In the ending of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the rest of the characters are finally aware of what is going on with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; they find out that they are one individual instead of two. This is made clear in the letter Dr. Jekyll writes to Utterson when he explains the process of exploring his darker nature which he states he has had to conceal all his life. By finding a way to transform into Mr. Hyde, he does not feel guilty or wrong for committing heinous and criminal acts. Although, after a couple of months, Jekyll learns that he is not able to control the switch that occurs between him and Hyde anymore and realizes the only way to end this is to end Hyde’s life which is also his own.
Redemption, according to the Oxford dictionary, is the act of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. In the ending, you can say that both Jekyll and Hyde were both redeemed. I say both and not just one because although it is one person, they are referred to as two separate entities; Jekyll physically and sort of mentally becomes a different person when turning into Hyde even though he acknowledges the fact that it is still his own evil side. Jekyll killing himself means that he is also killing Hyde and therefore saving himself from committing sin or being evil since Hyde is his evil self. The error that is corrected is Jekyll putting a stop to his own evil that he brought out with the medicine he created. This is an error because it is a disruption of the natural order or intended outcome for Jekyll’s control over the transformation of his two selves.
Since killing himself also means killing someone else, Jekyll can be seen as redeeming Hyde from sin and evil. Hyde dying means he will no longer be able to overpower Jekyll’s body and mental state, which is his only vessel that allows Hyde to execute his malicious acts.
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