Mr. Gabriel John Utterson is one of the major characters in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
He witnessed many exhilarating events through the story, yet he has a very dull and odd personality. As it states on the very first page of the novel, “…that was never lighted by a smile,” reflects this notion. Utterson is like that throughout the entire novel. Also on the first page it says that Utterson is “lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable” which again shows how he is a very strange man. His lovability could come from his only remarkable quality that Stevenson gives him, which is loyalty.For example, he is willing to stay friends with someone whose reputation has been ruined.
This is what leads him to investigate the situation of Dr. Jekyll. Stevenson wante
...d to make Mr. Gabriel John Utterson like a Victorian Gentleman as much as he could. Utterson does not gossip or spread lies; all he wants to do is maintain order and etiquette. Also, he is very protective over his friends’ reputations, and treats them with respect which is a great quality.
For instance, when he suspects Dr. Jekyll of unlawful behavior such as blackmail or giving Mr.Hyde, a suspected murderer, a place to stay, he chooses to look past it instead of questioning it and eventually destroying his reputation. Utterson is devoted to reason and common sense. When he investigates what later becomes an uncanny series of events, he does not let himself even consider the thought that something mysterious may be occurring. He believes that crimes might be taking place, but nothing out of the ordinary
or mystical.
Even at the end when he is call upon by Poole to Jekyll's home and all the servants are gathered terrified in the hallway, Utterson keeps looking for an explanation that upholds reason.He anxiously tries to find excuses not to take any extreme steps to interfere with Jekyll's personal life. Just like the Victorian society, Utterson prefers the suppression or avoidance of exposure to the shame or disarray that the truth might bring. Although Utterson sticks strictly to order and rationality, he notices the supernatural quality of the events he looks into. Because we see the novel through Utterson's eyes, Stevenson cannot permit Utterson to be too derivative otherwise the novel's creepy mood would suffer.
Likewise, Stevenson gives nightmares to Utterson and gives him gloomy premonitions as he travels through the city.
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