Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
Stevenson’s portrayal of Jekyll’s inability to control his transformations into Mr Hyde using selection of detail shows that Jekyll is a tragic character. Earlier in the novel, he is portrayed simply as a scientist who may have gone down the wrong path but the extent of this is not brought to the reader’s attention until the final chapter, when Dr Jekyll confesses that he had to take a “double dose” of the drug to maintain his own appearance and state of mind rather than that of Mr Hyde. This shows that Jekyll is unable to control his transformations into Mr Hyde and that this got even worse as he got more and more sick throughout the novel. This makes the reader pity Jekyll and makes him seem like a tragic character.
Dr Jekyll appears to be confessing that he no longer likes to turn into Mr Hyde - this implies that in the beginning, Dr Jekyll used Mr Hyde to escape his responsibilities and social obligations, but no longer does so as the drug was what got him sick and he can no longer control these transformation. The juxtaposition between “sicken” and “freeze” relates to the earlier quote “raging and freezing” shows how Dr Jekyll’s mentality is being torn apart into two, hence portraying the contrast between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This is juxtaposition because “raging” has connotations of fire, whereas “freezing” has connotations of ice. However, Dr Jekyll refuses to kill Mr Hyde by killing himself because he pities Mr Hyde.
Dr Jekyll appears to be confessing that he no longer likes to turn into Mr Hyde - this implies that in the beginning, Dr Jekyll used Mr Hyde to escape his responsibilities and social obligations, but no longer does so as the drug was what got him sick and he can no longer control these transformation. The juxtaposition between “sicken” and “freeze” relates to the earlier quote “raging and freezing” shows how Dr Jekyll’s mentality is being torn apart into two, hence portraying the contrast between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This is juxtaposition because “raging” has connotations of fire, whereas “freezing” has connotations of ice. However, Dr Jekyll refuses to kill Mr Hyde by killing himself because he pities Mr Hyde.