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Kate Shaffer

Moss

English 10 Honors P.2

03 October 2018

Price of Progress

Progress is an ​advance or development toward a better, more complete, or more modern

state. Although, progress is beneficial it comes with a price that can cost everything. In ​The

Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ​by Robert Louis Stevenson,​ D
​ r. Jekyll’s life is

consumed by his studies and trying to transform into another person to explore his other

personality. Meanwhile, he goes through pain, suffering, and his transformations get out of

control. Gary D. Schmidt, author of ​Orbiting Jupiter ​gives the perspective of a teenage boy,

Joseph, who has been in and out of detention centers, foster homes, and has ultimately given up

on having a good life. His only hope is finding his daughter, Jupiter, and he ends up turning his

life around in the process. Both characters saw a goal, but encountered expensive prices for their

progress, therefore, “The Price of Progress” is the primary theme connecting​ The Strange Case

of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde​ and​ Orbiting Jupiter.

​Jacob and Dr. Jekyll had very different starting points and each took their own path to

reach the end destination.​When Joseph and Jack are waiting during office duty Mr. D’Ulney

drops off Joseph’s daily math theorem and Mr. Canton gets upset, then Mr. D’Ulney remarks,

“It's not the solution, Mr. Canton. It's the path to the solution that's fascinating” (Schmidt 29).

Jacob’s path was filled of hard times, juvie, his love dying, his daughter being taken away, an

abusive father, and foster homes. But, he started to see a brighter future when he moved in with
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Jack and his family, and that becoming a better person didn’t seem so difficult as before. Dr.

Jekyll was an accomplished doctor, well respected, supported, and was a good man in general.

Despite the life he created for himself he craved to be evil, and started to make his dream a

reality.​ ​Joseph and Dr. Jekyll both mentally grew a tremendous amount throughout each novel.

Anders Schinkel and Doret J. de Ruyter commented on progress being an essential part of one’s

identity in the passage​ Individual Moral Development and Moral Progress​, “Individual moral

progress is best conceived of as the development of various components of moral functioning

and their robust integration in a person’s identity” (Schinkel and Ruyter 14). Jacob was

composed of anger, fear, love that he couldn’t give nor receive, while Dr. Jekyll was a man of

good morals and wished to experiment with the side that no one sees.

Not only did the main characters wish to change who they were, they also encountered

struggles and after overcoming them, their hope was restored. ​After Mr. Utterson understands

what has happened to Dr. Jekyll, he sees that situations can be way more complicated than they

seem,“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it”( Stevenson 24). ​Jekyll has come

to the point where he admits everything he has done up to this point ended up harming him. It

seemed like a new exhilarating experience, but it ended up detrimental to his health. Jekyll

pushed through the pain to become evil but, it may not have worth it. Meanwhile, Jacob has gone

through so much trauma that he is now able to see the light at the end of the tunnel when good

things begin to happen. First, being placed in one last foster home that wants him to succeed,

having teachers who care, and starting to get information on his daughter. Due to Jekyll and

Joseph never giving up, the slightest progressive movement gave them hope to continue, as

pointed out in ​Possibilities of Moral Progress in the Face of Evolution​ by Julia Hermann, “Moral
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enhancement and changes in the circumstances of morality are mutually reinforcing” (Hermann

14). With every trouble that Jacob and Jekyll overcame it seemed as though everything could

start to look up. Every time Jekyll’s potion got one step closer it made him try harder to reach the

finished product. Jacob keeps striving to be a better person and to become a good dad one day

after each encouraging event occurs. Everyone has dreams but, it is hard to actually pursue them

with perseverance and persistence.

All the prices that Jacob and Dr. Jekyll paid for took a toll on them and effected their

mental state. ​After Joseph’s death Jack finally realized what he meant to him, though they had

hard times together they learned so much about each other and life as a whole, “I had his back.

And he had mine. That’s what greater love is”( Schmidt 179). ​ By the end of Orbiting Jupiter

Jacob learns to let people into his life and starts to care for others, so much so that he sacrifices

himself to protect the well-being of his foster family. Dr. Jekyll, on the other hand, allows

himself to explore his evil side. However, by the end there is no escaping the monster of himself

that he has created. ​In Dr. Jekyll’s final statement he goes through everything that happened and

admits that though he made so much scientific progress it took a toll on him, “There comes an

end to all things; the most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to evil

finally destroyed the balance of my soul”( Stevenson 51).​ ​Dr. Jekyll has curiosity and not only

has it, he definitely conquers it. He was able to believe in himself and use all of his knowledge to

change from one person to another. Whether that was a good decision or not isn’t directly stated,

but it is inferred that sometimes certain aspirations need to be left out of reach.​ Alan Ehrenhalt

mentions being optimistic in a tough situation in the conclusion of​ The Price of Progress​, “ We

have lost a great deal in the loosenings and upheavals that have twisted across our lives. More
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than any of the others, though, we have reason to ask what we have gained in exchange for the

things that have been taken away” ( Ehrenhalt 7). Jacob got Maddie, Jupiter, friends, and family

taken from him. But, instead ended up being a much better person who cares about others. Dr.

Jekyll had everything he needed and then it was taken when he decided to enhance his evilness.

With every step forward Joseph and Jekyll had to pay a price that wasn’t easy but well worth it

in the end.

Orbiting Jupiter and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two books with

similar themes but the main characters progress in very opposing directions. Jacob matures into a

more open-minded and understanding boy who, through all his hardships, decides to persevere in

hopes of a great outcome. Dr. Jekyll also progresses in his studies and knowledge but he takes a

path to his downfall. After allowing himself to test out evil he can no longer control it and he

loses himself and his genuine personality. All in all, both characters reached their goal and

morally progressed. However, all the glory came with a price, for Jacob, it was worth it, but Dr.

Jekyll may have wasted everything good he worked for and ruined his peaceful soul.
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Work Cited

Ehrenhalt, Alan. “The Price of Progress.” EBSCO, ​http://search.ebscohost.com​. Accessed 13

Sept. 2018.

Hermann, Julia. “Possibilities of Moral Progress in the Face of Evolution.” EBSCO,

http://search.ebscohost.com​. Accessed 13 Sept. 2018.

Ruyter, Doret and Schinkel, Anders. “Individual Moral Development and Moral Progress.”

EBSCO, ​http://search.ebscohost.com​. Accessed 13 Sept. 2018.

Schmidt, Gary.​ Orbiting Jupiter.​ Harcourt, Inc., 2015.

Stevenson, Robert. ​The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.​Dver, Inc., 1991.