In the second chapter, "The Search for Mr. Hyde," Mr. Utterson wishes to see Mr. Hyde for himself, having heard Mr. Enfield's strange story and confirmed that Dr. Jekyll's will does, indeed, name Hyde as his heir. Thus, "Mr. Utterson began to haunt the door of the by-street of shops" in the hopes that he will catch Hyde entering his front door just across the way. Utterson is described as "haunt[ing]" this area, just as...
In the second chapter, "The Search for Mr. Hyde," Mr. Utterson wishes to see Mr. Hyde for himself, having heard Mr. Enfield's strange story and confirmed that Dr. Jekyll's will does, indeed, name Hyde as his heir. Thus, "Mr. Utterson began to haunt the door of the by-street of shops" in the hopes that he will catch Hyde entering his front door just across the way. Utterson is described as "haunt[ing]" this area, just as a ghost would, likely because he is attempting to blend in and not be seen until he wishes it, just at the moment when he can spring forward and address Mr. Hyde. In other words, the verb "haunt" allows us to understand that Utterson is compared, via metaphor, to a ghost.
When Utterson does catch Hyde by surprise, "Mr. Hyde shrank back with a hissing intake of the breath." Again, the verb "hissing" helps us to understand that Hyde is being compared to a snake, a creature often linked to malice and deception. We are to understand that Hyde, too, embodies these qualities.
In the same chapter, Utterson speaks to Jekyll's butler, Poole, feeling sorry for the doctor. He says, "'my mind misgives me he is in deep waters!'" Dr. Jekyll is, of course, not really in deep waters, but he seems to be in big trouble. The comparison of his trouble to a flood conveys Utterson's sense of the danger these troubles seem to pose his friend and client.
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