Dual Humanity in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Stevenson

Dual Humanity in Robert Stevenson’s Novel In the Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Hyde, Dr. Jekyll strives to protect Mr. Hyde for purposes of reputation. The characters; preserving each other’s reputation turns out to be significant from the manner in which Dr. Jekyll protects Hyde from the police. He tries hard not to make his suspicion known so as to ruin the reputation of his friend. Dr. Kylle protects Mr. Hyde by not letting his secrets known to the public, an action that his friend also tries hard to carry out.

Protecting Hyde insinuates that he would also be protected and his reputation would be respected in the eyes of the public (Stevenson).

With the idea of the characters’ reputation in mind, the two have become one person until the end of the novel. Dr. Kylle and Mr. Hyde are almost opposite in character and personality but they strive to be one for the purpose of keeping secrets.

The two characters being brought together as one character in the novel is significant in understanding the personality of the different persons who are represented as one. For instance, the idea of perceiving the characters as one person is significant in understanding that Jekyll is a righteous person who even does charity work. Readers are made to understand that Dr. Jekyll does his experiments with the goal of making his good side known and the bad side hidden from the public. Jekyll, therefore, becomes successful in liberating his darker side and letting himself out of the bonds of conscience (Stevenson).

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Dr. Jekyll and Hyde becoming one is also useful in understanding that Hyde later turns out to possess more powerful force than Jekyll had thought initially. His struggles to work against the bad side enable the emergence of Hyde as a dominant force within Dr. Jekyll. The depiction of the two characters is also vital in identifying the fact that every human being possesses some aspects of opposite forces within them. In the real sense, the nature of the interrelationship of Dr. Jekyll and Hyde gives the novel its power and credibility.

Stevenson makes an interpretation of the society by portraying Dr. Jekyll to be entirely passionate about Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll being possessed with Hyde reveals the implications for the understanding of human nature in the society (Stevenson). It becomes necessary to understand if Hyde possesses any aspect of human nature. The nature of human beings is restricted by the bonds of civilization despite the fact that nature could be either primitive or amoral.

The obsession of one character towards the other represents the concept of humanity as being dual in nature. Although the theme of dual human nature is not the major theme in the novel, a question arises on the aspects of the dual nature of human beings in the society. Perhaps Stevenson’s technique of representing the characters as one person reveals that every single person in the world consists of both evil and virtue. It is normal for people to strive and make known their good side as opposed to their dark side, which they try to keep a secret.

In a nutshell, human beings possess both good and evil deeds, but the virtues are often shown for the purpose of reputation. The dark side of the characters depicts the dark side of the society that is harmful to the members of the society if a solution is not found. It is necessary that the dark side of the society is also unleashed before it impacts the virtues of the society to stop existing.