Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Dark music]
>> Dr. Jekyll: A long time ago, when I was still studying medicine, I came upon certain
mental traits in myself that were along the lines of what my professors described as insanity.
These thoughts fascinated me; they were violent, impassioned, and evil; not like anything else
I had experienced before, and certainly not indicative of anything I had studied in a
madhouse.They called to me and disgusted me, and I devoted all my time outside of classes
to capturing the essence of what I called the “shadow” of myself in an effort to
remove it from my being. I tried all sorts of experiments ranging from hypnosis, to sleep
deprivation, to mild forms of physical and mental torture. Nothing could show me what
I was looking for. Thus, I came to the conclusion that these thoughts and feelings came from
somewhere in my past. It was an impossibility that they simply appeared, no, that didn’t
ever happen. This shadow was made of thoughts and actions that were repressed in my youth,
and the less they were expressed in one’s everyday life, the more black and sinister
they became. They were simple, innocent things, really, at least when they are first repressed.
Things like “don’t hit your neighbor”, remembering to feed the damn dog, not throwing
stones at those noisy birds or the helpless blind man. These things seem simple enough
when they begin. As I got closer and closer to unlocking the truth, I came to realize
these repressed emotions, like any prisoner, become enraged and struggle to escape over
time, until one day, something comes along that gives them an opening. A doorway, a mere
crack in the wall, so they may escape and rear their ugly heads.I found a way to induce
such a state chemically rather than emotionally, therefore unlocking a level of ingenuity and
talent equivalent to having another man’s brain alongside my own. And, logically, since
I had the equivalent of another man inside my mind, it made perfect sense to let this
man do whatever he pleased…
[Evil music]
>> Mr. Hyde: I could trample this little *** if I felt she deserved it now, free from the
boring reserved doctor and into the comfortable life of… Mr. Hyde.
Not that I could let my more responsible counterpart get in trouble for it, however. I still had
to cover my tracks. Luckily enough, there was enough of the old man in me to remind
me to play nice when push came to shove. Other than that, I was free to be everything he
didn’t want to be. Mr. Hyde is bold, aggressive, and has a much better taste in music if you
ask my opinion. He also gets the old doctor some every now and again, too – as if he
was going to do it himself, poor boring sob.
[Haunting music]
>> Dr. Jekyll: Once back to my proper self, I was able to study in depth these things
which had been missing from my life. Studying was much easier now, as I was able to break
free of the conflict of the ordinary man, who struggles to cover up his shadow, where
I was able to revel in it. Many are held down trying to hide their shadows. Knowing and
understanding one’s shadow is key to understanding one’s own self. With this potion, I have
achieved an ideal balance in myself between this shadow and my regular self. I find it
easier to study. I am much more sociable and I can say that I am much better off letting
that brute out every now and again rather than constantly fighting his escape.After
numerous experiments with my shadow, who had named himself Hyde, I came to find a very
grave imbalance in my mind. I had become addicted to Hyde. As it turns out, I had upset a very
delicate balance within myself, one that had also been upset when my name was only Jekyll.
In my experiments, my biggest flaw was thinking that by separating the good and the bad I
could allow myself to break free of the thoughts. What I failed to contemplate that the cruel
and evil belonged within me; without the bad there is no proper balance, and my wretched
potion had created two imbalanced men rather than truly freeing me from the things I hated
most in myself. I started turning into Hyde without chemical aid, destined to roam the
streets committing acts of severe atrocity forever. My friends had abandoned me. They
abhorred Hyde, and as a result whenever I had to be presentable in daylight I found
myself alone and without company.
[Scary music]
That’s it. I just woke up in a gutter surrounded by bodies. I can’t live knowing that the
man who did it was really inside me, made up from my neglected thoughts this whole time.
My shadow is no longer part of me, not even following me around. No, I AM the shadow now.
And therefore, to put an end to the shadow, I’m putting an end to myself. This is the
last anyone will hear from me. Don't make the same mistake I made. It's about balance.
Balance... is the key... to a healthy... being!