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Research Essay
Research Essay
Zoey Cambley
Ms. Moss
21 October 2018
Manipulation Transformation
Manipulation can be seen as an evil entity, yet it can also been seen as a good
entity in some situations. It is the power that someone has to maneuver you to make a choice in
their favor or for their pleasure. Just as this evil versus good trend is in the foundation of
manipulation, it is also found in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis
Stevenson. Self manipulation plays a role with Dr. Jekyll when he is fighting his villainous side
of Mr. Hyde. Though this book does make a good case for the dynamics of manipulation, a more
modern take on a positive manipulation example can be found in Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D.
Schmidt. This journey embarks on a delinquent named Joseph who then becomes the foster
brother of Jack. Jack tries to nudge (manipulate) Joseph to open up about how his life, but
Madeleine was the one who got Joseph to open up and then become happy. Therefore,
manipulation is the primary theme connecting Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Orbiting Jupiter.
Those who relish in the displeasure of others or go out of their way to seek the
unhappiness of others, are manipulators. This conceptual personality can be seen by Mr. Hyde in
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and by Joseph in Orbiting Jupiter. So to understand the mindset of a
manipulator, Abigail Brenner explains the qualities that make up a manipulator. In 9 Classic
Traits of Manipulative People she asserts [that], “A manipulator avoids responsibilities for his
own conduct by blaming others for causing it. Manipulative people prey on our sensibilities,
emotional sensitivity, and especially conscientiousness”. This then correlates with Joseph in
Orbiting Jupiter. When he is explaining what happened with his terrible incident with the
teacher, he did not show remorse for the teacher, nor did he take full responsibility of it. Joseph
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blamed the accident all on the drugs he was given and didn’t even fault himself for being in that
situation. All he expressed was a need to better his life by getting his daughter back. This is then
the first sign of a manipulative behavior in Joseph. Another example of this unaccountable
behavior is expressed by Mr. Hyde, he used Dr. Jekyll’s weakness of having a longing desire to
be able to be two people at once. Mr. Hyde was the little voice in the back of Dr. Jekyll’s head,
influencing him to create the potion in the first place. After relinquishing this pleasure, Dr. Jekyll
thinks he has the perfect split life because his true self doesn’t have to volunteer in these hideous
acts. Mr. Hyde then expands this manipulative personality on others with his acts of crimes. Yet
still conveniences Dr. Jekyll that it’s okay to commit those crimes because technically it’s Mr.
Hyde that is the culprit. He created this crusaid that preyed on Dr. Jekyll’s sensitivity of not
The evil side of Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, then assumed power over his
consciousness. This is when he notices that his want of being Mr. Hyde is no more, and he is
being manipulative into indulging the villainous side. This realization is declared by Dr. Jekyll,
“It was on this side that my new power tempted me until I fell in slavery” (Stevenson 72). Dr.
Jekyll probably didn’t come to the conclusion that his experiment, Mr. Hyde, would be able to
gain main control. He’s main vision was to be able to have the best of both worlds. Yet with Mr.
Hyde taking human form with his own thoughts and actions, of course he would always want to
be himself and not some half version. So Mr. hyde did every possible trick with maneuvering Dr.
Jekyll. But the real ace up his sleeve was gaining control of being able to transform from Dr.
Jekyll to himself as he pleased. Mr. Hyde needed to have the main control so he could carry out
what he loved most, hurting and manipulating others. Which lead him to commit the murder of
Sir Danvers Carew. Though when Dr. Jekyll realized this, it was much too late. Going with this
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split personality of evil versus good, Joseph also manifests this attribute. Joseph admits that he
was overcame by a unknown being inside himself that was manipulating him to not care about
the risks ahead. This is displayed when Joseph hears about Madeline's death, he explains,
“He didn’t know what was coming over him, but it was huge and terrible and strong. It
was inside him and outside him, and it was already starting to scream, and it was getting
louder and his head was getting louder and his brain was getting louder and he threw
water in his face but he couldn’t stop it he couldn’t stop it he couldn’t stop it he couldn’t
Joseph never took the moral fault for trying to kill the teacher, so maybe this is due to him
believing it wasn’t his true self that did the action. The drug that he took, assumed his right state
and released the evil side of Joseph and that’s why he went after the teacher. This other Joseph
coexists with the traits of Mr. Hyde, both being manipulative of their better haves. The evil sides
forced them to do the unthinkable in their right states. But Madeleine’s death is what caused
Joseph to take the drug, though he is still flawed for taking it. Yet both fit the mold for a
manipulator.
When hearing the word manipulation, it can be perceived as very negative and in
most cases is. But there are some incidents where a positive manipulation can take form. In
Situationism, Manipulation, and Objective Self-Awareness Hagop Sarkissian illustrates the ideas
of how manipulation can be used for good. He address how manipulation is used in our daily life
by explaining,
“The precise contours of manipulation are complicated and hard to pin down, partly
because influence and sway are part of the very fabric of social life—T.M. Wilkinson
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notes that people can be manipulated when they go shopping, strike contracts, vote, study
Yes, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde does have a wicked manipulative theme. Yet
a good manipulation theme can also be argued to be present alongside the evil. This time the
manipulator is the good-hearted Mr. Utterson who is not only a integreible lawyer, but a caring
friend of Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson is the lawyer who manages the will of Dr. Jekyll in the book.
His biggest contribution was drawing to the conclusion that Mr. Hyde did in fact commit all
those terrible crimes, which lead him to raise questions about it to Dr. Jekyll. This forced Dr.
