The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1025Jody Tiflin, the young protagonist of these
stories, knows very little of the world outside the
family ranch and his school, and he feels little
urge to see other places, with the exceptions of the
Gabilan Mountains that form one boundary of the
Salinas Valley and the sea. He knows that over the
mountains, the land slopes to the Pacific. His joy in
riding his horse, Gabilan, is a total integration of the
experience, the boy, and the landscape.
The Salinas Valley is surrounded by mountains.
There are the Rockies and the Gabilan Mountains,
but the Rockies themselves are a great wonderment
to Jody, for they are mysterious. No one he knows
has been to or through the Rocky Mountains, yet
Billy Buck tells him they have nothing much to
offer. Yet Jody wishes someday to explore those
mountains. Lack of specific information makes
him long for the mountains all the more. When he
looks at them, they cause him to shiver “a little in
contrast” to the Gabilans. The sky above the Rocky
Mountains and the fading light convey emotion;
they seem to him to be hiding great mystery. In
contrast, Jody feels the Gabilan Mountains could
be “jolly” mountains.” Essentially, Jody feels the
effect of his surroundings as a reflection of his own
emotions, but he also feels one with the mountains.
One set of mountains is a limit, and the other is a
doorway to the ocean.
Jody’s favorite place on the ranch is the old
green tub where the spring brings forth a constant
small flow of water. He plays near the tub, shoot-
ing imaginary enemies or hunting great imaginary
beasts, but he also uses the spring as a place of
comfort and respite. The tub often is surrounded
by the only green vegetation on the ranch because
the spring runs continuously. It is nearly always cool
and calm there. Jody goes there for comfort and
solace from hurts and sadness, for contemplation
and even sleep. He feels a part of it, just as he does
the entire ranch.
Steinbeck intimately knew the landscape he
wrote about, and he clearly understands the tie
forged between the land and Jody Tiflin. Jody is not
conscious of his relationship with his surroundings
and takes them for granted, but clearly they contrib-
ute a great deal toward the young man he will be. He
will be spare of words and will appreciate nature. It
is a hard land, and he knows it takes hard work to
survive and prosper in the Valley. His ability to do
that is built partly by the land.
Elizabeth MaliaSTEvENSoN, robErT LouiS The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(1886)
Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was published in January 1886
to immediate acclaim; by July of that year, more
than 40,000 copies had been sold in Britain alone.
Stevenson had already achieved success with other
works, most notably with his children’s adventure
story treaSure iSland (1883), but Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde secured his fame. In a later essay entitled
“A Chapter on Dreams” (1888), he claimed that
the story was the result of a nightmare; if so, few
nightmares have proven so profitable. The story has
never been out of print, has been translated into at
least 30 languages, and has spawned numerous spin-
offs—plays, movies, and cartoons—while the names
of the title characters have become an indelible part
of popular culture, used to describe any kind of
double or divided self. The story’s continued fascina-
tion for readers stems, perhaps, from the archetypal
fears, anxieties, and desires it taps into: the blurring
of the boundaries between civilization and savagery,
good and evil; our fascination with the darker, more
sordid aspects of life; and the potential dangers of
science when it becomes divorced from morality.
But the novel also serves as a criticism of Victorian
society—its hypocrisy and the unrealistic standards
that forced individuals to suppress their true selves.
P. B. GrantIdentIty in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde
The theme of identity is central to Robert Louis
Stevenson’s story, and it is examined extensively in
the final chapter, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of
the Case,” in which Jekyll gives a detailed account
of his character, reveals the origins of his lifelong
struggle to deal with the dual nature of his identity,
and describes the history of his transformations into
his evil alter ego, Edward Hyde.