H.G. Wells – The Island of Dr. Moreau
If you thought genetic engineering was a recent thing, then you’re dead wrong.
When most people consider the roots of science fiction to lie with Jules Verne, whose legacy includes stories of submarines and journeying to thetars s a long time befor technology and B movies could get that far, I compare him to a man who envisioned alien invasions, time travel and perhaps the most prophetic concept of them all, genetic engineering – and men playing god a long time before Jurassic Park ever hit that concept. This man is none other than H.G. Wells, writer of what were called ‘scientific romances’ but really set the true foundations for most science fiction novels hereafter. Most consider ‘War of the Worlds’ and ‘The Time machine’ to be his works of art, some even consider his more serious novel ‘The History of Mr Polly’ to be his crowning achievement…but many overlook the novel titled in this review, though really I can understand why.
The book records the events of Edward Prendick, who is rescued from the sea by a passenger on a ship, one who goes by the name of Montgomery. Montgomery is on his way to an unspecified island with a boat load of animals, from rabbits to a puma but also with him is what Edward assumes is an island native called M’ling who acts as his servant and has very little intelligence. Although Edward befriends Montgomery, he is at first refused passage to the island, but eventually is, and is subsequently introduced to the island’s owner and a formally renound scientist, Dr Moreau, who shows no interest in him as long as he will not interfere with his work. Unfortunately, Edward hears the noises from the laboratory and how they almost sound human…and when he explores the islands he discovers the inhabitants are not wild natives. Edward believes that Moreau is chopping up live humans and mixing them with animals, but in fact it’s quite the opposite. Moreau desires to speed up evolution and has been experimenting on all kinds of animals, from dogs to sloths to apes and has been working to complete the transformation of making animals to humans.
It seems Moreau, although he has caused the animals extreme pain by giving them an early form of plastic surgery has managed to control their existence. They live by a set of natural laws, all animals live in harmony with each other and no one gets hurt..well isn’t that always the way? Of course eventually the corpse of a dead rabbit is found half eaten, Moreau tries to make an example of the fiend who did it but unfortunately, the motto of the story should be that you can take the animal out of the beast but you can’t take the beast out of the animal.
This is what makes the story great, the idea and plot is superb and it is undeniably well written, as well as certainly being something you can imagine happening even in present day. This idea of plastic surgery and gene switching is something I think we’re perhaps used to today, but a hundred odd years ago it was simply unimaginable. In its context, that’s what makes it a great read and its themes are relevant now. But that last point about the themes is something which may also spoil it for me, reading it as an English student.
In context, Wells seems to have been commenting on the Victorian practice of vivisection which was a highly debated topic. Vivisection for the none-faint hearted is the dissection of animals while they are still alive in order to learn about them more closely, yet from this brief description one could interpret that Moreau does what all men deep down want to do, and play God. The book really does seem to be an allegory with religious meaning, the laws of the creatures similar to the ten commandments are broken as the animals revert back to their primal instincts and intelligence, perhaps suggesting the eventual secularisation of man as we have today. Perhaps it’s also a dark look at the church as a sort of social control and how it will eventually fail. For all I know it could be Wells as a socialist predicting the eventual fall of society.
This book is one of my favourites but unfortunately it’s perhaps a confusion of ambiguous statements which stops it from being taken as Wells’ greatest achievement.
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