Jekyll to face the music, and realize that being two people at once is no longer possible. Which
then lead him to reveal his activities to a colleague named Dr. Lanyon. Along with trying to get
Dr. Jekyll to reveal the honest truth about Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson also tends to Dr. Jekyll as a
supportive friend. He came to his house to question the will, and then throughout the book he
checked on Dr. Jekyll occasionally at his laboratory. By doing this, it forced Dr. Jekyll to try and
make more appearances in society when he is his rightful self. Thus displaying how Mr. Utterson
manipulated Dr. Jekyll in a positive manner. In Orbiting Jupiter Jack attempted to do this for
Joseph, though he only accomplished getting Joseph to open up. Their standard friendship even
resulted in Joseph being comfortable enough to entell his life story to Jack. This did relieve
anguish for Joseph, but the only person that was able to manipulate Joseph that would benefit
him for good, was Madeleine. Meeting her and having a relationship, helped Joseph be content
with his life for a brief time. Madeleine’s manipulation is being used for as a blessing. She was
such an important person in Joseph’s life, all she wanted was for him to be happy. When
“They watched movies, they played tennis on clay courts, they walked long walks
through the back acreage, and they swam in the pool. She laughed and sometimes he
laughed too. She never asked him why his face looked so beat up” (Stevenson 70).
This demonstrates the persuasive power Madeline had over Joseph. She was able to convince
him to take a vigorous walk of 7 miles to her house on most days of the summer. Then at her
house, she was able to reach the vulnerable side of Joseph with his troubling thoughts and sad
present of living with his father. She crowded his mind with fond memories of the two of them
doing activities at her house. This lead to him being positively manipulated by her so he could
find happiness in his life. So that’s why when Joseph found out about the death of Madeleine, his
split self was liberated. She was his calm before the storm, and once it ended he became a
hurricane. Him acting out after her death in such a extreme way is the biggest example of her
control on Joseph. Most honest people don’t believe they are being manipulative, but as seen
with Mr. Utterson and Madeleine, it doesn’t necessarily have to be negative. They both were
looking out for important people in their to have them be fulfilled with joy.
through their life. Manipulation has to have a driving force that pushes a person to want to see
how they can control others. Marco Brambilla and Paolo Riva wrote about a study, Predicting
Deservingness and Schadenfreude that was conducted and was based on finding the drive for
person and found that people felt more schadenfreude when a misfortune befell an
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individual lacking morality. Study 2 confirmed the primary role of morality in driving
schadenfreude by manipulating not only morality and sociability, but also competence”.
Schadenfreude is having the pleasure of the misfortune of another. It is what drives adverse
manipulation with people full of malice. Although Joseph does display self manipulation, the
real schadenfreude seeker is Joseph’s father. His father was the evil that Madeleine had to
manipulate Joseph to stop dwelling about. Before meeting Madeleine, Joseph was put down by
his father beating him often. The father found the pleasure in destroying any chance of happiness
in Joseph’s life. Even after Madeleine’s death when Joseph was with his foster parents, the only
way the father could torture Joseph was through Jupiter. He postponed the adoption for her so he
could get a benefit and try to remind Joseph that he still had some power. This father had such a
need to feel superior that at the end of the book he kidnapped Joseph which ended tragically with
the both of them driving into the river. In spite of that, Mr. Hyde’s personality also complements
that of Joseph’s father. With seeking to find the misfortune of his victims and lastly, Dr. Jekyll.
When Dr. Jekyll tried to better himself by not taking the potion for a month, but then indulging
Mr. Hyde and took it again. Mr. Hyde was severly repressed for this time being, which made him
act out even worse than before. His authority was threaten and he had to prove his power over
Dr. Jekyll. To illustrate this drive for manipulation, in the last concluding thoughts of Dr. Jekyll
he admits that Mr. Hyde exudes a manipulative personality. An exemplification of this would be,
“This familiar that I called out of my own soul and sent forth alone to do this good
pleasure, was a being inherently malign and villainous; his every act and thought centered
on self; drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of fortune to another;
Despite Dr. Jekyll coming to this conclusion, it was much too late for him to make any life
altering changes. He saw the villainous side of Mr. Hyde in actuality, but with no solution to
rewind his error of creating the potion in the first place, Dr. Jekyll had to prepare for the worst.
This manipulative force of Mr. Hyde lead him to his demise just like Joseph.
Although most don’t like to admit it, manipulation is everywhere. Parents manipulate
their kids to want to go to college. Commercials manipulate their audience to want to buy their
products. Friends manipulate their friends through gossip of others. Madeleine and Mr. Utterson
manipulated Joseph and Dr. Jekyll to find happiness. Yet manipulation isn’t strictly just for such
mundane occurrences. People with no sense of soul will manipulate others to fail for their
enjoyment. Yet self manipulation also made an appearance with Dr. Jekyll and Joseph and their
evil sides. Manipulation is one of those topics where people look at it through a black and white
lense. It is seen as very heinous without even a consideration of its other complex details that
make up its entity. But most people in society do this with everyday life, and not give a concept
another thought other than being distinctively bad or good. This revelation also coincides with
manipulation because most don’t think that it is in the daily life of society. So instead of being
persuaded by another’s wishes, think is this for their pleasure? Are they being manipulative?
Works Cited
Brambilla, Marco, and Paolo Riva. “Predicting Pleasure at Others’ Misfortune: Morality
traits-manipulative-people.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Stories. Pan
Macmillan, 2017.