“Mr. Hyde. The dark side of all of us,” said Charles L. Grant, a novelist who passed away in 2006. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, explains that everyone has a Mr. Hyde, or dark side, to them. In this novel, Dr. Jekyll is eventually taken over by Mr. Hyde as his evil side continues to grow. This novel provides readers with a plethora of themes. Many people agree and disagree on which theme is the most dominant.
On one side of the debate, people believe that the main theme in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is violence or another theme because of the murders that go on and the dominating representation of evil, with little good. However, it is very important that the main theme in the novel is Good vs. Evil because contradicting personalities are shown in the same person, the good and the evil are clearly represented in the middle of the book, and the evil power tries to take over the good, while the good is striving to contain the evil. The first reason why the main theme is Good vs.
Evil is because in the beginning of the novel, contradicting personalities are shown in the same person. Some people believe that the main theme is violence because of the murders and crime that take place. Nevertheless, all of the violence that takes place contributes to the Good vs. Evil theme. The murders are because Jekyll’s dark side, Hyde, takes over his body. First of all, the text states, “In this character, it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of downgoing men. ” (1).
This is a very early key that shows that there are two sides to the person, Dr. Jekyll. When the text said, “In this character,” it was foreshadowing and gave away the theme of Good vs. Evil. Following this, when Utterson was talking to Dr. Jekyll about Hyde, the author said, “The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes. ” (18). This statement shows that the personality of Jekyll and Hyde are completely different. When Hyde is brought up, Jekyll changes because of how much his evil side affects him.
Lastly, the book quotes, “Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had bourne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice. ” (14). But, the text later read that Jekyll was “a large, wellmade, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness. ” (17). These descriptions perfectly explain the contradicting personalities and qualities of the two characters.
Hyde and Jekyll are described completely different, even though they are the same person. Therefore, it is easy to conclude that the theme of the story is Good vs. Evil because contradicting personalities are shown in the same person in the beginning of the novel. The second reason why Good vs. Evil is the main theme in the novel is because the good and the evil are clearly represented in the middle of the book. Still, there are people who think that the main theme of the story should not be Good vs. Evil because the book was dominated by evil and there was rarely any good being shown.
Granted that the book is mainly dominated by the evil side, there is still clear representation of the good side. Initially, the author writes, “But the words were hardly uttered, before the smile was struck out of his face and succeeded by an expression of such terror and despair, as froze the very blood of the two gentlemen below. ” (37). This quote in the story tells readers that the evil is coming out and is clearly being represented by words such as terror and despair. Secondly, chapter three was titled, “Dr. Jekyll was quite at ease. ” (17). The title of this chapter represents the good side.
It tells you that Dr. Jekyll is doing well and the evil was not getting to him. Thirdly, the book cites, “and certainly the hate that now divided them was equal on each side. ” (76). This reference represents both good and evil, and the battle that they have going on in the book. After looking at this, it is quite clear that the main theme of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is Good vs. Evil because there is clear representation of both good and evil in the middle of the book.
The last reason why the main theme of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is Good vs. Evil is because the evil power in the end of the book tries to take over the good, while the good is striving to contain the evil. Some critics think that the main theme should be violence because Hyde was always doing things that were against the law, which is true. But, the violence shows that the evil in these situations has taken over the good and caused harm to others. To start things off, Dr. Jekyll states, “Yes, I had gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde. ” (68). This statement is huge to the theme of Good vs. Evil.
It shows that after a while, Jekyll couldn’t control his evil side, so Hyde would come out at any time. Following this, the book explained, “There comes an end to all things; the most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to my evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul. ” (73). When Dr. Jekyll says this, it explains that his evil side had gone too far and his good side couldn’t contain it any longer. It had destroyed his life. Next, Jekyll concludes, “I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two. ” (61).
This quote by Jekyll is a key that tells how there is a good side and an evil side to everyone. But, in his case, the good side of Jekyll is hanging on by a thread, while his evil side is growing. By seeing this, it is very obvious that Good vs. Evil is the biggest theme in the book because the evil power tries to take over the good, while the good is striving to contain the evil. In conclusion, Even though it is often argued that the theme of the book is violence or another theme because of the murders that go on and the dominating representation of evil, with little good.
It is apparent that the main theme of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is Good vs. Evil because the evil power tries to take over the good, while the good is striving to contain the evil, the good and the evil are clearly represented in the middle of the book, and contradicting personalities are shown in the same person. Maybe then, if people realize that the theme of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is Good vs. Evil, they will understand what Charles L. Grant meant when he said, “Mr. Hyde. The dark side of all of us. “
