In the past a few weeks, I read a book named Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by a talented Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The story is told through the eyes of Mr. Utterson, a well-known and respected lawyer. Hearing about some strange occurrences concerning his client, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and a new comer, Edward Hyde, he starts his own investigation. After Dr. Henry Jekyll’s death, it finally turns out that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is actually the same person. Dr. Jekyll has been taking a special self-invented potion, which can turn him into a pure devil, Mr. Hyde. After a few days however, he finds himself unable to get rid of Mr. Hyde, which leads to his suicide in the laboratory.
Despite the similarity between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and some modern detective books, Stevenson in fact did not pay much attention to how Mr. Utterson gradually discovers the truth. Rather, he focused merely on both the inner virtue and evil of an ordinary person by creating Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, so that readers would not be distracted by other less important plots. By doing so, he managed to evoke a strong inner response in the viewer for the past 128 years. As many people have pointed out, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are not merely two characters with distinct characteristic. Instead, they represent the two contradictory sides of human nature that exist in every single individual- both virtue and evil.
Some people argue that the book actually reveals the cruelty of the real world. From their perspective, the book indicates that the power of evil is much stronger than that of virtue. However, I totally disagree with it. We have to admit the power of evil in ruining one’s soul, but the death of Dr. Jekyll, as I see it, is still the victory of virtue- an angel would rather die than submit to a devil and that’s the power of virtue. No one can deny the presence of evil in his or her soul, but does this necessarily mean we would finally become a bastard? There’s a devil hidden in the bottom of my heart, which I have never suspected. And everyone, I suppose, has such a moment in his or her life when something evil comes up to his or her mind. Most of these evil ideas might derive from the desire for power, for fame or for wealth. But there are even some that come from nowhere. But we never classified human beings as a group of bullies, because virtue in our heart is like a candle- as long as there is one, darkness would never really come. Human beings have survived the fierce nature for the past millions of years’ time, not because of their evil, but because of the virtue they bear. When our ancestors started to be willing to bring something good to the society, regardless of their own profit, or even at the sacrifice of their lives, they united as a whole and gained advantage over those beasts. It was the very moment that human beings became the true giants that could never be defeated.
And that’s exactly what Dr. Jekyll’s death has shown us.