Don't HYDE from this Blog Post!

Part 1

Quotes:

Mr. Hyde: -From chapter 2: Mr. Utterson stepped out and touched him on the shoulder…, ending with ...he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house.

Dr. Jekyll: - From chapter 3, where the text starts: To this rule..., ending with This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop.

The excepts I chose were the two that showed the audience Utterson's first encounters with Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll (even though Utterson already knows Jekyll, it was the first time the audience saw the way they acted together). The first was when Mr. Utterson stops to introduce himself to Mr. Hyde before he goes into his house. By the way Stevenson describes it, this scene seemed to have a tense and almost frightening tone to the audience. When Mr. Utterson first gets Mr. Hyde's attention, the audience instantly gets a clear understanding of Hyde's displeasing behaviors. Stevenson writes, "Mr. Hyde shrank back with a hissing intake of the breath" (Stevenson 9). As the two engage in conversation, Hyde uses an angry tone of voice when he speaks to Mr. Utterson and is very defensive towards him when Dr. Jekyll's name comes up. Through his short syntax and simple dialogue, is easy to tell that Mr. Hyde does not like talking to other people, especially people he doesn't know. From the way he is described, he is an unusual looking man who keeps to himself most of the time. Mr. Utterson does not care much for Mr. Hyde and neither do others.

In contrast, Jekyll is basically the exact opposite of Hyde. When the audience reads this encounter, a completely different tone is portrayed. From the beginning of the author's description of Jekyll, the audience immediately feels calm by the words, "a large well-made, smooth faced man of fifty...perhaps every mark of capacity and kindness" (Stevenson 12). Unlike Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll likes the company of others and cares very much for Mr. Utterson. He greets him with open arms and talks to him nicely and calmly. He is also better looking and way more friendly. However, as the conversation goes on, a similarity between Jekyll and Hyde comes to the surface. When Mr. Utterson mentioned Jekyll's name to Mr. Hyde, the tone became even more intense, as Hyde starts to question Jekyll's actions. When Mr. Utterson mentions Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll, Jekyll's personality immediately shifts and the tone becomes more serious and tense. Jekyll's attitude begins to shift just as Hyde's did. Each of these people have a little bit of each other inside them, even though it is deep beneath the surface. By the end of chapter 5, it is clear that both Jekyll and Hyde are keeping secrets from Mr. Utterson.

Poem

Dr. Jekyll                                          Mr. Hyde


I am Jekyll                                            

                                                                 I am Hyde

People think I am a pleasant
person

                                                                People don't like my personality and stay away from me

I like that

                                                                I like that


I think that the community comes
first

                                                               I think that my self comes first

I need to be around people in order
to be happy

                                                                I cannot stand to be around these humans, they disgust me


That man Mr. Utterson really cares
about me and I like him

                                                               That man, Mr. Utterson is asking too many questions

I want to tell him the truth about
what he asks me, but I cannot

                                                               I do not have to tell him anything,
                                                               he should mind his own business

Some stones are better left unturned
   
                                                              Some stones are better left unturned


The purpose of this poem is to basically sum up what is known about these characters so far in the book (first 5 chapters). We know that these two have contrasting characteristics and that they have both met up with Mr. Utterson. In the poem I started by listing things that made them opposites, but then I slowly transitioned to things that made these two characters become more similar. Including their relation with Mr. Utterson and the questions he is asking. The final line is meant to show that although these characters are completely different on the outside, internally they both have secrets that they are keeping and I believe these secrets probably relate to one another.