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Description edit
An English traveler, shipwrecked on a remote Pacific island, meets notorious vivisectionist Dr. Moreau and the creatures that have resulted from his experiments in turning animals into human beings.
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters/People edit
- Edward Prendick: Narrator of the story, a man of science
- Doctor Moreau: A scandal-hit vivisectionist who has relocated to a remote island to pursue his experiments
- Montgomery: Doctor Moreau's assistant
- M'ling: Montgomery's assistant
- Sayer of the Law: An unidentified Beast Man who is the keeper of the Law.
- Leopard Man: A leopard-based rebel.
- Hyena-Swine: A carnivorous hybrid of hyena and pig.
Quotes edit
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“Very much indeed of what we call moral education is such an artificial modification and perversion of instinct; pugnacity is trained into courageous self-sacrifice, and suppressed sexuality into religious emotion.”
Dr. Moreau -
“Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
Sayer of the Law -
“<B>ut there are times when the little cloud spreads until it obscures the whole sky. Then I look about me at my fellow-men. And I go in fear. I see faces keen and bright, others dull or dangerous, others unsteady, insincere; none that have the calm authority of a reasonable soul. I feel as though the animal was surging up through them; that presently the degradation of the Islanders will be played over again on a larger scale. I know this is an illusion, that these seeming men and women about me are indeed men and women, men and women forever, perfectly reasonable creatures, full of human desires and tender solicitude, emancipated from instinct, and the slaves of no fantastic Law -- being altogether different from the Beast Folk. Yet I shrink from them, from their curious glances, their inquiries and assistance, and long to be away from them and alone.”
Edward Prendick
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I could not persuade myself that the men and women I met were not also another, still passably human, Beast People, animals half-wrought into the outward image of human souls; and that they would presently begin to revert, to show first this bestial mark and then that.
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‘These creatures of mine seemed strange and uncanny to you as soon as you began to observe them, but to me, just after I make them, they seem to be indisputable human beings.
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Then with men, the more intelligent they become the more intelligently they will see after their own welfare, and the less they will need the goad to keep them out of danger. I never yet heard of a useless thing that was not ground out of existence by evolution sooner or later. Did you? And pain gets needless.
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‘Not to go on all-Fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men? ‘Not to suck up Drink; that is the Law. Are we not Men? ‘Not to eat Flesh or Fish; that is the Law. Are we not Men? ‘Not to claw Bark of Trees; that is the Law. Are we not Men? ‘Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not Men?’
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they had certain Fixed Ideas implanted by Moreau in their minds which absolutely bounded their imaginations. They were really hypnotized, had been told certain things were impossible, and certain things were not to be done, and these prohibitions were woven into the texture of their minds beyond any possibility of disobedience or dispute.
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Very much indeed of what we call moral education is such an artificial modification and perversion of instinct; pugnacity is trained into courageous self-sacrifice, and suppressed sexuality into religious emotion.
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What is your theologian’s ecstasy but Mahomet’s houri in the dark?
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I had here before me the whole balance of human life in miniature, the whole interplay of instinct, reason, and fate in its simplest form. The Leopard Man had happened to go under. That was all the difference.
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I would go out into the streets to fight with my delusion, and prowling women would mew after me, furtive craving men glance jealously at me, weary pale workers go coughing by me with tired eyes and eager paces like wounded deer dripping blood, old people, bent and dull, pass murmuring to themselves and all unheeding a ragged tail of gibing children.
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I suppose everything in existence takes its colour from the average hue of our surroundings:
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Setting & Locations edit
The story takes place between 1887 and 1888 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America.
- The ship Ipecacuanha: A schooner ship which rescues Edward Prendick after the collision of the Lady Vain he was previously traveling on. It is owned and manned by the Captain, a boisterous man with red hair and freckles.
- The island: The island where Dr. Moreau and Montgomery take up to conduct the experiments.
First Sentence edit
I do not propose to add anything to what has already been written concerning the loss of the Lady Vain.
Table of Contents edit
Introduction
I. In the Dingey of the "Lady Vain"
II. The Man Who Was Going Nowhere
III. The Strange Face
IV. At the Schooner's Rail
V. The Man Who Had Nowhere to Go
VI. The Evil-Looking Boatmen
VII. The Locked Door
VIII. The Crying of the Puma
IX. The Thing in the Forest
X. The Crying of the Man
XI. The Hunting of the Man
XII. The Sayers of the Law
XIII. The Parley
XIV. Doctor Moreau Explains
XV. Concerning the Beast Folk
XVI. How the Beast Folk Taste Blood
XVII. A Catastrophe
XVIII. The Finding of Moreau
XIX. Montgomery's Bank Holiday
XX. Alone With the Beast Folk
XXI. The Reversion of the Beast Folk
XXII. The Man Alone
Glossary edit
- vivisection: (from Latin vivus ("alive") + sectio ("cutting")) is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure.
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Humanity: What does it means to be human? What seperates man from the beast?
- De-Evolution of Man: If man can evolve "up", why should he not just as easily evolve "down"?
- Playing God: What are the consequences of man trying to play God in science?
Series & Lists edit
This is book 20 of 200 in Newman and Jones 200 Best Horror Novels. (community list)
Preceded by The King in Yellow, and followed by Dracula.
This is book 78 of 96 in The Art of Manliness' Essential Man’s Library. (authoritative list)
Preceded by A River Runs Through It, and followed by The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
This book is in Penguin Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 796 of 1271 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
Preceded by Quo Vadis, and followed by The Time Machine.
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Heinemann, Stone & Kimball
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: 1896
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 209
Publisher: Heinemann, Stone & Kimball
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: 1896
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 209
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 823.912
Subjects edit
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