The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Title: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Copyright: 1886

Summary: The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one that most people have heard of. Written in 1886, it has inspired many other stories and movies, and it has been directly referred to in many others. In fact, it has even graced the television in cartons. I personally remember episodes of Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry, in which Bugs and Jerry turned into a sort of Mr. Hyde. The book, however, was quite a bit darker than what has been shown on most television shows, especially cartoons. The story is about a revered doctor, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and his belief that a human soul was dual in nature, having a good part and an evil part, and his belief that these two halves could be separated. Dr. Jekyll invented/discovered a potion that would accomplish such a split and he tested the potion on himself. Unfortunately for Dr. Jekyll, he soon found out that he didn’t understand the human soul as much as he thought he did. Since I’ve seen and heard shows and stories inspired by this story, it was great to finally read the source. Stevenson does a wonderful job of describing the dark side of London. And even though I was so familiar with the story, Stevenson still had me in suspense up until the last chapter of the book. Once again, I highly recommend this book. Here are a few observations I made as I read.


Observation #1:
Dual Human Nature (Good vs. Evil)
The first observation is a fairly obvious one. With regards to his beliefs, I think Dr. Jekyll made two big mistakes: First, he thought the human soul was made up of good and evil when in fact, God, who created our spirits, does not create anything that is evil. When we are born, our souls are clean and without stain. Second, he thought he could cure this perceived problem by making a potion. And for that matter, he assumed he had the authority to do so. Some would refer to this as “playing God”. It is true that humans are capable of evil actions, but Dr. Jekyll did not understand that the evil was an outward influence upon man, and not one that came from his soul. According to the Plan of Salvation, we are suffered to be tempted by the adversary and his legions. This is an outward influence. Because of our weaknesses, we often struggle with the ability to resist such temptations, and sometimes succumb to them. We are given the right of agency in this life.


We are free to choose good or evil and we are also given the ability to know good from evil; “And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you” (Helaman 14:30-31).

Notice that the nature of the good vs. the evil is not in the “being”, but it is in the “doing”. We are good by nature, but in a fallen world we are permitted to do evil and are in fact tempted, by Satan, to do evil. But we are free to choose our actions, good or evil, and will receive the consequences of those actions.


Lastly, we come to the unfortunate fact that all humans will sin. We will all choose evil from time to time. The wonderful mercy of the Plan of Salvation is that we can clean those self-inflicted stains upon our souls through repentance. In God’s mercy, he allowed for a Savior, Jesus Christ, to Atone for our sins. Through our repentance, He will wipe away those sins and make sour souls clean again. The moral of this story: Obedience and repentance make a much better potion!


Observation #2:
Give Evil an Inch and it will Take a Mile
After the potion-induced transformations increased in frequency, Dr. Jekyll found that Hyde was less controllable. It eventually came to the point he would turn into Hyde without taking the potion. And in the end, it culminated with Dr. Jekyll all but disappearing, and Hyde was all that was left. In the Priesthood Session of this most recent General Conference (10/2/2010), President Monson spoke about choices. He said it is easier to keep the commandments 100% of the time than it is to keep them 98% of the time. This is because disobeying the commandments has a perpetual effect. If we keep the commandments 98% of the time, we will be more inclined to lesson our standards and keep the commandments 96% of the time, then 90%, and so on. Thus is the beginning of spiritual decline. We must not, as Dr. Jekyll, allow just a little bit of bad into our lives. It can quickly snowball and cause reduced spirituality, years, months, or even weeks. It can eventually cause complete inactivity or resentment. But if our goal is always 100%, we are much less likely to give in to temptations. In fact, the point of his General Conference address is to make that decision now to keep the commandments 100%. We will fall short from time to time, but it should always be our goal.


Observation #3:
Limitations on Scientific Experiments
I won’t spend too much time on this one. It is more of a societal issue than it is a personal one, but we as individuals can affect society. There are many scientific experiments that are safe and can be conducted without physical or emotional harm to anyone. However, there are also some experiments that do or may cause harm and/or could be considered morally questionable in nature. Some of these controversial topics are: Cloning, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Abortion, Genetically Enhanced Crops and Animals, just to name a few. There are many, many more. Some even believe Birth Control is evil. Where is the limit on what types of science we pursue and what types of experiments we conduct? Is there a limit? Should there be a limit? I’m not an expert but my opinion is that we definitely should have a limit. I know this seems like a simple answer, but we merely need to make sure our lives are aligned with the will of God. Anything that doesn’t further the Kingdom of God on the earth should be ceased. We have it within ourselves to know good from evil, and when we need answers that may be tougher to come by, we can always pray and be told through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.


Observation #4
Evil in the Day or Night
Again, I will make this short and hopefully just give you something to ponder. Notice that, in general, Mr. Hyde came out at night. Most of the scenes involving Mr. Hyde were at night, in the darkness. Elder Holland used a phrase in his April, 2010 Conference Address. It was “pathologically clandestine”. I had to look it up. This behavior is secretive or hidden and it has a way of happening at night more often than in the day time. I have no idea who coined it, but there is a saying that “the Holy Ghost goes to bed at midnight”. This isn’t literally true, but we are much more susceptible to temptations at night. And, if we are dumb enough to put ourselves into these situations, at night and willingly, the Holy Ghost may not be readily available for us. But this isn’t because he left out of choice… it’s because we pushed him away.