“Even as good shone upon the countenance of one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other. Evil besides (which I must still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay” (pg 45.)
Most simply, this passage is referring to the two sides of Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. It describes how evidently evil and good his two personas were, respectively. The passage claims that evil had literally made an “imprint of deformity and decay” on Mr. Hyde’s person. However, the more interesting part of this passage does not come from its literal meaning. What drew me to this passage was the dichotomy presented of the good and evil that exists in every person. The passage claims that good and evil are entirely distinguishable and yet it is common knowledge that every human has both good and evil sides. Another particularly interesting moment is when the speaker feels the need to point out that evil may not necessarily be bad or “lethal.” While it is his personal belief is that evil is in fact bad, the fact that he notifies the reader of his opinion at all, rather than relying on a general understanding of the term evil, is unusual and draws attention to this particular passage.
This passage is led me to consider two interesting theories. The first is that, while humans are composed of multiple sides and traits, only those that are “imprint[ed]” on our bodies (those that are physically manifested) may serve as identifiers to those around us. As good and evil appear so glaringly when physically manifested, according to this passage, a person will be categorized as “good” or “evil” based on their appearances when, in reality, they may contain qualities of both sides. Secondly, the passage draws our attention to the fact that the meanings of words are fluid and ever changing. This passage caused me to question whether or not “evil” always means the same thing. I would say no, that its definition is ever changing depending on the context it finds itself in. While in this context evil may mean lethal, in many others it does not. Following that logic, even the labels we push onto other people based on how they present themselves to the world can’t truly serve their intended purpose, for, like“evil”, they too are just words whose definitions are fluid and ever changing.