One
of the things The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde deals with that interests me is the
process by which Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde - the consumption of a curious, chemical concoction. In
Dr. Lanyon’s narrative, he recounts that the mixture he obtained from Dr.
Jekyll’s abode was comprised of a powdery substance and some red liquid. To me,
that already rings a few bells, but coupled with his description of Mr. Hyde,
who always appeared to be swallowed up by his clothes, and who anxiously
awaited his next ‘fix,’ I was led to see a tale of drug abuse.
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| The animated film, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, is apparently a pretty good movie, albeit not exactly faithful to the original text. |
Now,
drug abuse is a bit of a personal topic to me, if not others as well. I’m
almost certain that everyone knows someone, or knows someone who knows someone
that has been on the unfortunate end of this particular ailment. We all know
the signs, and they’re not pretty.
To
me, Dr. Jekyll represents someone at the peak of a drug addiction, who is
rapidly spiraling towards the rock-hard bottom. His time as Hyde increases as
the story continues, his behavior shifts toward the horrid, he’s made
contingencies to ensure that he receives his next dosage, and he doesn’t care
for anything but the ‘high’ while as Hyde. Worse, he tries to hide it from his
friends. Ultimately, this leads to him breaking off from society, and
eventually to his death. To be frank, the parallel is uncanny.
Now,
we can look at how Hyde’s interactions with others are monstrous – at how
callous his becomes to anything but his own satisfaction – but I would rather
look at how Dr. Jekyll interacts with him. Of course, this interaction is
largely implicit, and so I look to Dr. Jekyll’s conversation with Mr. Utterson
regarding his will – and I believe exact wording is important here:
“… I will tell you one thing: the moment I choose,
I can be rid of Mr. Hyde” (Stevenson 33).
Have
you ever heard someone with an addiction tell you that they can quit anytime
they please? Yeah… That hardly ever works out, and Dr. Jekyll understands that on
a conscious level – not just a subconscious level, mind you. This is evident in
the way he makes provisions for his disappearance in his last will, and how he
pleads that Mr. Utterson aid Hyde when he is no longer around.
This
leads me to believe that Dr. Jekyll understands what he’s doing to himself, as
well as the potential impact it could have on others – his fear confirms that
to me – yet he intends to follow this destructive path regardless. Is that sort
of selfishness and self-destructive behavior monstrous? It is certainly
out-of-bounds, but does it elicit pity or contempt, or both? Should it?
Source
Stevenson, Robert. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1886. Digitized by Google.
I'm surprised the drug parallels weren't brought up in class. The behavioral split of Jekyll and Hyde reminded me of depictions of drug addicts. While under the chemical's influences, he disregards societal limitations and enjoys himself as he sees fit. Meanwhile, in his regular state of mind, he forces himself to act "normal" and secretly desires to act more brazen. His collapse into Hyde could be interpreted as falling deep into an addiction.
ReplyDeleteI really like the parallels you drew with drug addiction. You mentioned that people with drug addictions often say they can quit at any time. In this case, did Jekyll/Hyde want to quit? I think he somewhat enjoyed being able to have this escape into another reality on both a conscious and unconscious level. So, I don't think he would want to quit his addiction, and even if he said he could stop at anytime, I think he knows that this would be a lie.
ReplyDeleteMe, being the fairly ardent Criminal Minds fan that I am, totally did not come up with any drug addiction parallels - parallels which are, in hindsight, fairly obvious. I went straight for the psychological aspect, the disassociative identity disorder subtext, and planted myself there. I wonder if your idea of the drug addiction can be taken metaphorically as well as literally? I mean, what could the drug be?
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting taking into consideration Dr. Jekyll's split personality as an effect of drug addiction. It also interesting how Dr. Jekyll turned to religion when he felt his "addiction" has gone to far. This reminds me of groups like Celebrate Recovery which are religious sponsored groups with the goal of helping people overcome addictions. I do not think Dr. Jekyll was as in control of his addiction as he believed, which could be why he turned to religion.
ReplyDelete