The Incident Of The Letter
Most people who make movies and adaptations about Jekyll and Hyde focus solely on the final chapter of the book. They don’t care about the entire story or any of the other chapters. I don’t think anyone reads them or even cares about them. The ONLY thing that seems to interest anyone is Jekyll’s diary, Jekyll’s manifesto, Jekyll’s viewpoint. I think the ENTIRE story is interesting and without it there would only be a book of just Jekyll … and that’s boring AF.
I think the story should have ended with Dr Lanyon’s letter.
The story of Jekyll and Hyde is not just the final chapter. That is just the explanation of the story. The entire story is about Utterson, about Dr Lanyon, about all the people who were hurt and who died and who suffered as a result of Jekyll’s selfishness and madness.
Remember Glenda Cleveland’s perspective of Jeffery Dahmer? There is more than just the victims, the cops, and Dahmer himself … there are other people in the world … there are other viewpoints … there are other perspectives that are powerful and worth knowing. Jekyll and Hyde is similar … if you don’t care about other people and are only interested in centering the lunatic, you’re missing an entire part of the story … you’re missing the true heart of it.
Try caring. Try considering other people.