The Monster of Yourself

Have you ever read the books The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein? If you have, you will have found that there are some very interesting comparisons between them.

I will begin with the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. In this book, Shelley tells the tale of the Dr. Frankenstein who discovers how to create life out of non-life. He creates a monster out of dead body parts. After he creates him and the monster comes alive, Frankenstein flees in horror. He hears nothing of the monster’s whereabouts for two years, until the murder of his brother. In frantic horror, Frankenstein is convinced that the murder is the monster. Several months later, he meets the monster, who tells him his tale. The monster sadly explains how he was good and perfect until society corrupted him. He asks Frankenstein to create a female partner for him. Angrily, Frankenstein refuses. After several complicated events, Frankenstein’s whole family ends up getting murdered by the monster. At the end of the story, when the doctor’s death occurs, the monster blames his behavior on society, which treated him cruelly, breeding hatred for his creator.

In the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Stevenson writes of a well-to-do doctor by the name of Henry Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll is obsessed with the idea of taking the wicked part of a person and the righteous part of a person and turning them into to separate beings. After some difficult research, Dr. Jekyll concocts a potion that can separate these two characters of man. Greedily, Jekyll drinks it, and instead of becoming a righteous being liked he hoped, he created the purely wicked Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll is thrilled with the outcome and drinks the potion a second time and returns to the form of Dr. Jekyll. Realizing he could go freely between his to forms, Jekyll dons the form of Hyde to do wicked deeds. One night, Hyde murders a famous Member of Parliament. When Hyde returns to the form of Jekyll, he vows never again to become Hyde. Yet after a few months, he becomes Hyde without the potion and stays Hyde. Frantically, Dr. Jekyll realizes that he is not able to return to the form of Jekyll. When the law finds out Mr. Hyde is hiding in Jekyll’s room, they go in pursuit of him. Sadly, the tale ends with Dr. Jekyll committing suicide.

In the two books, you will find two worldviews being presented. The worldview of Frankenstein tells us that man is basically good, yet was corrupted by society. The worldview of Hyde proclaims that man is a sinful, fallen creature. As you study history and the Bible, you will see many examples of sinfulness. Pure logic tells us that man is wicked and in need of a savior. The good news is that we have been purchased by the blood of Christ. The Hyde worldview begins with the bad news that man is sinful, yet it ends with the good news that we are saved. The Frankenstein worldview says that man is good and is corrupted by society. If all is left to man, then we should have shivers to the marrow of our bones.

So, which monster lives within you, the basically good monster, corrupted by society, of Frankenstein, or the monster of Hyde, sinful, yet saved? Decide for yourself.