Monday, May 01, 2006

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The story and Jekyll and Hyde is a famous one, known to all. I don't know why it became so famous, but I think I figured out why people have that special feeling for it. The story of Jekyll and Hyde, although a novel, is actually a true story. Although the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, wrote it as a novel and probably didn't base it on anything in particular, I nevertheless believe that it is a story we are all too well familiar with.

All people have split personality to some degree. On some people it is so obvious that it entirely disrupts their lives and they need to seek medical treatment for it. Most people, however, aren't split all that much and can do a good job at containing their other personalities. We all have those times when we're not sure if we should do something or not, I don't mean indecision - I mean conscience. This doesn't mean that only people who are criminals and break laws have this split personality, we all live with it on a daily basis.

That might explain why the story of Jekyll and Hyde has a soft spot in many people's heart. However, if this is true then what did the story introduce if Jekyll and Hyde are living inside of us?

Dr. Jekyll was a dangerous man. Although he was very well respected and did many good things for people, he nevertheless had a tendency to experiment with the forbidden part of himself. He changed himself into a "different person" as was then able to commit crimes. This helped as a great disguise so that the authorities wouldn't catch him, but he went even further than that. He used that as an excuse to justify his actions in his own eyes. For he, Dr. Jekyll, didn't do anything wrong, it was someone else - Mr. Hyde.

This story teaches us, or at least it should, that there is a very fine line that we must be careful not to cross. There are many temptations that we have as humans, which is natural, and at times we give in to those temptations, which is also natural. However, we shouldn't convince ourselves that it is not really wrong, or that it is not really us who are doing wrong. For if we make that fatal mistake we will learn the hard way, as Dr. Jekyll has, that they potion we used wasn't pure - and now it's too late to find the pure potion.


Last night I couldn't sleep and my mind started drifting and the above post entered my mind. Weird, no? I think that the next time I can't sleep at night I will count sheep.

2 Comments:

At 5/05/2006 9:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Staying up thinking of blog posts - you may have a problem girl! bwahaha

 
At 5/17/2006 6:41 PM, Blogger WomanHonorThyself said...

great read..thanks for remindin me bout my guilty conscience..lol..no but seriously..its always thought provoking..:)

 

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