Review of 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' by H. G. Wells

                                                  

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a 1896 horror Sci-fi novel by English author H. G. Wells. Similar to Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, it holds a mirror to our society, revealing some of our suspicions and the things we try to escape from. 

First, I learned about this book from my favorite YouTuber, Grace Randolph, after the premiere of Marvel’s Guardian Of the Galaxy Vol. 3. She mentioned that the director, James Gunn, drew inspiration for his production from The Island of Dr. Moreau. If you have experienced both the book and James Gunn’s movie, you can see the similarities between Dr. Moreau and High Evolutionary. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, there is a line that can sum up all of my observations about this book, made by Rocket Raccoon about his creator: "You didn't want to make things perfect. You just hated things the way they are."

Like the monster of Frankenstein, the creatures made by Dr. Moreau are attempts to escape from his own mortality, and to create something beyond human, with better characteristics. Of course, in every attempt to play God, humans usually mess up badly, and all ends fatally. What I loved about Frankenstein was the precision of the author when she carefully included this mirror of our society and how our behavior towards the monster made us monsters. Our presumption of what we do not know twists our own core and transforms our very nature into what we feared.

On a first look, the Island is creepy and scary, the creatures are vividly described, but a lot is left to our imagination, creating visuals so grotesque that I'll have trouble forgetting. Their songs of the Law they should obey are disturbing, and while having some humanity in them, their behavior remains totally unpredictable until the end of the story. You can see everything human tends to vanish when you act with incredible wantonness and viciousness towards others. The book explores how fragile one society is and how easy it is to go from zenith to the dark corners of animalistic primordial behavior. How hard it is to be civil, to remain human when you are surrounded by aggression, fear, and negativity. This remote island is a microcosm of what is going on today in our society.

We follow Edward Prendick, who narrates his adventures and horrors directly to us. Usually, I do not like when the Author breaks the 4th wall and the characters talk to me. Sometimes, when authors dare to write 'dear reader' or something similar, it pulls me out of the story. But in this case, you can be just one of the listeners of that incredible adventure in some bar. It helped the story, made it more real. Edward sometimes mentions that he cannot explain to us how ugly the things he sees are, and you are left imagining them in the worst detail that haunts you even after you are done reading. While listening to the first sign of horror and hearing the mutilation of Moreau’s victim, Prendick describes the crying as if all the pain in the world had found a voice. The author uses past experiences to create an image that is recognizable to our minds. When he describes the night, taking place, and the fear that holds Prendick, it really struck me. Just like my first night alone in the forests of Bulgaria when I was hiking. Even during the day, the forest can be creepy and could give birth to unexpected fears, especially if you are alone. But when the color vanishes, and the treetops rise against the luminous blue sky in inky silhouette, and all below that outline melts into one formless blackness... if you have ever been stranded in the wilderness at night, you can definitely understand what our main character is going through and what he is bound to feel during this book. The description of pain by Moreau, while trying to justify his methods to Prendick, is an intense way of explaining how evolution works and how nature disposes of useless things, only to suggest skipping nature’s role and doing it alone, giving himself a permission to terrorize and devour those useless to him. The Dr. is actually really compelling, but so are some of the most brutal serial killers and psychopaths throughout our time. His story of how it all started is an interesting comparison between man and animal that I am not going to spoil here. The end of the book explores these similarities but also tackles the subject of trauma. 

Although the book lacks the precision and the clear vision of Mary Shelley, H. G. Wells does not miss the point and delivers a good horror Sci-fi novel that is definitely not for animal lovers and snowflakes.

Iliya Badev