A Strange Case . . .

I recently read a classic. Everyone knows the story, but I decided to read it for myself.

It's sad that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is so famous. Not because it's not good, its really good, but because Stevenson writes it as a mystery, and the popularization of the story has softened the mystery. Utterson (the real main character) is trying to figure out the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde, but the modern reader knows the truth.

Despite this, it is still very good storytelling. Even though I knew what to expect, it kept me interested the whole time.

Also, as many know, the story is about the duality of human nature. Jekyll, who is known as a good man, tries to get rid of the evil part of his personality; instead he awakens the sinister part of himself. As I read it, however, I started thinking about another aspect of the story: the nature of addiction.

This has been on my mind a lot lately thinking about this. I have quite a few friends that struggle with addiction, and really, I think in some ways, everyone has some sort of addiction. I would suggest reading this timeless story. Its only 130 pages, and if you can't find a copy, its on Google Books for free (http://books.google.com/books?id=s4A1AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover)

Anyway, the last chapter reveals Jekyll's struggle with Hyde. He first creates Hyde with innocent intentions. It's actually noble intentions, but he soon finds that his experiment--with the intention to become the fully good part of himself--has the adverse affect. The problem is that he finds that he Jekyll enjoys being Hyde. He enjoys the freedom to be evil, to do the things that Hyde does.

After Hyde gets out of control Jekyll decides to say goodbye to his alter-ego, but after a few weeks, a moment of weakness leads him back to his dark friend. Then, after a seemingly full reform, Jekyll misses the evil so much that reminiscing about the badness, leads to an unwilling transformation to Hyde.

When it begins Hyde is an escape for Jekyll. Jekyll can escape into Hyde and do things that the Victorian-philanthropic Jekyll wouldn't dream of doing. But he could do it under the disguise of Hyde. However, at the end, Jekyll becomes a sanctuary for Hyde. Hyde becomes the dominant personality. He's in charge, but he's wanted by the police, so for his survival, he allows Jekyll to take over.

In the end, they both seek to end it all through the only way they can be rid of each other: death. They both long for the release, but fear finality of it.

Addiction is much like this. It begins either enticingly or sometimes (albeit rarely) even innocently. But whatever it is that grabs a hold of the subject is nice. The soon-to-be addict returns because it's good. Even if it's wrong, the outcome feels nice. But things escalate. The monster takes over. Hyde begins of small stature and quite young, because as Jekyll concludes, he hasn't cultivated his evil side, so it is small and young, but as he lets his beast out and lets it feed, Hyde grows. Not only does he symbolically gain stature, he also gains control over Jekyll.

With addiction, the object that you feel that you control begins to control you. It grows and grows until it consumes you. You become more of the addiction than you are yourself. You would do anything to get your fix. You are defined by the trying to feed it. The person who you were before, is merely a refuge for you to get by until you can unleash the animal.

I've had friends who were recovering addicts tell me of some of the most horrendous things that they did. Things that I couldn't believe that this was the same person. But addiction becomes a person and defines their actions.