Jekyll, Hyde, and Romans

Last week I read a totally fascinating little book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. For a story that has become some popular in our culture and influenced so much of the modern horror genre, I don't think it's incredibly well-read, but it should be. The story is fast-paced, yet you don't see the full picture until the last few pages, increasing your adrenaline and anxiety. The unknown, the evil, the crime becomes bigger and more intimidating in your mind as the suspense builds.

When Dr. Jekyll first transforms himself into his evil alter ego, Edward Hyde, he describes the experience:

"I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine."

Jekyll embraces his alter ego in order to enjoy the "pleasures" of his dark nature, to satisfy his selfishness. Specific activities are not mentioned, but their bestiality and baseness are heavily implied. And the more he embraces and indulges in his darker character, the stronger and physically larger Hyde becomes. Ultimately, Jekyll feels he must choose between his two selves, though he loves (in different ways) both facets of himself. Yet as he commits more and more heinous crimes as Hyde, Jekyll himself works harder and harder to attempt to do good for society, to make amends in some convoluted way for the evil Hyde has committed (and interestingly, to the end, Jekyll is convinced that HE didn't commit any crimes, it was all Hyde).

What was the most fascinating to me was that simultaneously I was reading Romans for my daily devotional, especially chapters 5-7. It was a stark contrast to Dr. Jekyll's struggles with sin, yet an interesting resonance between the two works really struck me. I'm not even sure I can explain it well in words.

While Jekyll becomes a slave to Hyde, to the sinful desires he acts upon, Paul urges us to become "slaves of righteousness." The conflict described in Romans 7, the flesh vs the spirit, appears to me exactly played out, albeit to a poor ending, within Jekyll. He's really too in love with his sinful flesh-nature embodied by Hyde. The poor fellow just doesn't have the capacity to understand grace, to choose to follow Christ, to choose to turn from his sinful desires.

After reading this novel and Romans last week, just in time for Easter, I'm so thankful for grace and the freedom I have as a Christ follower. I've tried works, and it's just plain exhausting. I'm also reminded that while we are all tempted, sin is a choice, as Jekyll miserably fails to realize.

The best reminded of all: God has chosen me (and you) even on our most yucky, nasty, Hyde-like day and redeemed us, a la Romans 5:8. And so I choose daily to choose Him.