Dr. Jekyll should be held responsible for the crimes of Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll made the decision to separate out the two sides of himself, the moral self from the pleasure-seeking, reckless self. Dr. Jekyll’s experiment led to the development of two personalities fighting within him. The evil one began to take over, and that evil part of himself was capable of being a criminal. Dr. Jekyll should be held responsible for Mr. Hyde’s crimes because he knew there was a risk involved, Mr. Hyde is not actually a second person, and modern law would find Dr. Jekyll guilty. Dr. Jekyll is an intelligent scientist. He is fully aware that his plan to separate out the two sides of himself is risky. He didn’t like the way the moral side …show more content…
Hyde is not actually a second person. He exists only because Dr. Jekyll exists. He is part of Dr. Jekyll’s overall personality. The evil part becomes increasingly more difficult for Dr. Jekyll to hold back. “I began to spy a danger that, if this were much prolonged, the balance of my nature might be permanently overthrown, the power of voluntary change forfeited…” (Stevenson 69). This does not excuse Dr. Jekyll, however, because Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one man. If Dr. Jekyll had lived and Mr. Hyde had never appeared again, Dr. Jekyll still should have had to admit to his crimes and be punished for them legally. The two parts of his personality shared a common memory because they are one man (Stevenson 70). This one man, Dr. Jekyll, is responsible for any crimes he commits as either Jekyll or Hyde. In our modern American society, a drunk driver is responsible for crashing a car and injuring or killing victims in the accident. The drunk driver is addicted to alcohol in the same way that Dr. Jekyll is addicted to his temptation to feel free and reckless. The drunk driver is legally responsible for his actions. Dr. Jekyll is also responsible for becoming Mr. Hyde, and he is responsible for anything that happens while “under the influence” of