Book Review: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

It's hard to imagine readers coming to this book not knowing the big twist at the end (maybe this was the first "big twist ending" in literature? Where's the M. Night Shyamalan movie?). If you don't know the twist, read the book before reading any more of this review!

The story starts from the perspective of the lawyer Mr. Utterson, a fairly mundane Londoner who knows Dr. Henry Jekyll. Jekyll is also his client and has given Utterson a strange will that gives all Jekyll's possessions, at his death or disappearance, to Edward Hyde. As the story goes along, Hyde is revealed as a small, brutish man who indulges himself in many pleasures and does not care at all for others. He tramples a girl on his way home. Utterson and the girl's family are witnesses and confront Hyde. Hyde takes them to an unassuming door where he goes inside and brings out a check for the family's trouble...a check drawn on Henry Jekyll's bank account. Utterson is suspicious that blackmail is going on but Jekyll is reticent to clarify the situation. Hyde grows further out of control (in more ways than one) and eventually kills a member of Parliament, sealing his fate as far as a public life goes.

Of course, the big twist is that Jekyll, a chemist, has concocted a brew that will separate out his evil nature and give it free reign. His theory is that each person has two natures, a good and a bad, that vie for control. He has almost always been disciplined and virtuous, studying hard and doing good. But those bad inclinations are sitting in the background. His solution sort of works--the evil person called Hyde comes out and is rather diminutive (due to Jekyll's inexperience of evil). So Hyde is not recognizable as Jekyll. Hyde grows stronger as he is "out" more, eventually forcing Jekyll to use double doses of the brew. Toward the end, Hyde emerges after sleeping or at odd moments, making things more difficult. Eventually, he is stuck as Hyde, who kills himself when the brew no longer works to bring back Jekyll's appearance.

It's easy to fall for Jekyll's story that he has little to no responsibility for Hyde's actions, though his sense of guilt starts kicking in as Hyde does fouler and dirtier deeds. Jekyll has responsibility for releasing Hyde and accepting that he has (like everyone else) occasional inclinations to do wrong things. Such inclinations do not really need to be "let out," they need to be "left alone." Jekyll's curiosity and ambition to prove his theory only proves to be his downfall. His life becomes a tragic mystery. The surprise ending is not the biggest mystery, nor is his death the biggest tragedy. The great mystery is coming to understand human nature in all its complications and seeming contradictions. The great tragedy is coming to the wrong conclusion and acting on it, which only causes suffering. Jekyll is a victim of his own ambition and makes victims of so many others.

The story has had staying power because it has a very basic and very relatable theme but a lot of nuances. The situation is not as simple as it seems. Working out answers is worthwhile and important.

Highly recommended. 

This book was discussed (a long time ago) on A Good Story is Hard to Find #118. Check it out!