After reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I thought it was such an interesting story. It made me think about who we really are as humans, having two sides to our personalities, and how we act around different kinds of people depending on who they are. The difference between Jekyll’s kind, respectable self, and Hyde’s evil showed how much control we really have over our personalities, and how quick it is to change our personalities. It was scary to see how fast Jekyll lost control once he gave Hyde power.
While reading the book, I found myself thinking about whether people who commit evil acts can truly change or be transformed into better versions of themselves. I believe that while everyone’s way to growth is different, if someone learns from their mistakes and makes an effort to do better going forward, they deserve a second chance. While Hyde’s acts of murder can’t be justified because of his sense of evil, but in a more realistic scenario, I think people are capable of change and growth into a better person overall.
Stevenson heavily uses supernatural elements in the story to keep the readers engaged and interested in the story. When I was reading, the vocabulary in the story left me speechless at some points, and after reading The Carew Murder Case chapter, it showed me how well Stevenson used adjectives, and objects to capture the moment in time, get a picture in their head of what they think could possibly be happening, and make readers reflect on what happened during that moment.
Overall, the book also made me think about how society pushes people to hide parts of themselves that they don’t want people to see. While it also kept me hooked on the book, and left me thinking about human behaviour, and if we do actually hide our personality depending on who we’re with sometimes.