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Evil is a beast in a cage, a night without stars, and a complete another side of a person. Everyone has an evil side, but some people allow their evil side to take over while others push it away. Even though literature is filled with various evil villains, two significant ones are Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde from the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. When associated with Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll is certainly more responsible for the mysteries and crimes that befall in the book.
In the novella, Dr.
Jekyll does not physically commit the crimes, but he is indeed to blame even if he is not in his physical figure. As a young man, Dr. Jekyll does not want to think evil thoughts and he tries to think about good as well. In the novella, Dr. Jekyll states “That man is not truly one, but truly two” (Stevenson 65).
This proves that Dr. Jekyll is guilty of the crimes because he creates a potion to that allows him to express his desire to commit evil without feeling guilty and without spoiling his good name, but he is just in a separate body.
Although Mr. Hyde physically does the crimes, it is surprisingly Dr. Jekyll behind them. According to the text, Jekyll says in his letter “Between these two, I now felt I had to choose” (Stevenson 74). Not only does this show that Dr. Jekyll is more accountable, but also that he feels like he doesn’t actually do all of the crimes because it is a different body, but it is just his despicable is showing through.
Many people believe that Mr.
Hyde is to blame for the crimes committed because his physical form tramples the girl and kills Sir Danvers Carew.
Around the beginning of the book, a maid witnesses a murder and the killer “she was surprised to recognise in him a certain Mr. Hyde” (Stevenson 23). Although this is a strong point, one must consider who actually creates Mr. Hyde and the purpose behind creating this horror. Not only does Dr. Jekyll create Mr. Hyde, but he also enjoys being Mr. Hyde. When he first turns into Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll feels comfortable and happy. In his full statement of the case, he mentions he “felt younger. lighter, happier in body.” (Stevenson 67). This elaborates Dr. Jekyll is to blame because he likes his new body, which means he is already starting to want to be in Mr. Hyde’s form. A few months later, after Dr. Jekyll continues turning into Mr. Hyde, he notices he is automatically shifting without the potion. In the end, Dr. Jekyll states “the powers of Hyde seemed to have grown with the sickliness of Jekyll” (Stevenson 81).
This means Dr. Jekyll is more responsible for the crimes that happen because Dr. Jekyll keeps drinking the potion since he likes being Mr. Hyde, so when he suddenly starts transforming into Mr. Hyde without the potion, it means he is feeding the beast. Some may argue it is indeed Mr. Hyde who is accountable for the crimes because Dr. Jekyll asked God for mercy every time he did something wrong in the form of Mr. Hyde and he did not want to shift back into Mr. Hyde again. In the novella, Dr. Jekyll puts in his letter “Not that I dreamed of resuscitating Hyde; the bare idea of that would startle me to frenzy” (Stevenson 77). Even though Dr. Jekyll did ask for forgiveness and did not want to bring Mr. Hyde back eventually, he does like being Mr. Hyde before he realized he makes a big mistake, and that mistake caused many crimes. In the end, Dr. Jekyll shows the readers in his final confession he is responsible for all of the crimes including killing Dr. Lanyon.
As mentioned before, Dr. Jekyll creates Mr. Hyde to express his feelings without feeling guilty, and he proves himself he is still Dr. Jekyll even in Mr. Hyde’s body. In the final confession, there are many moments when Dr. Jekyll is Mr. Hyde and says things like “I mauled the unresisting body” (Stevenson 76) and “I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance” (Stevenson 68). This demonstrates how Dr. Jekyll is guilty for the crimes because he is consistently in the point of view of Dr. Jekyll, even when he is in Hyde’s body, so therefore he must always be Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll is certainly to blame for killing Sir Danvers Carew, he also is answerable for Dr. Lanyon’s death. When talking to Mr. Utterson, Dr. Lanyon says “‘I have had a shock’” (Stevenson 35), and then mentions in his narrative “my life is shaken to its roots; sleep has left me; the deadliest terror sits by me at all hours of the day and night” (Stevenson 63).
Dr. Lanyon, in both Mr. Hyde’s and his own body, scared Dr. Lanyon to death by transforming in front of him, which Mr. Utterson soon finds out after Dr. Jekyll dies. While Dr. Jekyll does commit all of the crimes, including the death of Dr. Lanyon, and always in his point of view, many may still be convinced it is Mr. Hyde who is guilty because he hates Dr. Jekyll and tries to kill him by killing himself. The novella states “the hatred of Hyde for Jekyll was of a different order. His terror of the gallows drove him continually to commit temporary suicide” (Stevenson 82). It is true Mr. Hyde does not like Dr. Jekyll, but that is really Dr. Jekyll’s sinister side who does not like his good nature.
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Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. (2021, Dec 15). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/henry-jekyll-and-edward-hyde-essay
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