Similarities Between Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Not many people understand where the concept of innocent and violence comes from. Some say it is from within and others believe that it comes from outside sources. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, evil is a trait seen in many different ways. Robert Louis Stevenson creates a thriller novel, incorporating horror, mystery, and suspense to lour his readers in. Although, innocence and violence are two opposites, it is evident in the novel, that they both come from within. Assault, murder, and basic character traits are proof that evil doings originate internally.

“It wasn’t a man, it seemed like some damned Juggernaut” (Stevenson, 1886, pg.4) says Mr. Enfield, describing Mr. Hyde after the attack. Early on in the novel, unneccessary assault is a result

Hyde. Towards the middle of the novel, Mr. Hyde is wandering down a dark street, late at night. For no reason, he decides to beat an individual to death. Mr. Hyde always had his cane, so it became the weapon of choice, “...and then all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on like a madman. The old gentleman took a step back… Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to the earth” (Stevenson, 1886, pg.23). Being that this was a random act, it shows the true evil that comes from the heart. Mr. Hyde had no motive to hurt the old man, except for the pleasure he gets from ones suffering. The murder was filled with such rage that Stevenson narrates the aftermath which gives readers a clearer understanding,“The stick with which the deed had been done, although it was of some rare and very tough and heavy wood, had broken in the middle of the stress of this insensate cruelty; and one splintered half had rolled in the neighboring gutter…” (1886, pg.23-23). As Steveson goes in though detail on the man’s death, readers can conclude Mr. Hyde is a vicious man. Not only did he beat the individual to death, he left him to die. When Sir Danvers Carew’s innocent life was taken that night, it supports the claim that violence originates from within the

That evil is a manner that comes from time and place, not from internal thoughts. The events of assault and muder could be argued as a result of emotion and acting out of self defense, but for one person to commit mutliple evil crimes, it is something not of that nature. Towards the end of the novel, Dr. Jekyll says, “This as I take it, was because all human beigns, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind was pure evil” (Stevenson, 1886, pg.74) which affirms M. Hyde’s evil nature. Describing a person as “pure evil” is a description only given to those with a sick nature. Mr. Hyde was a man full of malicious intent and nothing less. His continuous violent action is proof that evil lies within his heart and not from the