26. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Book 26: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Great Illustrated Classics Edition (B+)

Ok, the reason that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is such a classic, like Planet of the Apes and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, is because it's an unexplored concept. No one had ever heard of that before! It was science blasphemy. Especially in the mid-1800's. According to the preface, the story actually came from a nightmare that Stevenson had, and upon awakening, he wrote down the story.
Stevenson was ridiculously original. In the novel based off his nightmare, Stevenson explores man's multiple personality, particularly the two most starkly different sides: good and evil. This isn't another book about a team of good people battling a team of bad people. It's the battle inside one's own self. Which side would win? In case of Dr. Jekyll, Hyde won out... mostly because while Hyde was purely evil, Jekyll was still your normal human, overall good with a tinge of bad. Dr. Jekyll was unable to separate a purely good and purely evil side. Perhaps if Jekyll had been a purely, stain free "good" side the battle would have been fairer.
It all goes back to the old question of are humans good or evil? Or is it based off their actions and not their "internal nature?"
Once again, Stevenson takes the reader on a wild ride while making them think, question, and wonder. It's a tale beyond imagining with essence of dreams, nightmares, and reality.

Nightmare Part Duex

Another nightmare:

It was the end of class and we were returning from a trip outside. The class and I exited the elevator, and I was standing in the hallway next to a water fountain. My brown school bag was slung over my shoulder, I think I was wearing a scarf and a jacket. In my hand was my Samsung cell phone. It began to ring Adam’s ringtone so I answered.

“Hello?”

“Uh, who is this?”

“Lex. Who is this?”

I don’t remember the rest of the conversation word-for-word, but the caller was The Viking. Apparently, Adam had tricked The Viking into calling me by telling him he was calling someone else. In the real world and in this dream world, The Viking and I are not allowed to speak to each other as ordered by Western Carolina University. And here we were on the phone breaking that rule. It was horribly awkward. And, it was upsetting. The Viking got off the phone as soon as he could. There was no talk of reconciliation.

As soon as I hung up, Adam jumped out from behind a corner and was jumping up and down, grinning.

“You two talked!” he cried.

I began to scream at him, telling him how horrible he was for forcing me to talk with the one person I never wanted to speak with. Even worse, forcing him to talk to me when that’s all I wanted but that’s all he didn’t. I woke up after I told Adam we were no longer friends.

I don’t know what was worse: the dream or waking up and realizing I hadn’t actually talked to The Viking after all.

When I relayed this dream to Cody, he laughed and couldn’t understand why it was a nightmare.

…Anything that deals with The Viking IS a nightmare!

Nightmare

Whenever I'm having difficulty dealing with something, my body internally deals with it by giving me nightmares. They fall under these three categories:
1. Nonsense that's either very vivid or terrifying
2. Someone is after me and I can't run way fast enough
3. The Viking and/or the boys

Last night, I dreamed about The Viking again. We were in a parking lot pretending to ignore each other. Little Honda was parked right beside his car and as I was backing out, I scraped Little Honda up against his vehicle. Crap, now I have to talk to him. So I jumped out of the car and said I was sorry. He actually wasn't mad (a true hint that this was a dream). One thing led to another and we started talking, but there was still that touchable wall of awkwardness. I don't remember anything that was said just the overwhelming feeling or discomfort.

No, this isn't nearly as frightening as my dreams usually are. But to see him again, to think I was that close to him again (because when you dream, some times you don't realize you're dreaming) was a nightmare within itself.

We haven't spoken to each other since early May, and he still has so much power over me... in my head, anyway. The novel I'm writing based on and exaggerated about The Viking's and my history is nearly finished. I'm at page 289, and I hope to be done by the end of September... which is quickly creeping up on me! I'm banking a lot on that this book will actually become published, actually become readable and take off in readership. My future depends on that it won't be like my blog... read by my family and professors, haha! I'm so proud of this story, and that I lived to tell about it. I can't for you all to read it! Maybe with its completion and its conclusion the nightmares will finally go away and I can rest in peace. ......That is a poor choice of words! That seems to hint at something else.... Ahem! ....And I can sleep at ease!