Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Addiction Analysis

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Addiction is the condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing or activity. Addicts go through three stages in the addictive cycle but many of which are oblivious to their addiction, including Dr. Jekyll from the 19th century novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the addictive cycle, there are three stages that a person goes through. First is emotional, then mental and lastly physical. During the emotional stage, the person uses something unhealthy to gain and feel the need of social comfort or excitement and feels better for the time being when their need is fulfilled. But when the person gets into an uncomfortable situation, they connect relief with the unhealthy act they carried…show more content…
Jekyll in, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, begins the addition cycle with denial. Signs of his denial happen at the end of his dinner party when Utterson comments that he has been informed about Hyde. He replies with, “the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde.” This statement is comparable to how addicts say they can quit doing what they’re doing anytime they want too. Jekyll’s denial begins to foreshadow his isolation and tells Utterson to “let it sleep” about Hyde. Therefore, this is when Jekyll begins to shut out Utterson along with everyone else and still does for a significant amount of time. During his isolation, Jekyll begins to realize he no longer has control of Hyde when he goes to bed himself and wakes up as Hyde. It’s not as easy as he thought to be rid of Hyde.At this point of the story, Jekyll’s addiction has gone too far and it is too late for him to try and regain control when Hyde murders again. This process is the same for an addict; they continually abuse until a significant negative event occurs and try to recover, though it is very difficult. Jekyll’s isolation continues for weeks as he doesn’t leave home and no one visits him. During this time he becomes incredibly ill as he tries to prevent becoming Hyde by taking frequent doses of his potion.As an addict continues to abuse themselves, they are also starting to destroy themselves. The longer the abuse sustains, the harder it will be to recover.Finally, as Jekyll becomes weaker and Hyde grows stronger, Hyde’s conquering of Jekyll is inevitable which causes him to kill himself, thus killing Jekyll as well. This is an example of an addict doing something they wouldn’t normally do. They have feelings of invincibility which allows them to commit dangerous activities and stunts with confusion and unclear logic. If Jekyll was his normal self, he would have not committed suicide. But since Hyde didn’t have anyone stopping him, he chooses to kill himself on

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