How is the chapter "The Carew Murder Case" made to be disturbing to the reader?

Stevenson uses a range of techniques to make this passage of the novel dramatic and horrifying. This passage is significantly horrifying due to the melodramatic language, emotive imagery, and an array of language techniques, which were extremely common in gothic fiction, which was very popular during the 1880’s. This popularity could have been due to the Victorians nature of evasion, and how this novel allowed them to venture into the unknown. This passage vividly describes Hyde’s attack on his victim, witnessed and retold by a maid-servant.

Firstly, Stevenson uses many techniques of emphasis to exaggerate upon this violent and uncanny event. He uses contrast to juxtapose the sudden attack, and to deliberately create a sudden, horrifying attack:

“And then all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger…”

Stevenson uses shock tactics to emphasise the irrational nature of this murder. Initially Stevenson starts to describe the “aged and beautiful gentleman”, using hendiadys to emphasise the calm nature of the setting, until suddenly Hyde “[breaks] out of all bounds” and mercilessly attacks Carew. This quick change from the lengthy, descriptive introduction, to the sudden, harsh attack creates emphasis on the sheer brutality of Hyde. Stevenson also uses many plosives to depict Hyde as forceful and powerful. For example, “brandishing”, “broke out”, and “jumped”. The vivid language adds to the hyperbolic description which is horrifying to the reader. In addition, Hyde is compared to an ape in “ape-like fury”, showing that his attacks are primitive, which is enhanced by such intense vocabulary as “audibly shattering”.

Secondly, Stevenson uses pathetic fallacy to add emphasis. This is a classic technique of gothic fiction, which, as said, was very popular at the time:

“Although a fog rolled over the city in the small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless…”

Throughout the novel, the “fog” of London is frequently mentioned, representing the Victorians tendency to hide the truth, and their fear of exposure. Here, in this passage, Stevenson mentions that “the early part of the night was cloudless”, giving the reader a glimpse of the reality of London life. Furthermore, Stevenson also mentions that “the lane… was brilliantly lit by the full moon”. Despite the fact that the night and moon often represents evil is the majority of gothic fiction, in this passage Stevenson uses it to create a sense of security. However, he then goes on to juxtapose this safe environment with the ruthless murder of Sir Danvers Carew. Stevenson also uses the full moon so that from a practical point-of-view, the upstairs maid can clearly see and describe the encounter.

Finally, Stevenson reveals the extent of Hyde's evil. He savagely murders an innocent man, without provocation, and apparently without reason.

“… the bones were audible shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway.”

The depiction of Hyde as pure evil could mean that he would naturally detest meeting such a "good" gentleman, one who is the direct opposite of Hyde's loathsome self. It is as though Hyde was not content to simply murder Carew, but to completely destroy him; he even mangled the dead body so that the bones were “audibly shattered”. Stevenson shows that the goodness of Sir Danvers brings out the most intense evil in Hyde. In addition to this, Hyde could have killed Sir Danvers Carew simply to demonstrate his power and to release his evil. Thus, Hyde is progressively getting stronger, which forebodes the events later in the novella.

Overall, this passage is one of the more horrifying and dramatic passages of the novel, due to the graphic description of the murder. This is also emphasised by the details of the “moon” and “fog”, which add to the uncanny nature of this passage. This is combined with the sheer evil of Hyde, to create a passage which would horrify the reader. Also, all of these features are characteristics used in the gothic mode, which was so popular at the time.