The strange case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Writer: R. L. Stevenson
Genre: Fiction/Classic

I have always admired the likes of Dickens, Dumas, etc. They had imagination that knew no limits. They were so ahead of times and their works seem to have resonance in all ages!

This is a book that every person with love for imagination should read. Its fiction at its best! The duality of human nature, long before people knew about split personalities and schizophrenia forms the crux of the book and the mysterious twists by the author lends it an amazing aura.

Note: The next lines could be a spoiler in case you would want to discover this classic yourself.

Utterson, a lawyer is worried about the will his friend, Henry Jekyll has given him. The will transfers all his property to a certain Mr. Hyde in case of death or disappearance of Jekyll. The lawyer smells mischief and is of the opinion that Hyde as forced Jekyll into making the will. He decides to meet Mr.Hyde after a hideous description given to him by his cousin. The confrontation with Mr. Edward Hyde confirms his suspicion and he agrees with the general public opinion that Mr. Hyde is indeed a rude and hideous man.

Soon Mr. Hyde is embroiled in a controversial murder of an MP and this causes the lawyer to speak to his friend. Jekyll promises him that Hyde would no longer be entertained by him. The promise is kept and soon the episode of the murder and Mr. Hyde, both fade into oblivion. Dr.Jekyll becomes the old cheerful man and Utterson is very happy about it. Just as things begin to stay normal Jekyll becomes a recluse and refuses to meet anyone outside. Utterson is worried but cannot really do anything about it. To make matters worse, a common friend of Jekyll and Utterson , Dr. Lanyon, dies suddenly and it is revealed that he was privy to some information regarding Dr. Jekyll.

Soon afterward, Jekyll’s butler, Mr Poole, visits Utterson in a state of desperation and explains that Jekyll has secluded himself in his laboratory for several weeks, and that now the voice that comes from the room sounds nothing like the doctor’s. After reaching the doctor's house and after much deliberation, they broke open his lab door only to find Mr. Hyde dead inside. They also find a letter for Mr Utterson.

The letter explains that Dr.Jekyll had found a way to change his personality and convert himself into Hyde who was a conscience free human and nothing like the mild-mannered Jekyll. At first the transformation delights the doctor but later it becomes an inseparable part of him as he seems to transform without even taking the medicine that he discovered. It is one of these transformations that their common friend Lanyon had witnessed and had hence died of utter shock and depression. Towards the end, when Jekyll was almost always transformed to Hyde without consent, were the days when Jekyll had chosen to become a recluse! In the end, he commits suicide because anyways after being permanently transformed to Hyde he would have been executed for the murder of the MP. Thus, ends the book.

Little wonder that more than a century later this books still mesmerizes its readers. Grab a copy, it's worth it!