utterson Flashcards
Mr. Utterson is the first character the narrator introduces in the story. Utterson indulges misbehavior without judgment and doesn’t feel compelled to impose his values on others. Rather, his behavior is typical of the Victorian era dictum: Keep out of others’ affairs.
But he had an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove. “I incline to Cain’s heresy,” he used to say quaintly: “I let my brother go to the devil in his own way
This is a very strange tale, Poole; this is rather a wild tale my man,” said Mr. Utterson, biting his finger. “Suppose it were as you suppose, supposing Dr. Jekyll to have been—well, murdered what could induce the murderer to stay? That won’t hold water; it doesn’t commend itself to reason.
When Poole tells Utterson that he believes Jekyll has been murdered, and the murderer is currently in Jekyll’s room, Utterson struggles to believe him. He straightforwardly tells Poole his idea doesn’t show sound reasoning or stand up to logic. Like many characters in the story, Utterson tests everything by using his rational mind.
