Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde: A Literary Analysis

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“We’ve all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on – that’s who we really are.” In Harry Potter, the theme of light and dark plays a large part in the plot; so does the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Would the main character of the latter book agree with this? It would be half and half.
“I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame” (Stevenson). In the timeless novel, Jekyll creates an alter ego that takes over whenever he wants to do something harmful – a way to do immoral things without the guilt afterwards. He created Hyde, whom was the exact opposite of Jekyll. In the sense of saying we all have a light and a dark side, Jekyll would agree with this quote – his …show more content…

“It had seemed to me of late as though the body of Edward Hyde had grown in stature, as though (when I wore that form) I were conscious of a more generous tide of blood; and I began to spy a danger” (Stevenson). Throughout life, we all have moments that we do not think clearly – such as taking revenge out of anger, or losing our temper. In the book, he even says he didn’t mean to make Hyde a symbol of evil; Jekyll thought that he would produce a virtuous being if he wouldn’t have done the experiment out of pride and ambitions. Jekyll’s goal was to create a completely virtuous being, and then a completely harmful being. The evil side of Jekyll slowly took over the body, and he had no say in any of it; “and the character of Edward Hyde become irrevocably mine” (Stevenson). For his specific situation, Jekyll would heavily disagree with that portion of the quote. “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” (Stevenson). Henry Jekyll couldn’t contain his dark side, and that’s why I believe that he couldn’t believe in half of the quote – he couldn’t control his dark side, therefore he had no real choice in if he wanted to be on the light or the dark

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