However, it is said that evil comes from within, and cannot be seen from an outside look. While reading Jekyll and Hyde, you can plainly see the physical change in appearance from Jekyll to Hyde, and with the change of looks comes, more importantly, a switch of personality. The first signs of the evil changing looks can come from Hyde’s overall look, which is described on page 14, where the text explains, “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile,” This quote can be compared to a point in the text describing Dr. Jekyll, which recounts, “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness,” (Stevenson 17). With the descriptions provided in the book, the difference between good and evil is plainly seen as two separate characters, but one overall being. In the story, the look of evil is deformed, shriveled Mr. Hyde, showing the display of Dr. Jekyll’s not so developed wicked side. On the contrary, Dr. Jekyll’s ordinary looks are that of a kind man, who is full of graciousness. So, with the change of looks from good to evil also comes the change in attitude, with warm hearted Jekyll to vile-tempered Hyde. As the book goes on, Dr. Jekyll seems to have a decline in his wellness, going from healthy to generally more solemn. This claim can …show more content…
Jekyll. Yet, as the procedure that Henry Jekyll followed is explained, the feeling of innocence against guilt is still present in his narrative. During the first test of Jekyll’s potion, the transformation to Hyde holds a heavy meaning in the good vs. evil thinking. After he drinks the potion, the text illustrates, “The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death,” (Stevenson 63). The change from Jekyll to Hyde symbolize the way that Jekyll made his soul impure, and it’s harsh, not just to the body, but to the mind to walk the path of villainy. His torturous emotions and pains are nails on the footpath to becoming a kind of horrible that cannot be reversed, no matter how much Jekyll wished to return to his gentle, caring, self. The evil within had marked Henry with a symbolic seal of hateful actions, which came in the form of Mr. Hyde. As Jekyll’s experiment progressed, his feelings changed, developing a strong terror at the thought of becoming Hyde, whom he could no longer control. His thoughts become set in stone at a point in the last chapter where the author writes, “It was no longer the fear of the gallows, it was the horror of becoming Hyde that racked me,” (Stevenson 75). A strong conclusion that can be drawn from
However, it is said that evil comes from within, and cannot be seen from an outside look. While reading Jekyll and Hyde, you can plainly see the physical change in appearance from Jekyll to Hyde, and with the change of looks comes, more importantly, a switch of personality. The first signs of the evil changing looks can come from Hyde’s overall look, which is described on page 14, where the text explains, “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile,” This quote can be compared to a point in the text describing Dr. Jekyll, which recounts, “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness,” (Stevenson 17). With the descriptions provided in the book, the difference between good and evil is plainly seen as two separate characters, but one overall being. In the story, the look of evil is deformed, shriveled Mr. Hyde, showing the display of Dr. Jekyll’s not so developed wicked side. On the contrary, Dr. Jekyll’s ordinary looks are that of a kind man, who is full of graciousness. So, with the change of looks from good to evil also comes the change in attitude, with warm hearted Jekyll to vile-tempered Hyde. As the book goes on, Dr. Jekyll seems to have a decline in his wellness, going from healthy to generally more solemn. This claim can …show more content…
Jekyll. Yet, as the procedure that Henry Jekyll followed is explained, the feeling of innocence against guilt is still present in his narrative. During the first test of Jekyll’s potion, the transformation to Hyde holds a heavy meaning in the good vs. evil thinking. After he drinks the potion, the text illustrates, “The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death,” (Stevenson 63). The change from Jekyll to Hyde symbolize the way that Jekyll made his soul impure, and it’s harsh, not just to the body, but to the mind to walk the path of villainy. His torturous emotions and pains are nails on the footpath to becoming a kind of horrible that cannot be reversed, no matter how much Jekyll wished to return to his gentle, caring, self. The evil within had marked Henry with a symbolic seal of hateful actions, which came in the form of Mr. Hyde. As Jekyll’s experiment progressed, his feelings changed, developing a strong terror at the thought of becoming Hyde, whom he could no longer control. His thoughts become set in stone at a point in the last chapter where the author writes, “It was no longer the fear of the gallows, it was the horror of becoming Hyde that racked me,” (Stevenson 75). A strong conclusion that can be drawn from