The Island of Dr. Moreau by Herbert George Wells

H. G. Wells: The Island of Dr. Moreau: Dobbs, Fiorentino, Fabrizio:  9781683832034: Amazon.com: Books

In Dr. Moreau’s Island, Dr. Moreau uses his scalpel to transform the beast into a man with an ambitious plan to establish an empire on the nameless island in which he is the supreme ruler and creator. Dr. Moreau is a synthesis of scientific evolution and religious ideas. Using the scalpel as a tool to create humans, he plays the role of God and exerts both physical and spiritual control over the orcs. However, he fails miserably and both he and his assistant are killed. The novel condemns the endless expansion of life science that is not bound by the bottom line of morality, conveys the fear of human beings that they cannot truly control their creations, and is also mixed with the fear of Edward Prendick, the narrator, that he is not adapted to the strange island.

Back in the civilized world, Prendick is still haunted by fear, suspecting that the men and women around him are transformed orcs. Dr. Moreau’s provocative attempt to tamper with the laws of biological reproduction and evolution in nature ended in failure. His experiments also had devastating consequences for himself: he himself died at the hands of the monster he had created. And by the end of the story, the orcs are finally restored to their natural nature as animals. They began to disobey the “laws” that Dr. Moreau had made. Their physical features also began to return to their original characteristics. They become more and more unwilling to be bound by clothes, and finally become naked; Their limbs grew hairy; Their foreheads grew lower and their mandibles more prominent; Traits that were previously human-like are gradually disappearing without trace.

As the orcs’ nature was restored, the strange world that Dr. Moreau had created was destroyed by death. The failure of Dr. Moreau also proved that the law of nature is irreversible, the power of nature is strong, and any attempt to reverse or overstep the law of nature is doomed to failure. When human beings’ behaviors violate the ecological and ethical laws of nature, nature will punish the perverse actors with disastrous consequences. At the same time, nature will also use its own power to correct and tamper with it, making the whole ecological world move forward continuously in accordance with its inherent natural laws.

The progress of scientific and technological civilization in human society should be based on the integrity of the ecological ethical law of nature. The separation of scientific research from ethical laws, the neglect of ecological responsibility to nature, and the willful disobedience of the development laws of nature will eventually bring destructive consequences to the whole nature including human beings themselves. At the same time, once technology falls into the hands of those who seek power for personal gain and have no moral scruples, it will have disastrous consequences. Through the eyes of Edward Prendick, this novel depicts a miniature of the whole life, and mercilessly reveals the reality of the society.

Moreau brought the animals to the human level on a secluded island inhabited by humans, while creating a religion with himself as god and a harsh law to rule the orcs. This turned the orcs against him, and he died a violent death. The author uses this story to show the class antagonism in capitalist society. At the same time, the work gives a pessimistic outlook on social prospects. Wells referred to the Island as Noble’s Island, an obvious irony and yet another jab at the class system. Pronounce the name quickly and vaguely, and it is no blesses island.

-Coreen C.

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