Island of Dr. Moreau, The (1896)
By H. G. Wells
Chimera; Nature/nurture; Science fiction; Transgenics; Victorian
Victorian science fiction about human-animal hybrids
Edward Prendick, hovering near death after his ship sinks, is rescued by the crew of the Lady Vain and resuscitated by a fellow passenger, Montgomery. Though Montgomery arranges for Prendick to continue on with the ship, the captain insists that he take Prendick to his island destination. From the moment he arrives, Prendick is confronted with the terrifying truth of the island: it is populated with horrendous creatures resembling both animals and humans. Though initially unaware of the origin of the creatures, Prendick soon learns that they have been created by Dr. Moreau, a brilliant scientist specializing in vivisection. Moreau manufactures these creatures through surgical operations ranging from tissue grafting to chemical modifications in order to realize the extent of plasticity in living beings. These creatures, originally animals ranging from canines to pumas, can walk upright on grossly disfigured limbs and have been trained to speak. In order to maintain the creatures’ alterations, Moreau institutes regulations by which the creatures must abide, laws designed to elicit characteristically human behaviors from the creatures. Once the animals get a taste of blood, however, they begin to revert to their natural states, an event which proves fatal for Moreau and Montgomery. Prendick survives and, until he is rescued from the island, is able to document the animals’ regression to their original states.
Moreau attempts to defy the genetic encoding which marks both appearance and behavior; with his practice of vivisection, his aim is to reshape the animals into a human form which is only tenuously maintained. The purpose of the text is, to some extent, to explore which element of behavior can be attributed to environment, and which to genetic composition. Moreau not only grafts skin, bones and limbs, but attempts to graft “new suggestions” onto “inherent fixed ideas”; that he fails implies that certain genetically-defined instincts cannot be overcome through training. Perhaps the impossibility of maintaining the constructed human forms lies in the unnaturalness of the creatures, who are unable to survive their environment in their mutated forms. Essentially, these creatures are no longer fit for their surroundings, and that they must routinely cite the Law only indicates that the genetically-encoded, animalistic behavior is deferred rather than eradicated. The text sets conscience and morality against the experimentation and regulation of the creatures. Moreau admittedly disregards ethical considerations, as they inhibit scientific advancement. Further, he posits that pain is evolutionarily useless, and that by enhancing the creatures’ intelligence, he is ultimately positioning them to avoid future discomfort. Prendick adopts the role of moralist, questioning whether ethical principles should be sacrificed in order to make scientific advancements.
Evaluation: This is a classic of science fiction, one of the first to contemplate human limits by imagining how biological technologies could expand those boundaries. Particularly fascinating in this text is the final degeneration of the hybrids, which might evoke concerns from Victorian readers as to potential fluctuations in inherited traits.
– Natalie Champ