2.14.2012

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in My Life

I just finished reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (or, the proper title, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson) for school today. The last "chapter" is fantastic. It's the chapter documenting Jekyll's struggle with Hyde, and his sin nature. It was fascinating (and a little bit terrifying) because there wasn't a moment when I couldn't perfectly relate to what Jekyll was talking about.

In it, he describes how his first transformation to Hyde was freeing, how he could truly just enjoy his sinful thoughts and actions, and how amazing it felt. Just reading it, I felt something within me stir. I don't know if there's a single human being who has never felt like they wished they could truly just enjoy their sin. Hyde was able to do horrible, awful things, and never have to pay for it with guilt, or shame...at least not until he turned back into Jekyll. For brief periods at a time, he was able to indulge every single desire of his flesh, free from condemnation on his own end.

He goes on to say how his Hyde self terrified him, because he knew it wouldn't end well (I believe two people were killed at the hands of Hyde). But despite his fear, and his knowledge that what Hyde did wasn't good, he couldn't give it up. For a couple of months, he would be able to ignore the temptation to go back to Hyde, but once the temptation gained any kind of strength, he would give in. He writes, "and in my case, to be tempted, however slightly, was to fall." This is something I have felt many, many times. And I don't think I'm alone in this.

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