Robert Louis Stevenson's
Treasure Island is one of my all time favorite novels alongside Mark Twain's
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Alexandre Dumas's
The Count of Monte Cristo, R. M. Ballantyne's
The Coral Island, Jules Verne's
Around the World in Eighty Days among many others. And God only knows how many times I have read and re-read all of them! Hence it's unfortunate that I have somehow missed Stevenson's
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde all this while. Detailing what's now psychologically known as dissociative personality disorder (or split personality in layman terms), the novel beautifully explores the interplay between good and evil through the character of genteel and mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll, whose desire to dissociate himself from his vices and darker impulses results in a manifestation of pure evil (Mr. Hyde).
Gripping and deeply psychological,
The Strange Case... is fundamentally a battle of good versus evil, the duality that exists in everyone of us, and a failure to acknowledge and subdue the beast that resides within, resulting in grave consequences to the society we live in at large. It's also a conflict between being a human and an animal, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thus representing the civilized and the animalistic version of the same person. With an array of engaging characters and R. L. Stevenson's masterful storytelling to give company,
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde makes for a riveting social commentary and an instant classic.
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