There are many connections between Jekyll and Hyde. On first appearance we learn that Hyde is a short, ugly and not like any other ordinary man, he also seems strong and unstoppable. People reacted to Hyde with a strong hatred and not many people had a lot of trust in him even Utterson thought that his cheque was forged. Enfield had described Hyde as ‘being deformed’. This tells us that people saw Hyde as just being very ugly and having something wrong with him but they just can’t see exactly what it is, maybe he just didn’t seem to be human. In parts of the book Hyde is referred to as an, ‘ape like creature’ this could be a connection to Darwin’s theory, which had been published nearly 30 years earlier.
What started as a quest for the unknown ended in disaster for Henry Jekyll.
As a young scientist Henry Jekyll stumbled upon a chemical potion containing a special salt that when drank created a physical and mental change to him. This caused Edward Hyde to be born, this creature was all evil, and no goodness was contained within him. All of the suppressed badness that Jekyll had controlled over the years was released into the open as Hyde. This creature not only a physically smaller being he also had evil urges that led Hyde to binge drink on alcohol, and have uncontrollable urges to terrorise and physically harm unexpectant passer bys.
To maintain a certain level of normality and control, Jekyll needed to be brought back to reality his return required more of the potion. In the early days of this transformation this daily requirement was quite straightforward, but as time went on the timing of taking the potion became more and more difficult to control. Hyde started to become the more dominant character showing itself as the evil leader, this took its toll on Jekyll, and sometimes struggling to reappear meant that in the worse case murders took place. The potion was running short on ingredients, as a result the salt reserve was running low. The end drew nearer for Jekyll, now the creature Hyde was the dominant being, and no ingredients for the potion meant Hyde would kill off Jekyll and possible others in its way?
In the Carew’s murder case we are given information on to who or what Edward Hyde is. The words ‘Incredibly mangled’, gives you the intense idea of how dangerous and vicious Mr Hyde can be, we also learn that he may not have any self-conscience due to the fact that he can leave somebody in that state and not feel any slight bit of emotion. Also ‘audibly shattered’ implies the shear force of Mr Hyde and even though he is able to hear the shattering of the bones inside the body it still doesn’t make him stop, he continues with the beating just so he is able to get his ‘kick’ out of seeing someone in pain.
Having understood the need for scientific experimentation, do we assume all experiments are necessary? In the case of Jekyll I think he needed to find out the unknown, so he could be satisfied by his evil side, which he had locked up for years. If the experiments had been more closely controlled in the beginning this could have been a better ending. I think that taking potions (drugs) to dabble with mans dual nature is never a recommended path. The best method of release is always the natural way, let the inner good and evil show itself when it is necessary.
