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Is The Theme Of Truth In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

1035 Words5 Pages

Chloe Kidder
Mrs. Greeley
Honors English C Block
17 February 2017
Perspective on the Truth
Is the truth what lies in front of human eyes, or is it something that is simply motionless hidden beyond colors and light? Throughout the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Stevenson, the reader sees only a glimpse of what is real through different views of the Victorian society. During the Victorian Era, societal views impacted how people pursued their faith. Pleasure was not taken with respect and people were looked down upon when continuously carrying on with enjoyed activities. The readers see from the beginning of the novel how Utterson punishes himself for wanting to take part in activities he would pursue, if only societal …show more content…

The reference to sight in the novel symbolizes the lack of perspective the readers have into understanding truth.
Towards the beginning of the novel, the readers see how immediate judgement shapes the view of a character. Mr. Hyde is judged from one single accident as a rebellious outcaste of the Victorian society. Mr. Hyde has “ never been photographed; and the few who describe him different widely, as common a observes will” (17). He is simply considered evil from the view of Mr. Utterson because instead of looking beyond, Mr. Utterson and others of the time categorize people by appearance. Later on in the story, Hyde is claimed to be “ not easy to describe” and “there is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable”(Pg. 53). From the description of Hyde through the lense of Utterson, the reader can infer the displeasing appeal as well as assume the evilness that possesses within Hyde. The other characters in the story are all in agreement that the ugliness of Hyde is certainly shown on the exterior surface. While Hyde is ugly, deformed and small, his physical aspect symbolises his gruesome intellectual …show more content…

“The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes” (13). We see in situations throughout the book that our initial opinions don’t always fall through. As the reader sees, Dr. Jekyll lives in a nice home that seems, to an extent, beyond normal. The outside of the house that is seen in the light, symbolizes the fake Victorian Era characteristics of Jekyll of which his true self is hidden. Beyond the door, the laboratory symbolizes the true hideousness of Jekyll beyond the surface or in other words, Mr. Hyde. Through the lense of Utterson, the readers are only able to see this put together, lighthearted, well thought out smart side of Jekyll. By the end of the novel, the reader sees that this first initial judgement clearly does not tell the full truth. In the laboratory, that is seen past the light of the house, Jekyll is able to transform himself into someone that only contains one side of him that society is unable to view. Jekyll is a man who wants to keep up a reputation, while Hyde just wants to run free. Humans unknowingly categorize physical structures like people and houses into groups based on stereotypes influenced by their culture. In the Victorian Era, cultures were forced to be similar allowing people to judge other humans in similar ways. Many characters therefore

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Many men of the period, as shown through Mr Utterson, were very concerned about the way that they appear to society, Mr Utterson for example ‘drinks gin’ ‘to mortify a taste for vintages’. However, Mr Hyde is primarily described by his actions rather than his physical appearance, the first encounter with Mr Hyde is when he ‘trample[s]’ a young girl, and it is only later that the reader discovers that he is ‘deformed’, by focusing on the actions Stevenson is forcing the reader to not judge a book by its cover, but rather by its deeds and morals -which is a key theme throughout the book. Mr Hyde clearly does not care about what other people think of him, and this really makes him an outsider to a society focused on facades and decorum. One could argue that by doing this Stevenson is saying that people shouldn’t care so much about keeping up appearances and this is what prevents us from being our true selves, but there is a problem in this conclusion, Hyde’s true self is evil and uncaring for the feelings of others which surely isn’t beneficial to anyone. However, Stevenson isn’t saying that we should all mince our words so as not to hurt anyone, he is offering the two extremes to the reader and showing that it is not possible to be one or the other, a Jekyll or a Hyde, we have to be ourselves and still try to have empathy for others because that is what makes us human.

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