"Man is not truly one, but truly two."
The story is narrated in the point of view of an impartial, acute lawyer, Mr. Utterson. In the dead of night, he witnesses a brutal act committed by an exteriorly hideously looking man and finds out he lives by the name, Mr. Edward Hyde. More ominous accounts of Mr Hyde are told by other dark happenings in the city. Meanwhile, Mr. Utterson has long been a confidant and conversation company for a respectable man referred to as Dr. Jekyll, who upholds a respectable reputation and unassuming disposition among those who are acquainted with him. However, he soon finds out that Doctor Jekyll was not a man unpretentious to his demeanor and more crucially, unrelated to the suspicious events circulating in town.
If man has a side catered and polished to pleasurably meet and emulate the standards of society, then he has an equally opposite facet or break in character, a grotesque attribute buried and locked within the depths of his soul that would be regarded at least an umbrage to reality. The question of whether man is inherently evil or good strike my mind. Upon introspection, this applies to me and perhaps it was an adapted natural tendency acquired to survive in this world, more than an inherent trait of mind. The story felt simple but weighed with great gravity that will put the readers to an uncomfortable yet characteristically charming degree of reflection.
Readers note: I was surprised to see that this story composed of only one-fifth of the book. There were other stories included such as the Suicide Club, Rajah's Diamond, The Pavilion on the Links. I was expecting to see the book to be all about Dr.Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but it had only been part of a collection of short stories. Perhaps they entitled it such to highlight the story.
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