Analysis: good vs evil in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Good people do bad things. It’s just a fact of life. This doesn’t make them evil – or does it? The struggle of good versus evil in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson can be paralleled to the struggles in today’s society. Dr. Jekyll, a good and intelligent man, is in a constant battle with evil. Although there are many endearing qualities about his personality, Dr. Jekyll is still easily tempted by the “dark side”. Society today is no different.

            The first similarity in the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and today is the attempt to isolate the bad from the good. The plot is about a doctor who believes he can separate the good and evil halves of the body. Dr. Jekyll thinks “man is not truly one, but truly two.” (79) We do the best we can in our culture of separating the good and evil: we put convicts (the evil) in jail, and allow the rest of civilization (the good) to go freely about their daily lives.

            Now, everyone knows that temptation is the root of all evil. When one gives in to temptation – just as Dr. Jekyll gave in to transforming himself into Mr. Hyde – problems are bound to occur. This is the point when evil actions begin. Unfortunately good people do evil things; Dr. Jekyll (the epitome of a good person) kills Sir Danvers Carew while he is in the form of Mr. Hyde. Even today we have good, reputable do bad things. Many good people are out of a job and are forced to resort to crime because of the recession. A father could be involved in stealing because he lost his job when he is only trying to provide for his family. Of course this is illegal, but he is trying to do the right thing for his children and be the best father he can. Good people are led astray everyday whether it’s because they are trying to provide for their family or they just got involved with the wrong crowd.

            Throughout the story, the doctor is described as respectable and charitable; he is a prosperous man, and is well established in the community. On the other hand, Mr. Hyde is violent and cruel; other characters in the story find him repulsive because of his primitive features. Analyzing these descriptions can lead one to believe that Dr. Jekyll, who is the socially accepted half, is also the “good” half because he is so much more evolved than Hyde – both physically and socially. Mr. Hyde’s non-human features, almost like a monkey, show that he, the “evil” half, is less evolved than the “good” half. Does this mean evil is a primitive instinct in humans – that we have just outgrown it through evolution? There is no firm answer to these questions, but this story of the two halves certainly makes the mind wonder about the evolution of good and evil.

            Another parallel in this story is the transforming potion to the current recession. When Dr. Jekyll drinks to potion, he turns into his evil half, Mr. Hyde. This potion is Dr. Jekyll’s temptation and the ultimate cause of evil in the book. In society today, life has become very brutal and difficult for many good people because of the economic recession. It has led them to steal and even commit murder. This growing crime rate goes to show that when people are living on the bare necessities (what we would describe as primitive) the evil part of good people will come out, causing them to do things they would never imagine doing. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde suggests that evil is our natural instinct, and this recession is supporting that theme.

            Although today and the period when The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written are completely different, good and evil are two very common and relevant themes in both. Life is still arduous, and good people are still tempted into doing evil things. This will never change, and we can’t ever expect it to. Temptation will always be part of civilization, and life’s struggles will challenge even the good. We simply must learn how to do the right thing with our given situations by making the best decision possible.