Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

(In AP English class we have to write an essay about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s an in-class essay that we’re supposed to be acquiring evidence and quotes for right now, but I’ve already done that.)

            

Humans have found a duality in the universe and continue to see the same dualities in their lives for thousands of years; plants are either alive, or dead. It’s either night time, or day time. If it’s not hot, it’s cold. Human’s see opposites—probably because there is the same sort of duality inside of them; Humans have a lights side and a dark side. We are capable of both great good and great evil. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson revolves around the concept that there is a duality in human nature.

           

(That was the introduction I’ll be using in the actual essay. After this I have an outline for two body paragraphs, one centering on the ‘supporting characters’ and the other centering on the ‘main characters’. But that’s boring and I don’t want to do all that work right now so I won’t put it here.)

            …

           

{Okay, so I was going to do this really funny thing write a fake essay but I’m not sure if I want to do that anymore, mostly because I’m getting really bored and distracted really fast because these guys are talking about awesome movies behind me and how they can’t wait to see this one action movie to come out—I want to see that too!!—and some sexist website or something. And also, there is like, fifteen minutes left in the class and then I have to deal with advisory  my next class.}

You wanna know the annoying thing about this novella? I don't know if you've read it before, but if you have, you'll know what I'm talking about and if you haven't then I'm saving you a lot of wasted time; 

The whole book is about this lawyer named Mr. Utterson and the mystery of how Mr Hyde is and how he's related to Dr. Jekyll and it's SO aw forget it, let me just show you:

Alexa's Summary of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: 

So Mr. Utterson is around with a boyfriend of his and the bf is like, "hey! i know that door! that's were this dude Mr Hyde lives-- he's really weird. Yeah, in fact, one time he trampled a little girl and we made him pay the family some money and his check was like, from this really upstanding gentlemen. It was really weird." And Utterson is like, "Yeah, that is really--WAIT,MR HYDE? I KNOW THAT NAMEE!!" and he goes home and he's like, hey, this really weird, that creepy dude that trampled that little girl is named as the beneficiary of my bud Dr Jekyll's estate..." And naturally, Utter is like, I must know why this is ( or something) and he goes looking for Hyde and Mr Hyde is like, get away from me lol, and Utter is really freaked out about him for no reason---

Insert Alexa's Reason She Hates this Book  #1: No one can say why they don't like the look of Mr. Hyde! It's not like in the movies, or cartoons of this story, where Hyde is a terrible monster, or deformed or something; the guy is short and stumpy, like a dwarf, and there's something 'off-putting' about him. No one even mentions what it is until the extreme end of the book and even then it's speculation! "There's something extremely unsettling about Mr. Hyde, yes, he's very fearful to gaze upon. I couldn't say what it is, but perhaps we are able to sense the pure evil that emanates from his person." THROUGH HIS FACE!! If you think the guy is pure evil, than why don't you stay the hell away from him??

--and leaves. There's also a part where he goes to his buddy Dr Lanyon because he's worried and wants to know more about Jekyll's new friend Hyde, and another part where he confronts Jekyll who's like 'Duuddde, don't worry about it." And then Mr Hyde is reported to have killed this parliament dude (did I mention it takes place in Victorian London? Didn't mention that? My bad) and then Utter gets really worried that Jekyll will get like-- what? punished for Hyde?-- something bad will happen to him (....) and Jekyll begins his descent into crazy  sickness that spirals on and off for 50 PAGES!!


Insert Alexa's Reason She Hates this Book #2: Really? Really? Have you people ever heard of DOCTORS?? OH WAIT YOU ARE DOCTORS LOLOLOLLOLOL grow a pair. USE YOUR BRAIN AND GO TO THE FREAKING HOSPITAL (of course Jekyll can't go to the hospital because of you know, the physical manifestation of multiple personality disorder) But whatever.


And then, after Lanyon gives him a mysterious letter about Jekyll and Hyde and then DIES , and Jekyll's weirdness, Utter is called by Jekyll's manservant Poolemaster to come check Jekyll out cause the servants all freaked out that somethings up with Jek something's up with Jek (do do do) and Utter finds Hyde dead in Jekylls library with another letter that says to go read Lanyon's letter which has a story and then says to go read another letter by Jekyll...


Insert Alexa's Reason She Hates this Book #3: WHAT? WHYYYY????? WHY CAN'T COW-UTTER JUST BE LIKE HMMM A GUY JUST GOT KILLED MAYBE I SHOULD READ THE FREAKING LETTERS AS I GET THEM AND STOP WASTING VALUABLE FREAKING TIME.


And then after all that the reader finally finds out that Hyde and Jekyll are the same person and that Jekyll created a potion to change him into another dude (amazing!).


Alexa's Real Reason she Hates this Book:  The real reason I don't like this book, the real reason i think this is a low grade quality of writing is that there is no real reason that Jekyll made the potion. He spends two paragraphs talking about the duality of his personality and how he had hypocrisies that bothered him. That's it. There's no greater meaning. The reader doesn't learn what Jekyll had to go through to get to that point. I've read a lot of books, and the best books are the ones that show what a character is feeling or how he got to be the way he is, not telling. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells everything. It's boring and predictable. 


NOT. A. FAN.