Introduction
An author’s main objective while composing a literary work is to communicate a specific message to his audience. Factors such as historical occurrences, political ideologies, and global economic status are among the factors that influence an author’s message. One such work written at a historical time described as the Victorian era is the novella known as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The literary work was authored by Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish writer. This essay analyzes how the author has explored evil through crimes that are purely a manifestation of ignoble human nature. Stevenson uses two personas, Hyde and Jekyll, as characters to advance his representation of evil in the Victorian era.
Trampling on an Eight-Year-Old Girl
The first encounter between Edward Hyde and Richard Enfield on one black winter morning shows that the former is an embodiment of evil. Stevenson’s choice of words used in relation to Hyde’s actions and behavior depicts him as an individual with an uncaring attitude. It is not that having such a demeanor qualifies one to be evil, but their behavior of Hyde after trampling on a young girl shows his callousness. Enfield sees Hyde and a female of about eight years of age running into each other as Hyde walks hastily past Enfield, and the girl runs towards both of them (Stevenson 33). Using the witness to describe the event, the author acknowledges that the whole incident of running into each other may be an act of accident. However, Stevenson indicates that the horrible part of the incident is the one in which “Mr. Hyde steps on the back of the little girl and leaves her crying in pain” (33). Hyde’s immediate reaction after the incident clearly manifests a lack of pity, and this unfortunate occurrence also shows his selfishness, an evil characteristic.
In addition to trampling on the young child and pitilessly leaving her on the ground, Hyde’s evil character is depicted in a series of events that followed his encounter with the young girl. Immediate Hyde’s act after stepping on the back of the little child is to run forward as if he has done nothing wrong. It takes the courage of one Enfield to run after him and bring him back to the place where the injured child lies. By this act, he had already decided to go away without checking whether the girl he stepped on was fine. A crowd that had converged around the bruised young female together with Enfield forces Hyde to take her to a hospital. While in the medical facility, the devilish character of Hyde is unmasked. He wants to bribe the crowd by telling them to name whatever they want him to give them (Stevenson 34). Then the people force him to pay the injured girl’s family a hundred pounds against his wish. Evidently, Hyde portrayed contempt toward the young lady, the crowd, and Enfield.
Enfield’s Description of Mr. Hyde
Apart from the detailed incidents presenting Hyde as evil, Stevenson uses indirect descriptions to show that Hyde exhibited unpleasant wicked traits. In fact, by looking at the portrayals given to him alone, a reader is introduced to a distasteful and scornful evil figure. In Enfield’s words, Hyde was “someone who nobody would want to have dealings with, an unpleasant man” (Stevenson 34). From the description, it is clear that there was something sinister about Mr. Hyde that even Enfield could not fathom. Indeed, Enfield describes Hyde as someone with an unpleasant persona; according to him, the latter was the nastiest man he had ever met. These two descriptions of Hyde serve two purposes for Stevenson’s audience. The first one is to prepare the reader to understand the character of Hyde in his subsequent actions in the novella. Secondly, to portray him as the villain in the story by giving him negative attributes. As such, Mr. Hyde represents evil in the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Sir Carew’s Murder
Furthermore, Hyde is rendered as an embodiment of evil through the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. At eleven o’clock in the night, a servant girl living by herself notices both Hyde and Carew in the street just below her room’s window. In this instance, again, the author juxtaposes the two men’s characters. For example, Carew is described as a pleasant-looking gentleman, while Hyde is represented as an impatient and ill-mannered person (Stevenson 46). According to the explanations of the servant girl, Hyde then proceeds to kill Carew by stamping on him and raining violent blows on the fallen body (Stevenson 46). From analyzing the lady’s explanation, it is apparent that the old man, Carew, was asking Hyde about some way leading to a place. Nevertheless, he is attacked and killed by Hyde, who behaves like a madman. Half of the broken cane used in killing Carew is found by the side of his dead body the next day. After the crime escapade, Hyde flees and goes into hiding. The murder of Carew epitomizes Hyde’s wicked ways and his overall evil character.
Dr. Jekyll’s Dual Nature
In the character of Dr. Henry Jekyll, Stevenson presents evil in a way showing that good deeds prevail over the former. As the story begins, the reader is introduced to two different characters, Jekyll and Hyde. His notable trait is Dr. Jekyll’s awareness of the iniquitous Hyde within him and later confessions of earlier crimes (Lydia 2363). As revealed thereafter, Jekyll and Hyde are the same people. Jekyll would transform into two different personalities, from himself to Hyde, through the consumption of serum in his laboratory (Yıldırım 10). The power of good over evil is shown by the author through Dr. Jekyll killing himself in the end. Stevenson uses this duality of characters on the same individual to show his audience that every human being is not born totally good or sinful (Yıldırım 9). Consequently, the author has revealed the effects of turpitude on an individual’s life.
Conclusion
In summary, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a fictitious work that explains the struggle between evil and good within a person, as shown in the character of Jekyll and Hyde in one individual. Acts of callousness, contemptuousness, and impatience are shown as the traits of individuals who end up murdering others, as in the case of Hyde. Indeed, all acts of evil are punished however long they prevail. Therefore, this piece of literature is crucial in stressing the importance of upholding good morals in society.
Works Cited
Lydia, Irene. “Man is a Combination of Evil and Good with reference to Character.” Malaya Journal of Matematik, vol. S, no. 2, 2020, pp. 2363-4. Web.
Stevenson, Robert. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 3rd ed. Edited by Martin A. Danahay, Broadview Press Limited, 2017.
Yıldırım, Hacer. “The Evil Side of Human Nature in the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.” Journal of English Language and Literature Club, vol. 2, no. 2, 2020, pp. 9-11.