In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson employs non-material elements to present the truth inexplicitly, which conveys the tactic of a mystery novel. The presence of amorphous concepts such as a “fog,” “deformity,” and “memory” aid in visualizing the intentional void of Hyde’s crimes and operate as protection for Hyde.

Stevenson deliberately delays the disclosure of truth through the “fog” and constructs the story as an effective mystery novel. As soon as Utterson takes the police to Hyde’s house after Carew’s murder in the chapter titled “The Carew Murder Case,” “the first fog of the season” (23) casts. When he reaches the house, “the fog [settles] down again” and “cut [Utterson] off from his … surroundings” (23). Despite the fog’s intangibility, the initial and the latter fog both share “chocolate” and “umber” (23) brown color that work as a hindrance to Utterson and the police by blocking their sight. Here, given that Hyde has already run away from the foggy place, readers can notice the pattern of fog protecting Hyde. With this void of Hyde’s true identity, the story embraces uncertainty that arouses curiosity from the readers.

While the fog visualizes the emptiness, another amorphous concept — “deformity” —creates a void by distracting the case in the same chapter. “Deformity” is a characteristic representing Hyde, but rather, this makes it more difficult to specify him. The witnesses’ descriptions of Hyde were consistent solely in his deformed image, while the rest were “differed widely” (25). The degree of the deformity was so great that it prevailed other characteristics, which eventually acted as an obstacle to track him down. This was prominent when Hyde was on the way to Lanyon’s house to find the drug. After the murder of Carew, it was open to the public that Hyde was the culprit, but others did not recognize Hyde when he “[summoned] … hansom” (67), when he ran against a woman “offering … a box of lights” (67), or even when Hyde met Lanyon (51). The non-material concept of “deformity” symbolizes Hyde, and at the same time, it acts as a form of protection. The omission of Hyde’s specific appearance other than deformity can also be a deliberate void in the story that gives readers room for imagination.

If “fog” and “deformity” were devices that passively protected Hyde, “memory” provides active protection in Chapter “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case.” The amorphous concept of “memory” distinguishes itself from “fog” and “deformity” because Jekyll and Hyde “had memory in common,” (63) whereas other elements are limited to Hyde, not Jekyll. Before “memory,” non-material elements have hidden the duality of Jekyll by interfering with others’ perspectives, apart from a physical body. “Memory,” however, directly contributes to covering Hyde’s existence because it is shared by both Jekyll and Hyde and is bound to a physical body. Jekyll remembered Hyde’s crime; thus, he knew what could be dangerous for Hyde. To not repeat the same mistake, such as paying in a “cheque drawn in the name of Henry Jekyll,” (61) he opened a bank account in the name of Hyde. Jekyll also “took and furnished the house in Soho” and wrote a will so that “if anything befell [Jekyll]... [he] could enter on that of Edward Hyde without pecuniary loss” (59). “Memory” itself is not tangible like “fog” or “deformity,” but it eventually converts its effect into tangible matters like a house and will. Consequently, Stevenson avoids displaying clear facts by actively guarding Hyde’s secret and realizes the void of explicitness.

The concealment of truth through amorphous concepts leads to the essence of Hyde. In the end, Hyde is also described as a being that “was dead, and had no shape,” that tries to “usurp the offices of life” (69). The immateriality that pervades Hyde easily conceals his identity and is further used as a mystery effect. It delays the truth and disturbs the case, which leads readers to constantly try to fill in the voids to figure out “who is Mr. Hyde.” Ultimately, Stevenson calculatedly places missing pieces in the story; by doing so, he effectively draws the individual’s attention to the story to the end and enshrines the aura of Jekyll and Hyde’s mystery. 

Works Cited

Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Penguin. 2002.