Allegory In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

The feeling of spacing in and out, relaxation, joy, and forgetfulness are just a few of the intense pleasures of being high. Addiction, not only to drugs, but sex, money, or the thrill of sin is an increasing problem among our society today. The captivating novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Lewis Stevenson, interprets the allegory of an addiction within an individual: Dr. Jekyll. As an intelligent, admirable alchemist, Jekyll generates a potion when drunken anatomically changes his body into Mr. Hyde, becoming an evil persona for Jekyll to practice his true intentions. Eventually, the “high” of being evil starts to take over Jekyll and he illustrates signs of addiction to the potion. Just like in the novel,

At the end of the book, the last chapter is told in Jekyll’s perspective in which he describes the development of his second personality, Hyde. The potion was first created to get his evil self away from his good self. When he willingly created the drink, it showed he was experimenting with the effects of the drug on his body and the amount of certain substances for his ultimate high (page 44). Although his intentions of using the drug were good, he began to slip into denial with his life long friend, Mr. Utterson. When Jekyll wrote his will to a man of the name to Hyde, as his lawyer and friend, Utterson was concerned and began to search for this man, but multiple times in the book, Jekyll reassures Utterson that everything is under control and to not doubt him. When Utterson attempts to address Jekyll, he begins to shut him out of his situation and tells him “this is private matter and I beg of you to let it sleep” (page 13). Jekyll knows this side of him cannot be seen and begins to seclude himself. Poole, Jekyll’s servant, turns Utterson away when he comes to the house trying to get in contact. He has no