The Addicts Tale There are some books that are not about addiction, but there are some part in the book that talk about addiction. We live in a world where drug addiction is a major problem and how it changes a person’s identity to good vs evil. Similarly The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a novel that shows how the power of addiction changes a person’s identity, in this case from good to evil. Stevenson uses Dr. Jekyll to show an. addict’s struggle with addiction which leads to experimentation, denial and suicide.
Experimentation is his first stage to his addiction. His experimentation begins his path towards addiction and isolation. Doctor willingly prepares a strong potion, he himself wanted to
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Jekyll’s addiction. This type of behavior is commonly used by addicts to avoid facing the uncomfortable reality of their problem. Jekyll's denial first comes up at his dinner party when Utterson comments that he is becoming increasingly informed about Hyde. “ ‘ Jekyll says’ to put your good heart at rest, I will tell you one thing the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde” (Stevenson 24). This quote suggests that it comes from a person who has a drug problem. The illusion of self-control maintain and increases the addict's dependence on his intoxicating substance or behavior, as long as he can develop a fantasy that his addiction can be arrested and his true self is dismissed for his behavior. "It was Hyde, after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty, ‘Jekyll protests’ ”(Stevenson 64). Jekyll denied that he was not doing this. It was hyde who did all and not him. His response is similar to the addicts today who claim that they can stop using the drug and that there will be no harm. “To the extent that the addict cannot comprehend his behavior in terms divorced from the rhetoric of personal and moral failure, the addict likely will refuse to admit that he cannot govern his condition”. It is a type of denial that is used by Stevenson to show dr jekyll
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, repression appears to be a common theme. Stevenson chose to incorporate this because it was a common Victorian belief. So what is Stevenson trying to say about repression by making Dr. Jekyll secretly self indulgent? Many people believe that Jekyll assumes the role of Hyde in order to carry out these indulgences that he otherwise could not. Also Jekyll chose to repress his urges because Victorian society frowned upon them. This idea is further elaborated on by Masao Miyoshi, in “Dr. Jekyll and the Emergence of Mr. Hyde”:
For both Holmes and Jekyll, an internal anxiety plagues their actions and thoughts. An aversion to "boredom" troubles Holmes, while Jekyll struggles to come to terms with "man's dual nature" (Stevenson, 42). Holmes defends his drug use by declaring:
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, in grave danger, writes a letter to his good friend Lanyon. With Jekyll’s fate in Lanyon’s hands, he requests the completion of a task, laying out specific directions for Lanyon to address the urgency of the matter. In desperation, Jekyll reveals the possible consequences of not completing this task through the use of emotional appeals, drawing from his longtime friendship with Lanyon, to the fear and guilt he might feel if he fails at succeeding at this task. Through Jekyll’s serious and urgent tone, it is revealed that his situation is a matter of life and death in which only Lanyon can determine the outcome.
“The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde” is a novella written in the Victorian era, more specifically in 1886 by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. When the novella was first published it had caused a lot of public outrage as it clashed with many of the views regarding the duality of the soul and science itself. The audience can relate many of the themes of the story with Stevenson’s personal life. Due to the fact that Stevenson started out as a sick child, moving from hospital to hospital, and continued on that track as an adult, a lot of the medical influence of the story and the fact that Jekyll’s situation was described as an “fateful illness” is most likely due to Stevenson’s unfortunate and diseased-riddled life. Furthermore the author had been known to dabble in various drugs, this again can be linked to Jekyll’s desperate need and desire to give in to his darker side by changing into Mr Hyde.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “It is much easier to suppress a first desire than it is to satisfy those that follow.” This is certainly true in the situation of Dr. Jekyll, as the temptation of becoming Mr. Hyde becomes stronger as he continually surrenders to the wickedness that is constantly misleading him. Mr. Hyde is never contented, even after murdering numerous innocents, but on the contrary, his depravity is further intensified. The significance of the repression of a desire is a prevalent theme throughout the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, as the inability to repress one’s curiosity can lead to a fatal end, whereas the repression of a desire that can no longer contain itself, or the repression of confronting a guilty conscience, will conclude in a tragic ending and in this case specifically,
Addiction is a behavior that leads to actions that not only hurt others but is ultimately a path to one’s own self-destruction. From the beginning of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, it is clear that Dr. Jekyll never had complete control over the drug or Mr. Hyde; however, once Hyde commits suicide in order to dodge punishment, we know how awful Jekyll’s addiction to Hyde had been. Jekyll was so far out of control of Hyde that Mr. Hyde had the ability to end both of their lives simply because Hyde did not wish to be punished.
