It is typical for a person's character to change according to their environment. Different characters come out from within us to embark on certain situations. This is similar to the set of circumstances in Robert Louis Stevenson's, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In his novel, Stevenson explores the strange turnings of human character through the curious case of Dr. Jekyll, a scientist who by night takes on his stunted evil self, Mr. Hyde. By using contrasting images, Stevenson is able to illustrate the struggle between good and evil, or Jekyll and Hyde.
In the opening of the novel Stevenson uses the setting to stage a dark and gloomy disposition for the reader. While using Mr. Enfield as narrator, he describes how he walks home through an empty town, early on a "black winter morning [. . .]"(4). He then intensifies the feeling of loneliness by comparing the town to an abandoned church. "[S]treet after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church--till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a police man"(4). Stevenson symbolizes Enfield's longing for a policeman, as a need for security in a secluded town. He continues to use Enfield as he illustrates how two different characters, which emblematically stand for good and evil, confront one another. Stevenson explains how an innocent eight-year-old girl, the good of the two, runs for a doctor toward Mr. Hyde, the more evil character. Stevenson relates Hyde to a juggernaut, an indescribable force that the child cannot resist. She inevitably gets knocked over and trampled by the unmerciful Hyde. ""[T]he two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground""(4). Stevenson shows the struggle between good and evil as he describes the conflict between the two characters.
