PARTISAN REVIEW
593
to spiritual leadership, just as his frank animal smells are blended with the sly
but undeniable odor of sanctity. With Hyde there is no problem. That his dingy
living room reeks of urine doesn't at all disturb Jekyll, who, as a doctor, can't
afford to be squeamish anyway. Hyde is Hyde. But Utterson is always more
than Utterson. Or less. And Utterson insists that his admirers accept every–
thing about him. They're not permitted to subtract-or add-anything.
It's like the words that stream from Utterson's mouth, which never quite
closes even when he's not speaking. Long smutty stories. Platitudes and truisms
about the good life. And genuine, subtle, almost inhuman wisdom. But Utter–
son wouldn't let you throw out the first two parts and just keep the third. You
have to keep it all. Is that the secret of harmonious development, of the
well-rounded personality, of not being one-sided? Ifit is, Jekyll will never find
the way: he is incapable. And most likely that isn't the secret.Utterson never
encourages anyone to imitate him. On the contrary. His bullying, sardonic
treatment of his disciples suggests that the liberties he grants himself are
definitely not for them. Otherwise, how could Utterson get to lie in bed late,
wallowing in his breakfast, while everyone else at the Institute, pupils and staff
alike, rises at 6 a.m. each morning and spends most ofthe day chopping down
and pruning trees, tending the vegetable gardens, milking cows, preparing
meals, sewing clothes, mowing lawns, paving driveways, constructing new
buildings. "Work," Utterson's basic teaching method, for them; capricious
potency, afloat on the sea of liberty, for himself.
Jekyll notices a whip hanging on the wall ofthe bleak room, presumably a
souvenir left over from Hyde's s
&
m escapades. Utterson handles his disci–
ples as if he were a wild animal tamer. But Utterson, who is no stranger to
sadism, physical and mental, disapproves of whips. Having observed that
each person gives off radiations and emanations (that constitute, according to
Utterson, the person's "essence"), Utterson uses the octave upon octave of
emanations which he is capable of emitting-to subdue, subjugate, harass,
harness, and finally liberate each of his disciples, near and far, to become a
true will. Jekyll would prefer the whip.
In
the meantime, Jekyll has sedately abandoned his packing crate for a
mauve plastic couch scarred with cigarette burns across the room, while
Hyde, someone who has great difficulty in keeping still and can't remain
seated in one place for more than a few minutes, hops off his crate. He is
getting more orange juice, pouring in more gin: more gin than orange juice
this time. While taking note of Hyde's taste and what it reveals about his
deterioration-from satanic to eccentric-Jekyll approves of the orange juice
since Hyde has always suffered from a Vitamin C deficiency. He refuses a
second round for himself with a wave of his hand.
