November 13 marked the 175th anniversary of Robert Louis Stevenson's birth. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde was written in Bournemouth, a seaside town in Dorset, where Stevenson moved in 1884 to enjoy its sea air and milder climate. The Bournemouth Writing Festival is held each year on the grounds of his home, where he wrote the novella. Bournemouth is associated with many writers, including Mary Shelley and J.R.R. Tolkien, who drew inspiration from the town. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde is often seen as an exploration of duality in human nature, typically illustrating an internal conflict between good and evil, with variations such as the human-versus-animal theme.
Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, endings, transitions, and doorways, is portrayed with two faces—one looking to the past and the other to the future. As the guardian of thresholds, he symbolises duality, change, and the shift from one state to another, making him a representation of transformation and new starts. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Janus, are connected through their shared theme of duality. History reflects this pattern: leaders like King Leopold II, Stalin, and Nixon maintained impressive public images even as their secretive actions caused harm, repression, or betrayal. Collectively, these examples show how the gap between appearance and reality often influences both character and power, reminding us that the human story is filled with complex, two-faced lives.
In cinema, the theme of duality appears repeatedly through characters who present one identity to the world while concealing another, revealing the tension between appearance and reality. Figures like Norman Bates (Psycho), Jack Torrance (The Shining), Tyler Durden (Fight Club) embody this split nature, shifting between innocence and menace, heroism and corruption, or sanity and chaos. Their stories show how film uses transformation—psychological, moral, or literal—to explore the complexity of human nature, reminding viewers that even the most familiar faces can hide conflicting truths within.
Jane Goodall was a renowned British primatologist, environmentalist, and one of the world’s leading experts on chimpanzees. She is best known for her groundbreaking, decades-long research at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, where she transformed our understanding of animal behaviour by documenting chimpanzees’ use of tools, social structures, and emotions. As an undergraduate student, I studied her essays on the evolution of chimpanzees. As a teacher, I have taught about her research and findings as part of the Part II English coursework. As a big fan of empirical research methods in the humanities, I have always admired her for her arduous fieldwork and dedication to her research. Jane Goodall passed away on 1 October 2025, at the age of 91, while in California on a speaking tour. The Netflix show ‘Famous Last Words’ is an interview format documentary in which notable figures are interviewed on camera only once, and the footage is held until after they have died for posthumous release. Jane Goodall’s episode was filmed in March 2025 with host Brad Falchuk on an empty stage, cameras remotely operated to maintain intimacy.
As someone who was deeply affected by Jane Goodall’s death, I watched the 55-minute documentary while travelling from Chennai to Bangalore. I was deeply touched by Jane's words and her candid tone.
Last week, I received my copy of Surf&Dive (2025, Book 20), a long-form magazine from the Hindu group. Reading the article titled "Jane Goodall: was there another side to the storied scientist?" was an eye-opener for me. The article discusses the social media post by Mordecai Ogada, an eminent Kenya-based carnivore ecologist and scholar, following Goodall’s death. It highlights the increasing critiques of her legacy, especially from African scholars who view her as part of a long tradition of “environmental colonialism” that centred Western voices, excluded local communities, and romanticised the lone white conservation hero. She has been accused of retaining the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania as a "private research site" since 1975. While admired for her courage, spirituality, and influence, Goodall is also seen as a figure whose conservation work contained contradictions—celebrated worldwide, yet entangled in debates about privilege, representation, and the decolonisation of wildlife science.
Jane Goodall’s life, with its profound compassion for animals alongside critiques of privilege and environmental colonialism, reminds us that duality is not a literary device but a human condition. To recognise both her brilliance and her blind spots is to accept that even our heroes are complex, shaped by their times as much as their ideals. In acknowledging these layered selves—fictional and real—we open space for a richer, more honest understanding of the world and our place in it.
Reference
https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/11/op-ed-why-i-got-off-the-jane-goodall-bandwagon/
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