How does the author use all of the below to create a sinister atmosphere?
(Themes, motifs, symbols, imagery, motifs, pathetic fallacy, context and characters.)
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a novella, written by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the story, Mr Utterson, a lawyer, and Dr Jekyll are investigating strange cases that occur. Their suspect is a cruel and evil man, called Mr Hyde. Throughout the book a Sinister atmosphere is created with the use of many literary devices such as, Dialogue, Themes, Motifs and Symbols, Imagery and Pathetic Fallacy. In this Essay I will be looking at Pages 25- 26. In this part in the story, Mr Hyde has beaten a old man to death on the street. When Mr Utterson goes to the crime scene he finds a letter addressed to him left on the man's body. The police and Mr Utterson go to Mr Hydes home to investigate and to see if they can find Mr Hyde but he is nowhere to be found. I will analyse and explain how Robert Louis Stevenson used these certain devices to create a sinsister atmosphere.
Personification is the transference of human attributes to non human objects. Personification is used in this extract to describe what is happening in the city and the setting. For example "the cab crawled" and "daylight would glance between swirling wreaths", this use of personification makes the city come alive ,and it is like another character in the story. At the beginning of this extract the city has just had its "first fog of the season". The light in the story is representing good and as we know fog represents evil. The idea that daylight is glancing through wreaths when the city is foggy suggests that the good (Dr Jekyll side) is trying to fight and break through the evil side that is created by Mr Hyde.
Pathetic Fallacy is attributing human feelings to inhuman things. Often in novellas Pathetic Fallacy is used by creating a environment that reflects emotion or a characters personality. Throughout the book pathetic fallacy is used to show good and evil, this also links to the theme duality (everything has 2 sides). One exampe is "the fog rolled in" and " the next moment the fog settled down again", before Mr Hyde beats the old man in the street the city's setting is calm and " cloudless" ( clear) and a second before the beating the setting changes with " the fog rolled in" . The fog is a symbol that something bad is going to happen and with this idea it creates a sinster atmosphere. The fog is also like an Omen because the fog is a symbol of something bad happening and it forshadows that something evil will soon occur.
One of the interesting things about the fog is that it is the most common symbol in "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". A symbol is an object, shape, sign, or character used to represent something else. In this story the fog represents the theme, appearance vs reality, in this extract, the fog is like a "pall" covering up the real identity of Dr jeykll. As well as representing appearance vs reality it is also a symbol and an omen to something evil happening by Mr Hyde. Fog is always in soho and it creates a creepy and ery mood, because it is mentioned like a pall. Also fog makes it hard to see things so it gives the reader a lonely feeling and it creates mystery, as you do not know what is coming towards you.
Stevenston uses themes to create the sinister atmosphere throughout the book. He uses vocabulary that has dual meanings, often one of the meanings is associated with death. For example "a great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven" the word pall has 2 meanings, it is a dark cloud or smoke but is also a cloth spread over a coffin or tomb. The fact that he uses this word and connects it with the imagery of covering heaven leaves the society in the book with hell. The use of weather gives us knowldege into a theme of Moral ambuguity ( when we dont know if something is right or wrong) . The weather in this extract shows the moral ambuguity between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The fog makes Mr Utterson's understanding of their relationship unclear and "foggy".
The Narrative through the eyes of Mr Utterson is used to show the darkness in Soho throughout this extract. He does this not only by describing the atmospheric weather but from the sight of living people in London. We watch Mr Utterson gather infomation on Mr Hydes surroundings, where he lives in Soho. It creates a sinister atmosphere because we are finding out infomation at the same time as Mr Utterson, this creates suspenses as we have no prior knowledge so we are on a journey with Mr Utterson and we have no idea what is going to occur further ahead in the story.
To conclude Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of " The strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" uses a variety of literary devises to create a sinister atmosphere. All the literary devices ( themes, symbols, pathetic fallacy and narrative ect..) link together providing us with a feeling of aprehension and mystery as we turn the pages in thisbook. Without thes use of these devices there would be little atmosphere created.
