On the internet, in church, on TV, in school, from our friends, and from countless other sources we are constantly told what humans are. On any given day, one could hear that humans are either incredibly clever animals, or not animals at all; incredibly selfish and ridden with errors, or perfect products of evolution. Mostly, we hear how wretched, filthy, and monstrous we are. However, putting aside the argument of which characteristics best fit the members of the species, Homo sapiens, one intriguing detail must be taken into consideration. All of the generalizations, characterizations, and analyses of humans come from humans themselves. In other words, our judgments are interior to ourselves, and we are therefore downright critical of ourselves. Why are we so critical of ourselves? And how does this criticism play a role in the fate of our species? Although the exact reason for our rampant criticism may never be pinpointed, the issue itself proves to be one of intrigue that demonstrates itself not just in out everyday lives, but in literature as well.
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson demonstrates how humans judge themselves, by revealing the attitudes and reactions of humans towards the many sides of an individual. Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde’s character in the novel obviously affects many other people through the course of the story; Dr. Jekyll is kind and respectable and has a positive impact on others, while Mr. Hyde is savage and uncontrollable, and negatively impacts others. Other human beings regard Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde independent of each other, as they are in oblivion to the actual circumstances. They criticize Hyde's actions, while hypocritically praising Jekyll's. Perhaps, if they were to regard the man/men in any other way they might not be able to wrap their heads around the matter, which could prove detrimental to their health and survivability. We later find this to be exactly the case, when Mr. Lanyon becomes fully aware of the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde’s situation. By witnessing the event which confirmed the peculiarity of Dr. Jekyll’s transformation into Mr. Hyde, Mr. Lanyon receives a shock that devastates his health, and ultimately kills him.
The hypocrisy of humans criticizing themselves, humans being varied in their criticisms of themselves, and humans criticizing individuals of their own species for possessing a characteristic that is perhaps applicable to all humans (having more than one “side”), may seem worthy of criticism. Criticism implies negativity, but perhaps the basis for this criticism isn’t really negative all. Perhaps criticism is just a defense mechanism, which protects us from the same fate as Mr. Lanyon. By pointing out what is wrong with ourselves and other member humans, we are advocating for the change of that which we criticize (which stems from an unacceptance of that which is being criticized). This is beneficial because we then do not have to accept that which we cannot wrap our heads around (and the things that we cannot wrap our heads around like hypocrisy, having more than one side, etc. are characteristics of humans which are unavoidable). Criticism is therefore a complicated, yet essential method for survival as it allows us to decline to accept those inevitable aspects of life, which true comprehension of might kill us.
