The focal point of this essay is to define the life of Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the transformation he went through in becoming Edward Hyde. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a physician in London. He is very well respected and is currently experimenting the dual nature of mankind. Edward Hyde is a manifestation of Dr. Jekyll’s personality. He is accused of committing evil acts throughout the novel.
The first scene consists of Mr. Richard Enfield’s and Mr. Utterson walking along a street in London. Mr. Enfield has a recollection of a previous incident in which he witnessed an extremely unpleasant man trampling upon a small screaming girl while this man was running somewhere. A large crowd had gathered around and they saw the man, Edward Hyde. The crowd forced the man to give money to this girl for trampling over her. Hyde did not run over her for any reason. He just did it out of spite and evil. He represents all the evil in the world. The reaction of others to him is one of horror because while looking at him, others feel a desire to strike out at him and kill him. His physical appearance brings out the worst evil in other people. Since Hyde represents evil, he is symbolically represented as being much smaller than Dr. Jekyll.
I believe Dr. Jekyll created Hyde because he had a theory that man has a good side and a bad side. While investigating this, he developed a potion that could release the evil in a person in the form of a totally different person. Then this person could commit any evil act it wanted, and then drink the potion to return back to normal. The only problem with this is the fact that he drank this potion so many times that he was no longer able to control this process. He was unable to transform back into Dr. Jekyll.
Another example of Hyde’s evil is in the killing of Sir Danvers Carew. Sir Danvers appears to have been killed for no apparent reason. The murder of Sir Danvers was seen by a maid who was working nearby. She states that Hyde meet with a man in the street. After the two exchanged words, Mr. Hyde lifted his heavy walking stick and clubbed the old man to death.
Religion in Joshua and The Children
Religion in Joshua and The Children
Herm’s question, “Josh, what do you think of Religion?” becomes the beginning of a period of both joy and conflict for Joshua as he is then often encountered with many related questions and, later, contradiction from the Church. These questions all lead to similar answers, in which Joshua expands on his ideas. And because of this further discussion, it’s important to read all of his responses throughout the book in order to understand his reply and to intelligently decide to agree or disagree. Therefore, my reaction to Joshua’s reply is based on everything he said concerning religion.
The question arises from a discussion between Pat, Herm, and Joshua concerning his lifestyle. They are walking home from breakfast at the diner and the other two are interested in why Joshua doesn’t mind living alone. “Don’t you get lonesome living by yourself?” Herm asks (72). But Joshua explains to them that he values the serenity of living alone. He tells them that he can peacefully enjoy the beauty of nature outside and the animals also keep him company at times. But the main reason why Joshua never feels alone is that God is always with him, loving him always, and will never abandon him: “No. I like being by myself… God is with us all the time” (72). Pat and Herm agree but still can not imagine living alone without any feeling of loneliness and this discussion of God leads to Herm’s question.
Joshua’s response is similar to a sermon or speech, and is over a page in length; he is firm in these beliefs and reiterates them several times throughout the book. He is very prepared for the question; before saying a word he asks, “the way it [religion] is or the way God intended it to be?” (73). And when he is sure of the latter, releases everything inside him, as if he was just waiting to explain what people had been doing wrong. His main point is that Jesus wanted to free those under the pressure of rules in their religions and offered a comforting God who loved them, asking only for honor and worship in return. Joshua is also disappointed in the way the clergy preside over their congregations: “Jesus did not envision bosses… He wanted his apostles to guide and serve, not to dictate and legislate” (74).