Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis

The New World Order, Area 51, The JFK assassination: these three separate ideas are all linked by the plethora of conspiracies theories surrounding them. In order to silence potential theorists, the government has created a series of cover-ups. This theme of one’s secrets causing him to lie and deceive everyone around him is also at the core of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Henry Jekyll, a well-respected and wealthy scientist, has been carrying out crimes as his alter ego Edward Hyde. This information would remove Jekyll from his high status and would certainly need to be concealed. However, the more he tries to hide his secret, the more obvious his intentions in doing so becomes. His lies and

Jekyll’s alter ego Edward Hyde prefers to make his appearances only in the dark of night. This fact could easily make anyone suspicious, as under the veil of night, Hyde would have only his own conscience to limit the extent of the heinous acts he carries out in the novella. Hyde, who desires to execute these otherwise criminal offenses, gets caught, and therefore finds that he is scurrying to cover his tracks. If Hyde were to admit what he did, he would be victim to everyone’s judgments, but he would be free from the pressure of running from the law. Therefore, it was never worth the effort of lying to everyone in the first place. The first time Hyde is introduced, it is in the early morning when everyone is still asleep. Seeing that there are no people about, one finds themselves in a “state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the site of policeman”(40). Noticing that there is no one in sight, Hyde mercilessly plows into a young girl who had the misfortune of crossing paths with him. The screams of this girl wake the sleeping townspeople, including her family, who are not too happy to know that a man has ran her over. After paying a sum of money as condolences to the family, the number of Hyde’s nighttime escapades diminishes –at least to a point. After a years time, Hyde strikes again, this time killing. In the event of the murder, Utterson and Inspector Newcomen travel to Hyde’s place of residence, where they hope to find

At random points in social interactions he is often seen expressing these emotions in violent outbursts. What’s curious is that they seem to be triggered when certain topics are brought up in his conversations with others. The longer Jekyll keeps everything secret the more aggressive these outbursts become, therefore by continuing to lie to everyone Jekyll only serves to cause himself greater emotional turmoil. Perhaps the first incidence of these emotional outburst occurs in the company of Utterson after the closing of a dinner party hosted by Jekyll. Utterson begins to discuss Jekyll’s will, which doesn’t bother Jekyll, in fact he’s relatively happy. However we see a shift in Jekyll’s mood when Utterson brings up Hyde. At the mention of his second self, “the large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes”(57). Almost instantaneously, Jekyll had transferred from a happy and collected to full of fear and doubt. A similar transformation occurs during a chance meeting between Jekyll, Utterson and Utterson’s cousin, Enfield. The pair are outside walking when they approach Jekyll’s residence and see the Doctor sitting near a half-opened window. They strike up a conversation with Jekyll, and despite feeling under the weather, he replies back happily. When suddenly, “the smile was struck out of his face and