The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson, which was published in 1886. After becoming a famous book, over 123 film versions were made about it, not to mention other adaptations, including stage performances and radio dramas. Certainly, the main theme in this book is about the fight between good and evil in all of us. This reflects the Bible verse Romans 7:19-20, which says, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is the sin living in me that does it.”Living an ordinary life as a doctor and a good man, supposedly, Dr. Jekyll wants to give into sinful temptations. “He began to go wrong, wrong in the mind,” says Mr. Lanyon one of Dr. Jekyll’s old friends. Secretly creating a potion that will transform him into Mr. Hyde, who is actually the completely evil side of himself, Dr. Jekyll can do whatever he likes without people knowing it’s him. By drinking the potion, Dr. Jekyll can turn back into his regular and better self and continue with life like normal. While concealing his evil life, Dr. Jekyll is strong and healthy, but when he is his Mr. Hyde, he is small and weak.
Viciously evil, Mr. Hyde displays Dr Jekyll’s worst nature. “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish; he gave the impression of deformity without any nameable malformation.” Changing from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde, this man is a murderer and has no mercy; he is cruel, and some people say he’s barely human, and they get chills when they’re around him. By killing a defenseless man and also trampling a small child, Mr. Hyde shows how evil he is.
Robert Louis Stevenson, who is the author of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, seems to have a view close to the Christian world view. Choosing to become Hyde, Jekyll decides to become evil and do what he wants. While he becomes more controlled by Hyde, Jekyll finally gets trapped forever by his pride in the body of Mr. Hyde. In this way Stevenson shows how Dr. Jekyll becomes a slave to his sin. Man has choice. The Bible says that we need to take responsibility for our actions, which is similar to Dr. Jekyll choosing to become Mr. Hyde. In the Bible it also says that man has a sinful nature, and man is totally depraved, and Dr. Jekyll gives into sin because he chooses to.
Closely following the Bible’s view of man, Stevenson shows how man has choice and a sinful nature, while also showing that man is totally depraved and needs a savior. Creating the illustration of man as a sinful creature, Stevenson’s book is consistent with the Christian world view of man as seen in Romans 7:19-20, which says that people want to do good, but they often don’t.
Dr. Jekyll is a large, middle-aged, well-to-do man who possesses enumerable titles to his name and is high up in society. Although Dr Jekyll is a gentleman, who is kind and polite, some of his old friends disapprove of what they call his “scientific heresies.” “Too fanciful; he began to go wrong, wrong in the mind,” reflects an old comrade, Mr. Lanyon. Ambitiously Dr. Jekyll works on his scientific concoction until he finally finishes it and decides to try it. He drinks it. Transformed into another being, whom he calls Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll can do whatever he likes when he’s in the other form, which he can change into at any time he likes. During his excursions as Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll gives into all his sinful desires and enjoys doing evil without having to worry about his reputation. After awhile of this routine, though, Dr Jekyll begins to become a slave to his sin and can no longer control when he changes into Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll, who was of the best stature in society, eventually can no longer overcome his sin and is a slave to worse self, Mr. Hyde.
