Quote:
I’ve chosen this book because I once saw a movie, called the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, in this movie Jekyll and Hyde made an appearance. Ever since I’ve been fascinated by them. So when I found the book in our basement between other old books of my father, I was really excited. However, I never actually had the time to read it. So when I got this assignment I thought this was the proper time and reason to read it.
My first reaction after I read the book was; “Poor Dr. Jekyll.” I really liked the story and it fascinated me till the last page. The writing style was slow but very describing and the story was well thought out and most characters were quite interesting. Throughout the story you are left with a lot of suspicions but you don’t get any confirmation until the last chapter, which is what keeps you reading till the bitter end. You get anxious to find out what happened to Dr. Jekyll and who his apprentice Mr. Hyde actually is. To be honest, I actually wanted to skip the entire middle part and dive straight into the revelation, but I resisted that wish and finished the entire book in proper order.
The story is being told by Mr. Utterson, he is a lawyer and one of the oldest and best friends of Dr. Jekyll. At least, I believe he tells the story because the “adventures” are his and also the letters are addressed to him. The story is told in the 2nd person, but while he tells the story he isn’t the only central figure in it.
The story is mostly about Mr. Utterson investigating the cause of the strange events and things surrounding his dear friend Dr. Jekyll and a repulsive young man called Mr. Hyde. Besides these three main characters there are a few less important figures playing their part in the story. One of them is Mr. Lanyon, who is perhaps Dr. Jekyll’s dearest and most certainly oldest friend. His part in the story is that he helps Dr. Jekyll out by doing some strange groceries for him; the reward for his help is the “Truth” about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Mr. Lanyon found the truth so disturbing that he refuses to see Dr. Jekyll anymore and considers their friendship at an end. Shortly after, he passes away. Mr. Poole only plays a relative small part in the story and is the butler of Dr. Jekyll. At the end of the story he helps Mr. Utterson break in into Dr Jekyll’s office. Mr. Enfield is a friend of Mr. Utterson but only shows himself in the very beginning of the story.
There are only are only two round characters in the story; Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll. The other characters only appear briefly although some do have an important role. During the story you get to learn Mr. Utterson quite well, you get to know how he looks like, how he sounds like and how he acts. You share his curiosity and eventually also his grief. You learn about his strong and weak points, his friends and his habits. He is probably the most all-round character in the story. Dr. Jekyll is a whole lot more vague, but that is how the writer has intended it. Throughout the story you do not get to learn him as good as you learn Mr. Utterson but you do get enough insight in his life to sympathise with him, whether or not you understand his problems. Therefore I think of him as a round character. At the end, you know how he looks and what kind of man he is but most importantly you know the entire terrible history of the last two years of his life.
Short Summary
Through the curiosity of Utterson, a lawyer, we learn of the ugly and violent Mr Hyde and his odd connection to the respectable Dr Jekyll who pays out a cheque for Hyde’s despicable behaviour. A brutal murder follows. The dead man is one of Mr. Utterson’s clients, Sir Danvers Carew. The murder weapon was, unbelievably a cane Mr. Utterson had given to Jekyll. Because of this, the lawyer becomes entangled in the strange world of the Dr. Jekyll who, so it seemed has created a drug that separates his good and evil natures - purifying the doctor himself but with the dangerous side effect of changing into the monstrous Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll believes he can control the drug and will only change when he wants to (that is when he takes the drug), however the more he uses the drug, the more control Dr. Jekyll looses and the more antidote he needs to change back. We follow Mr. Utterson as he investigates with Mr. Poole, Jekyll’s butler, the seeming contradictions in the doctor’s actions and his increasingly hermit-like existence in his laboratory. As the truth is about to surface, Dr. Jekyll passes away and Mr. Utterson is finely to open the two letters, which contain the entire truth told by his two best friends, may heaven rest their souls.
My Opinion
What I liked most about the book was the fact that your are caught up in it until the last letter. This is made possible because the story has been written in a very mysterious atmosphere. You also sympathise with the faith of poor Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Utterson.
The book is about good and evil and which man should choose. It is a problem we all encounter daily, and most of the times our conscience guides us. But what if you would discover a drug that would make your conscience unnecessary, you simply wouldn’t need one because you will not get blamed for your deeds. I think everybody sometimes dreams of having to power to do things (good and evil) without having to care about what would happen when you did it, what people would think of, of being unstoppable. The fact that it is such a human subject makes the story all the more attractive.
(Here is supposed to be a piece of the actual story but I left that out for you.)
That is the part I like most about the entire book, mainly because it is what you have been waiting for throughout the story, the part in which everything is being revealed. The weakest part of the story is the it is quite slow paced and that only covers a few incidents in the entire story, if had been somewhat faster it would have been an even more enjoyable read. But that is just a minor drawback, this is without a doubt one of the best books I’ve read, it is the kind of story I love, mysterious until the bitter end.
I really recommend this book to everyone because it is one of those classical works about Good and Evil, it has gone down in literary history as one of the masterpieces of world history, and not without reason. It is that kind of books you must read but only you can make up your own mind about it because every person interprets it differently.
