‘The Story of the Door’
Summary
Mr Utterson
is a well-respected, wealthy London lawyer who was reserved and, arguably,
dull. Despite this, he appears lovable.
Mr Enfield
is Mr Utterson’s cousin and good friend whom he enjoys taking long walks with.
Whilst on these walks they do not engage in conversation, yet they thoroughly
enjoy the time they spend together.
The story
begins whilst these two men are out on their weekly walk. They are passing
through a quiet, well-presented street and notice a door without a knocker or a
bell and the door itself is scratched and stained. The building that is
attached to seems run-down and out of place in this respectable neighbourhood.
Seeing the door inspired Enfield to relate a story that he had heard in
connection with the door.
Enfield had
been in the neighbourhood late one night when he witnessed a man knock over,
and then trample on, a young girl. At this point Enfield chased and caught the
man and brought him back to the assembled crowd and demanded that the man pay
one hundred pounds or they would ruin his reputation in London. The man went to
the aforementioned door and went inside and reappeared with a cheque for ninety
pounds and ten pounds in gold. The cheque bore a different name – that of a
well-respected man. Enfield suspected that the cheque would be a forgery and
that it would not cash at the bank so he forced the man to wait until morning
so they could go to the bank together. Contrary to his suspicions, the cheque
was good and was paid. This encourages Enfield to think that the ugly man was
blackmailing the bearer of the cheque.
Utterson
begins to ask a number of questions pertaining to the detail of the case.
Firstly he asks about whether the man had a key and secondly he asks what the
man looked like. Enfield cannot describe what the man looks like, despite being
able to picture his appearance in his head. He states instead that there is
something distinctly awful about him, that he is particularly despicable in
some way. He feels a distinct and unavoidable hatred towards him despite barely
knowing him. He then asks Enfield what this man’s name was and Enfield
reluctantly replies that he is called Hyde.
Enfield has
a rule; if something is strange then he chooses not to ask questions. As this
case is particularly unusual, both men decide never to talk of this incident
again.
Setting
The setting in chapter 1 is of a
street that is small but pleasantly presented. When compared to its neighbouring
streets it stands out because of this well-presented nature (the other streets
are more run-down). On this street one building stands out because it is
considerably less well-presented. We learn that this particular building has
been neglected and a conversation about this building that prompts Enfield to
relate the story of Hyde to Utterson.
Street:
‘The street
was small and what is called quiet but it drove a thriving trade on the
weekdays’
‘It
instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger’
‘The street
shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood like a fire in a forest with
its freshly-painted shutters, well-polished brasses’
‘It was two
storeys high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower storey and a
blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore every feature the
marks of prolonged and sordid negligence’
‘The shop
front stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of
smiling saleswomen.’
Door:
‘The door
was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained’
‘The
schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation
no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their
ravages’
Character - Mr Utterson
‘Mr Utterson the lawyer was a man of
rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and
embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and
yet somehow lovable.’
Profession =
lawyer. Stutters while he speaks; he is not a good speaker. Old fashioned in
his views. Tall and skinny and not particularly good looking. His clothing is
old and he is not someone who dresses ‘well’. Despite these negative
attributes, there is something friendly and likeable about him.
‘It was frequently his fortune to be
the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of
down-going men’
Utterson is
prepared to be friends with men whose reputation is falling in the hope
that he can help them or continue to be their friend. He does not judge them.
‘His friends were those of his own
blood or those he had known the longest; his affections, like ivy, were the
growth of time’
He didn’t
have too many friends but those that he does he is exceptionally close to. The
comparison is made to ivy which covers buildings; he similarly covers his
friends in the embrace of his friendship.
Hyde:
‘It wasn’t like a man; it was like
some damned Juggernaut’
‘Wasn’t like
a man’ dehumanises him. Makes him seem less relatable – makes him seem somewhat
spooky. ‘Juggernaut’ suggests that he has no empathy – he doesn’t care if he
hurts people; setting out to destroy things.
‘There is something wrong with his
appearance, something displeasing, something downright detestable’
‘I never saw a man I so disliked and yet I
scarce know why’
‘He was perfectly cool and made no resistance
yet gave me one look so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running’
‘I had taken a loathing to the
gentlemen at first sight’
‘He is not easy to describe’
Just by
looking at him the audience becomes aware that there is something terribly wrong with him and
that he is a bad person. His external appearance reflects his internal horrible
personality. He is so wholly bad that his appearance is also affected. This description of his appearance builds
tension.
‘The two ran into one another
naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing;
for the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the
ground’
This
quotation explains what happened between Hyde and the girl.
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