June 14, 2013
Toni Dunlap
English 101
Essay 1 Jekyll and Hyde
First Impressions
First impressions are an automatic and normal response when meeting someone for the first time. Humans have an internal way of greeting others that subliminally sends and receives social data. (Wikipedia definition) The definition in fact of a first impression is the event when one person first encounters another person and forms a mental image. It can sometimes form an accurate representation of the person. In the classic novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Lewis Stevenson, there are three characters we will be introduced to. We will see what kind of first impression the author is trying to push upon us. Then we will see the real person hiding within. I think this first impression is a fallacy. We should dig deeper into the real characters lurking under the surface. Here we will find the characters that are looking for a victims to believe in their morally and intentionally deceptive, false nature. This is a piece of Gothic Literature and we should expect it to be immorally bound in some way.
The prudent have secret lives that would show themselves differently if exposed. Doctors and lawyers, whom we would think would be above scrutiny are the center of our story. The first character to be introduced is a lawyer. His name is Mr. Utterson. Upon our first encounter with him we gather our first impressions. When introduced to the public he fit in nicely and was regarded as one of them. He didn’t show judgment upon his clients. (STEVENSON1) He had a tolerance for the miss-deeds that were brought before him. He dressed himself down a bit and wasn’t overly audacious. His physical description is further described. (STEVENSON 1) “The lawyer was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow loveable.” He was a humble man that drew the same likes of...