“It sound nothing to hear, but was hellish to see.”
But the description he gives creates a clear image of what went on. The reader would be horrified at how a man could show no mercy, not even to children who are considered innocent and defenseless. Enfield describes how he chased after the men who put up no resistance once he was caught instead he just went calmly. This would also have shocked the reader as it shows that he has no fear of punishment. You soon learn that this man is Edward Hyde and that he lives in the sinister looking building that was mentioned earlier.
You already know that Mr. Hyde is more of a monster than a person, but what Mr. Hyde does on page 30 is totally horrific. You learn that Mr. Hyde has beaten an old man to death with his walking stick and left the body completely mangled. Stevenson mentions that the sight of this murder was enough to make an observing maid pass out. Stevenson describes how Hyde seemed to break out of all bounds and attack the man with ape-like furry. This terrifying attack makes you realize just what Hyde is capable of and how un-human he is.
Throughout the book Stevenson uses many metaphors to help describe what is going on. In this paragraph he uses many metaphors to describe a deadly fog that has lowered over the city.
“It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the first fog of the season, a great chocolate-coloured Pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cad crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvellous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration; and here, for a moment, the fog would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths. The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps, which had never been extinguished or had been kindled afresh to combat this mournful reinvasion of darkness, seemed, in the lawyer’s eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare.”
Victorian cities were full of poverty as well as riches and evil and poverty were often considered in the same way.
This scene would have been very familiar to the audience of Stevenson’s time. London fogs could be so thick that if you put your hand out in front of you, it would be impossible to see it. The audience would have known just how dangerous travelling in this weather would have been. The language that Stevenson uses would also have been familiar to his audience. He uses words such as Pall, which was a sheet that a dead body would have been wrapped in. The presence of this fog helps heighten the feeling of danger and mystery, acting as a cloak for all sorts of evil deeds.
I found that Stevenson created a feeling of suspense by leaving unanswered questions in my head. I found that none of the story made much sense until the final chapter, then the entire story seemed to fall into place. Until then these unanswered questions kept us reading on in order to find out the answer. One question put into your head from fairly early on is who is Mr. Hyde? This question stays with you until the final chapter and is probably the number one reason people continue to read this book. There are many other questions that heighten the sense of mystery, such as why does Dr. Jekyll in his will leave all of his possessions to Hyde in the strange case of his disappearance. The readers are truly mystified to find that a highly thought of person such as Jekyll wishes to leave all of his possessions to such a horrible person such as Hyde. I found that the part of the story containing the most suspense was when Jekyll had locked himself in his room. Stevenson describes what goes on in this extract.
“But the words were hardly uttered, before the smile was struck out of his face and succeeded by an expression of such abject terror and despair, as froze the very blood of the two gentlemen below. They saw it but for a glimpse, for the window was instantly thrust down; but that glimpse, had been sufficient, and they turned and left the court without a word. In silence, too they traversed the by street; and it was not until they had come into a neighbouring thoroughfare, where even upon a Sunday there were still some stirrings of life, that Mr Utterson at last turned and looked at his companion. They were both pale; and there was an answering horror in their eyes ‘God forgive us! God forgive us!’”
This creates a very strong and shocking image in the readers mind and builds up the suspense. The reader wants to know what caused Dr Jekyll to react in such horror as it obviously disturbed Enfield and Utterson considerably.
The most important part in the whole story is the final chapter. It explains all of the confusion that you had earlier and makes of the strange occurrences suddenly make sense. Stevenson still manages to shock and surprise the reader with the far from normal truth. The reason for Jekyll believing that there are two different consciences in man, one good and one bad. Jekyll believed that these two consciences could be separated. He succeeded in creating a potion that would turn him into the evil side of him. This evil side was Hyde. Jekyll thought that if he could separate the two sides, he could live a life without pain and suffering. Jekyll says
“Man is not truly one, but truly two. I say two, because the state of my own knowledge does not pass beyond that point.” This shows his belief in the two consciences of man. Jekyll believes that it was the curse of mankind for these two personalities to be bound together in a permanent state of struggle. Jekyll describes exactly what the sensation was once the potion had been drunk.
“The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these agonise began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness. There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from it’s very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a mill race in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul.”
There is a huge amount of suspense and horror in this description. This horrible sensation that Jekyll feels is far from natural and the thought of this happening to you is very frightening. Stevenson uses many adjectives to describe each of the symptoms that were felt, such as “deadly” and “Racking” these both emphasise the horror of these feelings. It is on page seventy-five where you learn why Jekyll left his possessions to Hyde in his will.
“I next drew up that will to which you much so objected; so that if anything befell me in the person of Dr Jekyll, I could enter on that of Edward Hyde without pecuniary loss.”
The story is beginning to make sense in the minds of the readers and now they can understand the strange occurrences from earlier. One disturbing part of Jekyll personality is how he believes that it was okay for Hyde to commit murders as they will never be found out. This shows the slightly darker side to Jekyll’ s personality.
“But for me, in my impenetrable mantle, the safety was complete. Think of it- I did not even exist! Let me escape into my laboratory door, give me but a second or two to mix and swallow the draught that I had always standing ready; and, whatever he had done, Edward Hyde would pass away like a stain of breath upon a mirror; and there in his stead, quietly at home, trimming the midnight lamp in his study, a man who could afford to laugh at suspicion, would be Henry Jekyll.”
Jekyll begins to believe that he could live a life free of pain or suffering while Hyde lives out his evil side without ever being caught. Until he finds that he no longer has control over when he becomes Hyde.
“the hand of Henry Jekyll (as you have often remarked) was professional in shape and size; it was large, firm, white and comely. But the hand which I now saw, clearly enough in the yellow light of a mid-London morning, lying half shut on the bed-clothes, was lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor, and thickly shaded with a swart growth of hair. It was the hand of Edward Hyde.”
The reader can imagine the horror that Jekyll must have felt to find that he never knows when he may turn into Hyde. The thought of being caught and hung for his crimes worries Jekyll so much that he decides to bring his life to an end. In these final few sentences Stevenson creates a huge and dramatic atmosphere leaving the reader on the edge of his seat.
“Will Hyde die upon the scaffold? Or will he find the courage to release himself at the last moment? God knows; I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here, then, as I lay down the pen, and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end.”
Throughout the story Stevenson continues to grab the reader and keep them reading on. Due to Stevenson’ s brilliant story writing and imagination, this book has gone down as one of the best books of all time.