The hand in this drawing/collage represents the idea that the hand is constant and structured between the two, but it's also uncertain. I chose to create this hand by layering several printouts of text I had. (The text here is from the critic of Goblin Market we read, which I printed out for my presentation). The words on each of these pages is structured and defined, imprinted within the page, but they're also fluid and open to interpretation. In layering them on top of each other, we also see the layers of Jekyll and Hyde within each other, not the sharp and well-defined fragmentation.
In many ways too, the hand is variable throughout Jekyll and Hyde. One like Utterson may write it is “unquestionably the doctor’s hand” (52)--a clear statement of identity–but it also shares the same hand between them. Yet this unquestionable and certain hand is also described, for Jekyll, to “trembl[e] at the bare thought” (65). Likewise for Hyde, his hand is described to cover his face in state of madness. It is both the protection of their identities, as well as one of change and fluidity. At other points, the hand is shown to transform: it is written that “in the hands of Edward Hyde...turn towards the monstrous” (X), where the hand is described as the turning point of metamorphosis between the two characters.
The hand, then, must be both a symbol of certainty and identity, while also open to change and connection. For them to write their own identity, the hand must be one of certainty and change; they must be able to adapt is as they wish, while seemingly differentiating each other. The hand symbolizes both their separate identities, but also the connection between them. In many ways, the hand shows their identities are defined by their relation with each other. The hand is both an opportunity for different truths and identities, but it’s also the connection between and across multiple.