Jekyll and Hyde

Humans possessing both positive and negative qualities is one of the most intriguing topics we have discussed yet.  Since I was raised in the church I have always been taught that I must do the right thing and that sin is wrong. I can relate strongly to how Dr. Jekyll desired to hide (Hyde lol) his poor choices.  Our society today is all about appearances.  Making one wrong decision can change your image and ruin how everyone around you perceives you.  I think that many of the choices my generation makes, are not based on morals, but how they are depicted in society.  However, just because we only display the positive stuff, doesn’t meant the negative doesn’t exist.  Dr. Jekyll attempted to split his personalities in order to achieve a balance, but I believe that it is impossible to live fully in both the positive and the negative.  God teaches us that in order to live a fulfilled life you must forgo sin and follow his word.  In the Bible he discusses that if you are lukewarm you will be spat out of his mouth.  As portrayed in the book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were both unhappy because neither could fully live the life they wanted.  I think when it comes to moral decision making, one must pick one side and stick with it.  If you try to play both sides then you will always be disappointed.  This became truly real to me when I came to college.  I didn’t chose to fully follow God and lived in sin.  However, I didn’t want to abandon God so I attempted to play both sides.  The uncertainty in my life made me sick because I felt like no matter what I was doing I wasn’t making the right choice.  There is a scene in the TV show “Avatar the Last Airbender”  in which the son of the bad guy realizes he has been fighting for the wrong side.  He becomes extremely ill as he struggles to determine what side he actually agrees with.  This scene, as childish as it is, became a huge metaphor for my life senior year.  I think it directly relates to Jekyll and Hyde because there are two opposing forces fighting for one life.  The biggest takeaway from this story is that no matter who writes the rules that a human decides to follow, they cannot follow contradictory rules or they will be torn apart.  It is crucial to understand that all humans struggle with good and bad desires in their lives.  Eventually both of these nature’s will come to light.  However, only one nature can win the fight and it is up to the choices we make and the moral code we follow to determine which nature we believe to be the best. 

If you want to watch the "Avatar" episode its season 2 episode 18.