Our narrating protagonist Edward Prendick is cast adrift when the boat he is upon sinks in the middle of the ocean. After losing his lifeboat companions to the ravenous sea he is rescued by a motley crew and nursed back to life. This is ultimately where Prendick's surreal narrative really starts to begin. He is taken and left on an island ruled by the 'mad' scientist Dr. Moreau whose interest lies in the creation of beasts via vivisection, and these beasts populate the island under the vicious and watchful eye of Moreau.
This is ultimately a novel of horror, and the chase scenes are truly terrifying as Prendick is pursued by one of Moreau's beasts on more than more occasion. Beautiful, chillng atmospheric writing, and the madness of Moreau's "House of Pain" is dizzying. Prendick is constantly haunted by the wails and screams of a puma, another of Moreau's unfortunate subjects. The images conjured up by this poor suffering animal's screaming are just harrowing, and it stays with you long after reading.
Moreau's ultimate goal is scientific advancement, to create animals that resemble humans in both posture and intelligence and he is convinced he is close. It is this blind ambition that drives the man's madness and strikes fear into the hearts of his many creations. Moreau's monsters form a community on his island, one where they try to adhere to the "law" as stipulated by Moreau himself, all of which tries to keep them from returning to their animal nature. Yet they do feel cast aside, you never feel as though Moreau takes responsibility for these experiments and it is this that leads to the spiraling events that in turn become the violent crescendo of this novel.
You can't help but draw parallels between Moreau and modern day genetic experimentation, and view this narrative as a cautionary tale, this cannot end well!
"Each of these creatures, despite its human form, its rag of clothing, and the rough humanity of its bodily form, had woven into it, into its movements, into the expression of its countenance, into its whole presence, some now irresistible suggestion of a hog, a swinish taint, the unmistakable mark of the beast."
Wells' does use this novel to express his views on society, science and to a point explore biblical themes as well but I don't want to go into to much depth over these ideas, there are plenty of places online where you can explore these topical themes in a great deal of detail.
All in all a bloody brilliant read, it has made me want to go and pick up more of Wells' novels. His writing has a timeless feeling to it and by no means feels dated which is what makes this a classic that anyone could pick up and enjoy. Oh, and it's a short novel, so a super fast read.
Pop to http://www.gradesaver.com/the-island-of-dr-moreau/study-guide/major-themes/ if you want more insight into the themes covered by this masterpiece.
Ta ta for now!
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