For this reason I’ll be explaining Jekyll’s mental health. Jekyll has as what we now call Multiple Personality Disorder; “I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could be rightly said to be either, it was only because I was radically both,” Stevenson 57.) The disease was first discovered by Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot. He would ask patients symptoms that he found common in MPD. Many patients know about their alternate personality but refuse to acknowledge it’s existence. In some cases they may even refer to it as a separate person entirely. In this case Jekyll is very much aware of his alternate personality, going as to so far as to willingly change into him. However despite this he also categorizes Hyde into a separate being. For example when Hyde does something unappealing or distasteful he blames it on a separate person. Consciously though he is aware that he is Hyde and Hyde is him. (MD, Arnold Lieber. "Multiple Personality Disorder / Dissociative Identity Disorder." PsyCom.net - Mental Health Treatment Resource Since 1986. Vertical Health LLC, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016).
Just as a person can’t control their urge for food, Jekyll couldn’t control his homosexual urges. Once he lost control of what he thought he had, he isolated himself for fear of being found out. Jekyll is beginning to lose control of his life and is becoming more like Hyde. Thus further emphasizing the destruction of his life as Jekyll.
The text furthers the understanding of addiction by explaining its compulsive nature.... ... middle of paper ... ... Overall, I found this book to be very interesting because of its “whole person” approach.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, the dual nature of man is a main theme. Jekyll says: "Man is not /truly one, but truly two"(125), meaning all people have both a good and a bad side. Dr. Jekyll creates a potion to fully separate good and evil, but instead it awakens a dormant character, Mr. Hyde. Throughout the novel, Stevenson uses society, control, and symbolism to tell the reader about human nature.
Addiction is the result of a gradual accretion of neurological tendencies based upon the ingestion of a particular substance or the taking of a particular action. It is cumulative, building over time, and varies in strength from individual to individual based on their own abilities to exercise willpower over themselves and their actions. Some people become addicted more easily than others. In the end, addiction is the result of a series of choices made by the individual. These choices usually have a massive impact upon the life of the person, modifying their friendships, family life, professional life and psychological/spiritual well being. The cumulative aspect of addiction is built up by an individual willfully choosing to either not see the direction they are heading in or to not take action even though they sense themselves following the path of an addict. Some kind of deterioration in their life is bound to take place, and willful ignorance is all that could keep one from noticing that. Likewise, addiction can he helped and cured by an individual choosing to do something different, to adjust their habitual reliance on a specific substance or action for pleasure or escape or whatever quality they are searching for. Only the individual can make that choice, but once they have made that choice other people and institutions can help them.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a scientist, Dr. Jekyll, creates an alter ego using a draught in order to escape the harsh views of society. As Mr. Hyde, he commits heinous crimes against citizens and becomes addicted to the perception of freedom from Victorian laws. Best stated by Norman Kerr about addiction, “there is an inebriety derangement of the mental faculties, so that the consciousness, perception, reasoning, power, and conscience are impaired” (Kerr 138). The character Dr. Jekyll illustrates the condition of addiction in the Victorian era through the motifs of the obsession with appearance and duality.
...n individual’s life. Addiction is the same whether the drug is alcohol, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, or nicotine. All substances allow the individual to feel the high of feeling good, away from all the issues going on in their life. Though each individual has different reasoning’s behind doing the substance, continuing to constantly use the substance or substances makes the body dependent. Becoming dependent will make you experience uncontrollable cravings and relapse. Your body is at a point that stopping would be very difficult, causing severe physical and mental damage from withdrawal. “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change,” the first step in any process an addict faces is accepting that they are exactly that, an addict. Once that is accepted they are allowing themselves to be open to getting help (Carl Rogers).
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the character Henry Jekyll can’t seem to control his alter-ego—Mr. Hyde. At the beginning of the novella, he had a decent amount of control over Mr. Hyde, yet as the novella progressed, the strange other self of Dr. Jekyll was the one who started to control him. The research he conducted became progressively addicting. Every time it was used, he travelled closer to death. A variety of significant events caused his decline from being the perfect Henry Jekyll, to a Henry Jekyll who has no control over his monstrous self.
Within his full statement regarding the case, Jekyll says that “it was only because [he] was radically both” himself and Hyde that he felt this way (56). The interwovenness of the duality within Jekyll further implies that he not only has a strong id but an ego of equal magnitude as well. Furthermore, with his unconscious and conscious halves both vying for control over him, it makes perfect sense that Jekyll creates Hyde. Through him, Jekyll can indulge himself in a way that he thought was not possible. He found that with Hyde, he wouldn’t have to suppress one side of himself, thus he could present his full self, projecting an image of his ego while Jekyll, and unleash his id through Hyde. Furthermore, by releasing his id via Hyde, Jekyll feels “younger, lighter, happier in body” (57). This newfound youthfulness in Hyde suggests that throughout his life, Jekyll never truly enjoyed himself, having always caged his id. As young Hyde, Jekyll is able to exercise parts of his mind that he did not while he himself was that age, and as a result has an immaturity to his actions that he finds satisfying. Jekyll’s desires themselves are defined when he describes being Hyde as for the first time, “younger, lighter, happier” (58). Therefore, Jekyll’s actions bring him a satisfaction in life that would never have