Does Stevenson Create Suspense In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the novella Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After having a nightmare with the same story line he began writing the book and finished it three days after. The spooky novel is based in Victorian London. The classic book had been used in many movies, television shows, and more. Little did Stevenson know his nightmare would become one of the most well known horror books in the world.The author helps create an eerie mood in the book using imagery,diction, and details. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde uses imagery to help portray eerie scenes in the book and the reader's mind. “ The door was blistered and stained…”(49). The words “blistered and stained”gives off a negative mood that suggests the door is unattractive and uncanny. “The early part of the night was cloudless and the lane,which the maid’s window overlooked,was brilliantly lit by the full moon.”(68).The author uses adjectives with an eerie connotation to describe the suspense of the scene. “The rosy man had grown pale, his flesh had fallen away: he was visibly balder and older.This quote describes the oddly quick and drastic change on the man’s appearance. Stevenson uses the five senses to show eeriness throughout the story.
The book creates an eerie mood using word choice with a suspenseful and spooky tone and connotation .
“Sinister Block of building” (49). The choice of the word sinister in this quote indicates a threatening feeling about the setting. “At once so callous and violent of his vile life, of his strange associates, of the hatred that seemed to surround his career;” (80) , in this quote words like callous and vile help to explain how negative his life was and how much hatred was in it. “I lingered but a moment at the mirror: the second and convulsive experiment had yet to be attempted.”(115) the diction in this quotation shows the strangeness and tension of the situation.Diction in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is used to spread an eerie mood throughout the
story. Without the author’s use of detail, the book would not have the same mood. The detail not only gives a better understanding of what's going on in the story, but brilliantly relays the message to the reader that this is a horror story and it's supposed to be creepy. “ Mr Hyde had disappeared out of the ken of the police as though he had never existed.” (80) The extra information “...as though he never even existed” implies how mysterious it was that he had left without a trace. “ staring with injected eyes, gasping with an open mouth…”(108) the details in this example help the reader know how on edge the character was. “...and groping before him with his hands, like a man restored from death- there stood Henry Jekyll!” (109) the details in this context create suspense in the passage. The details in this book give extra information to help the reader know the feeling of the characters and the mood of the book. While reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the reader will most likely feel strange and frightened.All throughout the book the author uses imagery,diction,imagery, and many more things to help share the overall mood of the story .Stevenson does a great job of relaying the message that it is a horror book and it’s supposed to be eerie. To help share this with the reader stevenson uses imagery,diction, and details to get the job done. Without these the book wouldn’t be a great,classic horror story.