The character that I feel I'm most drawn to is Mr.Utterson. He is unlike most main characters in stories: he's a little anti social, plain, and tolerant to insane or abnormal behavior. All these traits give him the occupation of a lawyer and even a dectective as he investigates the Jekyll and Hyde problem. He's a intresting man as he is friends with Enfield, Jekyll, and Lanyon in the most proper way, with seemingly little actual excitement in there previous encounters except with wine. I respect him, even against all odds he doesn't even suspect Jekyll of any wrong doing accept when he thinks he forged for Hyde. He even tries to unite Lanyon and Jekyll as friends again even though that will never happen even if Lanyon wasn't dead.
Mr.Utterson represents more than just friendship, he represents the good of man kind, even though he's not very fun or socialble. Compared to Mr.Hyde, Utterson is like an angel he, instead of looking the other way when a person does something unreasonable or evil he tries to help or investigate the problem. Lanyon wanted nothing to do with Jekyll after he started to have "unscientific heresies", while Utterson even agrees to help Hyde if Jekyll dissapears. To make Utterson even more of the better of society he doesn't open up Lanyon's letter when he dies, but is honorable and waits. As I said with Good and Evil if Hyde is Yin than Utterson is Yang.
My opinion of Utterson changed drastically from the initial chapter where Stevenson laid out all of these seemingly unflattering character traits. By the end of the story he earns all of my respect. Again, Stevenson playing with the idea of appearance and going deeper than your initial impressions of people.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Utterson is an unusual main character. The way Stevensen described him at the begininng made me think that he wouldn't have any friends or even care. However as the story progressed, Utterson became more and more caring and compassionate. I feel he was a completely different person when the book was finished.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Utterson is an anti-social man is very true. However, I figured that lawyers would be more open, and speak loudly and boldly. I also agrree that Utterson is an symbol of goodness in the story. To add to his charectaristics, I would say he is bold, and very intelligent. He breaks through the cabin door to discover whether the man inside was Jekyll or not, with the knowledge that he might possibly die. Lanyon not wanting to help Jekyll is an excellent point, showing the difference between Utterson and other individuals mentioned in the story. After reading this I was able to understand that Utterson is an interesting and admirable charectar.
ReplyDelete