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Balefire Publishing
The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility
The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility
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The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells, who called the novel "an exercise in youthful blasphemy." The text of the novel is the narration of Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat who is left on the island home of Doctor Moreau, who creates sentient beings from animals via vivisection. The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature.
When the novel was written in 1896, there was much discussion in Europe about degeneration and animal vivisection. Interest groups were formed to address the issue: the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection was formed two years after the publication of the novel.
The Island of Doctor Moreau is the account of one Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked Englishman with a scientific education. A passing ship takes him aboard and a man named Montgomery revives him. The ship is bound for Noble's Isle. Prendick also meets a grotesque bestial native named M'ling who appears to be Montgomery's manservant. In addition, the ship is transporting a number of animals which belong to Montgomery.
As the ship approaches the island, the captain demands Prendick leave the ship with Montgomery. However, Montgomery explains that he will not be able to host Prendick either. Despite this, the captain leaves Prendick in a dinghy, after unloading Montgomery and his animals and sails away. Seeing that the captain has abandoned Prendick, Montgomery takes pity and rescues him. It is explained that ships rarely pass the island so Prendick will be housed in an outer room of an enclosed compound. The island belongs to a Dr Moreau. Prendick remembers that he has heard of Dr Moreau, formerly an eminent physiologist in London whose gruesome experiments in vivisection had been publicly exposed.
The next day, Dr Moreau begins working on a puma. Prendick gathers that Dr Moreau is performing a painful experiment on the animal, and its anguished cries drive Prendick out into the jungle. While he wanders, he comes upon a group of people who seem human but have an unmistakable resemblance to hogs. As he walks back to the enclosure, he suddenly realizes he is being followed by a figure in the jungle. He panics and flees and the figure chases. As his pursuer bears down on him, Prendick manages to stun him with a stone and observes the pursuer is a monstrous hybrid of animal and man. When he returns to the enclosure and questions Montgomery, Montgomery refuses to be open with him. After failing to get an explanation, Prendick finally gives in and takes a sleeping draught.
Prendick awakes the next morning with the previous night's activities fresh in his mind. Seeing that the door to Moreau's operating room has been left unlocked, he walks in to find a humanoid form lying in bandages on the table before he is ejected by a shocked and angry Dr Moreau. He believes that Dr Moreau has been vivisecting humans and that he is the next test subject. He flees into the jungle, where he meets an Ape-Man who takes him to a colony of similarly half-human/half-animal creatures. The leader, a large gray thing named the Sayer of the Law, has him recite a strange litany called the Law that involves prohibitions against bestial behavior and praise for Moreau.
Suddenly, Dr Moreau bursts into the colony looking for Prendick, but Prendick escapes to the jungle. He makes for the ocean where he plans to drown himself rather than allow Dr Moreau to experiment on him. But Dr Moreau explains that the creatures called the Beast Folk were not formerly men, but rather animals.
The book continues from here.
When the novel was written in 1896, there was much discussion in Europe about degeneration and animal vivisection. Interest groups were formed to address the issue: the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection was formed two years after the publication of the novel.
The Island of Doctor Moreau is the account of one Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked Englishman with a scientific education. A passing ship takes him aboard and a man named Montgomery revives him. The ship is bound for Noble's Isle. Prendick also meets a grotesque bestial native named M'ling who appears to be Montgomery's manservant. In addition, the ship is transporting a number of animals which belong to Montgomery.
As the ship approaches the island, the captain demands Prendick leave the ship with Montgomery. However, Montgomery explains that he will not be able to host Prendick either. Despite this, the captain leaves Prendick in a dinghy, after unloading Montgomery and his animals and sails away. Seeing that the captain has abandoned Prendick, Montgomery takes pity and rescues him. It is explained that ships rarely pass the island so Prendick will be housed in an outer room of an enclosed compound. The island belongs to a Dr Moreau. Prendick remembers that he has heard of Dr Moreau, formerly an eminent physiologist in London whose gruesome experiments in vivisection had been publicly exposed.
The next day, Dr Moreau begins working on a puma. Prendick gathers that Dr Moreau is performing a painful experiment on the animal, and its anguished cries drive Prendick out into the jungle. While he wanders, he comes upon a group of people who seem human but have an unmistakable resemblance to hogs. As he walks back to the enclosure, he suddenly realizes he is being followed by a figure in the jungle. He panics and flees and the figure chases. As his pursuer bears down on him, Prendick manages to stun him with a stone and observes the pursuer is a monstrous hybrid of animal and man. When he returns to the enclosure and questions Montgomery, Montgomery refuses to be open with him. After failing to get an explanation, Prendick finally gives in and takes a sleeping draught.
Prendick awakes the next morning with the previous night's activities fresh in his mind. Seeing that the door to Moreau's operating room has been left unlocked, he walks in to find a humanoid form lying in bandages on the table before he is ejected by a shocked and angry Dr Moreau. He believes that Dr Moreau has been vivisecting humans and that he is the next test subject. He flees into the jungle, where he meets an Ape-Man who takes him to a colony of similarly half-human/half-animal creatures. The leader, a large gray thing named the Sayer of the Law, has him recite a strange litany called the Law that involves prohibitions against bestial behavior and praise for Moreau.
Suddenly, Dr Moreau bursts into the colony looking for Prendick, but Prendick escapes to the jungle. He makes for the ocean where he plans to drown himself rather than allow Dr Moreau to experiment on him. But Dr Moreau explains that the creatures called the Beast Folk were not formerly men, but rather animals.
The book continues from here.
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