fear Flashcards
overview
Throughout the novel fear is shown through many different ways which is fear of Hyde and fear of loosing your reputation. Characters fear Hyde because he is the embodiment of pure evil like the devil. Everyone’s reactions to Hyde are the same which heightens the fear because everyone is experiencing it. Characters feared for their reputation because at the time society had lots of rules that a Victorian Gentleman should always follow. However, those rules were hard to constantly follow which meant that many characters were keeping secrets in the novel that could threaten to ruin their reputation. Stevenson also uses the gothic horror genre to create fear by using frightening, isolated settings to create a tense atmosphere and pathetic fallacy.
ch1
– Stevenson sets the scene by using the gothic horror genre. He describes the building as ‘sinister’ which suggests that the building is evil because it’s been personified.
- In E’s story H ‘trampled calmly’ over the girl. The oxymoron of doing something aggressive ‘calmly’ suggests how unnatural and evil H is because he was able to do something so terrible so casual. This creates fear because H doesn’t fit into the idea of how a Victorian gentleman should behave.
- This ‘brought out the sweat on me like running’ suggesting how E was terrified because of what he saw. The sweat is significant because it is a sign of his fear as you often sweat when you are nervous or scared.
ch2
– U finds the clause in J’s will saying that if he disappears or dies everything should be given to H. this leads to U to ‘fear it is disgrace.’ This type of fear is different as it suggests that U is scared that J may ruin his reputation due to a scandal associated with H. A Victorian gentleman cannot be caught doing anything morally wrong which creates fear around secrets being found out and threatening a persons livelihood.
- U meets H and H is ‘hissing’ at him. This suggests how H is primitive because he’s making animal-like sounds which links to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution which creates fear by suggesting that H is less evolved and therefore evil.
- U picks up on a ‘deformity’ but with ‘no nameable malformation.’ This increases the fear because in Ch1 E can only repeat the word ‘something’ when describing H. The vague language creates fear by suggesting that H is unknowable because he can’t be properly described therefore the fear of the unknown is created. By having this view repeated with U it increases the fear by suggesting that everyone has a universal fear towards H even someone trustworthy and calm like U.
ch4
– C behaved in a ‘pretty manner’ which creates fear by suggesting that because there was no motive for the murder anyone could become a victim of a senseless brutal attack. This helps to emphasise how evil H is because there was no motive as C was innocent.
- C’s death is gruesome as his ‘bones audibly shattered.’ The violent descriptive imagery emphasises the horror and evil nature of H as the reader can picture the terrifying shattering sound of his bones which makes the attack more horrible.
- H is described to be a ‘madman’ which increases fear because Victorian’s were scared of insanity because it’s out of control and goes against how you should behave. The fact that a simile is used is significant because it emphasises how vague H is because he can only be described by being compared to something else.
ch7
– when U and E see J at the window it ‘froze’ their blood. The reaction is so extreme saying that their blood went so cold it turned to ice which suggests that they must’ve seen something terrible to create such a strong reaction.
- However, E and U walk in ‘silence.’ This increases the fear by leaving the reader in suspense because Stevenson withholds information by not describing what was seen. This suggests that what they saw was too horrific to talk about.
ch9
– L describes H as ‘something seizing.’ The word ‘something’ being repeated once more emphasises how vague H’s character is which creates the fear of the unknown by suggesting H can’t be described. The word ‘seizing’ is an aggressive, forceful word which suggests that the impression is so strong that L is unable to react.
- L witnesses the transformation of H turning into J and the ‘deadliest terror’ comes over L. This emphasises the fear because the reaction of L is so extreme and the fear of what he witnessed killed L. The fear comes from how unnatural H is and a Victorian gentleman would be frightened of this because it suggests that evil is inside everyone even good, moral people.
ch10
- J describes how he ‘no longer fears the gallows’ but ‘fears being Hyde.’ This suggests that J is scared of the idea of being H because H is completely evil. J is more scared of H than dying. The fear is the idea of being evil because it has overcome J’s good side and he no longer has control.
ch8
– When U enters J’s house P keeps on repeating ‘something is wrong.’ The vague language heightens the sense of fear because the reader does not know what is wrong and the repetition builds suspense for the reader.
- The servants are all ‘huddled together like a flock of sheep.’ This suggests that all the servants are terrified of something because they are all close together. Through withholding information, Stevenson creates a frightening atmosphere that creates fear because neither U nor the reader know what to be scared of.
