Good Vs Evil – Conflict Between Good and Evil

In the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses imagery to enhance the central message of Good Vs Evil. For instance, “Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to the earth. And next moment, with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway”. For instance, in this quote a man is murdered for no apparent reason, Stevenson makes murder come to life, we can actually see the maid’s perspective as if we are the one looking through the window down upon on them. In the strange case of dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, author Stevenson uses symbolism to enhance the central message of good and evil. For example, “One house, however, second from the corner, was still occupied entire; and at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, thought it was now plunged in darkness except for the fanlight, Mr. Utterson stopped and knocked’. Such as, dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde living in complete different houses. The houses symbolize good and evil, Jekyll’s house is very luxury and homely like while Hyde’s laboratory is mysterious and spooky. In other words, Hyde’s laboratory symbolizes evil while Jekyll’s house symbolizes good from an early beginning. Robert louis Stevenson also uses imagery to express the central message of good vs evil by ‘I never saw a circle of such hateful faces; and there the man in the middle, with a kind of black sneering coolness frightened to, I could see that- but carrying off, sir, really like Satan’.

In particular, Mr. Stevenson all throughout the book describes Hyde as being evil. He even compares him to Satan in the early beginning of the book. We all have our own view of Satan and in my perspective Satan is the highest of all evil. Stevenson also uses allusion towards the end of the story to express good vs evil. For instance, I felt Stevenson also enhances his central idea of good vs evil by including biblical allusions throughout the story. As an example, “This inexplicable incident, this reversal of my previous experience, seemed, like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment; and I began to reflect more seriously than ever before on the issues and possibilities of my double existence”. For example, this quote refers to the bible verse Daniel 5.5. Stevenson wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde during the Victorian era, where bible study was mandatory and praised upon. He uses the allusion to foreshadow Dr. Jekyll’s death. Jekyll thinks nothing of Allusion the veil of self-indulgence was rent from head to foot”. This is an allusion to Matthew 27.51: “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…” The biblical allusion refers to a communion between God and man; Jekyll’s use of it is referring to a more complete self-knowledge.

Although Jekyll does not claim to be God or anything near that, this allusion hints at a sense of Godlike revelation and understanding. His comment “I saw my life as a whole” suggests that the veil was also rent between his understanding of Jekyll and Hyde as separate entities. Referring to them in third person, Jekyll now demonstrates a thought process that considers Jekyll and Hyde both legitimate parts of his person. This is a very spooky prospect for Dr. Jekyll. A third allusion Dr. Jekyll uses is that he considers Jekyll to now be his “city of refuge”. In Joshua 20 in the Old Testament, Jewish law sets up “Cities of Refuge” for those who have inadvertently committed manslaughter. Through the use of this allusion, Jekyll suggests a few things. First of all, he recognizes that he is guilty, albeit of manslaughter in lieu of murder, for deaths brought by Hyde’s hands, and also that those who seek justice for Hyde are justified. Secondly, Jekyll clearly retreats into Dr. Jekyll, or at least intends to, in order to avoid the consequences of Hyde’s actions. The third suggestion is that, eventually, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde will be judged.