Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde

What if you drank the potion?

Dr. Jekyll is a highly respected member of his community. He pleases everyone, does what he’s supposed to do, and never does what he really wants to do or says what he really wants to say. In other words, a woman.

My book club read a classic last month, Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And you’re probably familiar with the story: The repressed Dr. Jekyll invents a powerful potion that will change him into Mr. Hyde. Anonymous, uninhibited, as Hyde he can do whatever he wants, say whatever he wants, with no qualms about hurting anyone’s feelings or rocking the boat or getting into trouble. In other words, Trump.

Stevenson, master craftsman that he is, tantalizes us by never revealing exactly what it is that Hyde does. He pursues pleasures that are at first “undignified” but later tilt towards the “monstrous.” And in our book club discussion, the question arose: what would happen if you drank the potion? What would you do?

I gave that some thought. If I could indulge in any pleasure, no matter how harmful or sinful? Hm. Can’t really think of anything, to be honest. Wild sex? Sounds like too much work, I prefer to nap. Getting drunk? I get a headache after three glasses of wine. My pleasures are simple ones, mostly involving books, dogs, and quilts. And sugar.

So what would I do—what would you do?—what would all us Democrats do, if we drank the potion that destroys all inhibitions? My book group, wineglasses in hand, pondered this question for a while. And then one of them came up with the answer: We’d let ourselves get angry.

We would rage, that’s what we’d do in our newfound anonymity (kind of like right-wing social media trolls). We’d scream, and rant, and yell, and tell all those STUPID IDIOTS WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP EXACTLY WHAT WE THOUGHT OF THEM. Oh, it would be heaven. It’s cathartic just typing it. I AM SO PISSED. Aren’t you?

Stevenson’s story ends in an odd way, though. The evil Hyde doesn’t come to a bad end pursued by pitchfork-wielding citizens. Instead (spoiler alert) he kills himself. Jekyll becomes addicted to being Hyde, and after a while he doesn’t even need to drink the potion, he just morphs into Hyde and can’t morph back. He finally dies, killed by his own evil.

Evil and hate and rage are fun. Let’s be honest, they are. And they’re not necessarily bad. Jekyll should have let some of that passion out, and he would have been healthier for it. If only he had taken a sip or two of the potion and cut loose a bit. We should be pissed, we should be angry about what has been taken away, for hope deferred and evil triumphant. And I’m angry because I was so ready to dust off my palms and say, “okay, Kamala, you take it from here,” and go back to my usual life. Now there’s all this work to do coming up, we have to do this all over again, which is really infuriating.

We should be furious. And we should say so. We should have said so sooner.

But, but, but…of course, it’s addicting in the end. Anger is like heroin, feels wonderful at first, but then you need more and more to give satisfaction. The ending of the book is chilling, where Jekyll weeps as he inhabits his real self for the last time, knowing the inevitable transformation into the raging, hate-filled Hyde is coming to overwhelm him.

We know this, right? The road Trump has chosen leads nowhere in the end. Sadly, I rather doubt he will be overcome with remorse and do himself in. He will probably die in his bed at the age of 107, rich and worshipped to the end. But Trumpism will consume itself eventually.

We’ll give up being mad, and then we’ll be sad, and then eventually we’ll get back to work. But take a sip or two of the potion and let it fuel your future.

Dear Friends,

Are you trying to make sense of this crazy new world and looking for something to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.

Every now and then I post some ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.

Together, I think, we could really make a difference.

          “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”

                                      --Noam Chomsky