Moreau's Monster

What does it mean to be human? When men act inhuman and instinctual are they any better than beast? In The Island of Dr. Moreau the author,H.G Wells, depicts all the characters other than Prendick as monsters in their own unique way.The beasts are literal monsters, Moreau is a torturous immoral monster, and Montgomery is an alcoholic and violent monster. Throughout the novel H.G Wells reveals these monsters in order to develop the idea that mankind can often be little more than animals and to pose the question of what makes something truly human. First of the beasts are the most obvious of the characters as monsters. They are sculpted mutants, crimes against nature. Moreau created them attempting to mold a human form but they …show more content…
He is a lunatic with no sense of human feelings. One example is when he is talking to Prendick and suddenly stabs himself: “ … He drove the blade into his leg” (55). Humans have a sense of pain and a desire to avoid pain yet Moreau shows his monster qualities and stabs himself. Humans also have a moral compass and a sense of compassion. Moreau has neither. He doesn't care about any amount of pain he causes and cruelly tortures animals through his vivisection. Prendick describes the screams: “ Suddenly the Puma howled again, this time more painfully. Montgomery swore under his breath” (25). The fact that Moreau can physically harm these living creatures for no true purpose emphasizes his psychotic nature and shows how inhuman he really is. Worst of all Moreau doesn't even have a purpose for his disturbing experiments and doesn't sympathize with his creations once he fails. He exiles them to sadness and treats them as beasts even though he made them more human. Even Prendick realizes the monstrous nature of this: “But he was so irresponsible, so utterly careless. HIs curiosity his mad aimless investigations drove him on and the things were thrown out… to die painfully” (74). H.G Wells shows that Moreau is a true beast, a true monster. With Moreau he helps lead the reader to possible answers to the question of humanity he poses even further. In order to be considered …show more content…
H.G Wells shows us his barbaric ways first when he is about to fight with the captain only for Prendick to step in: “ I saw the latter take a step forward and interposed… I had seen daner in Montgomery’s white face” (9). He was acting purely on emotions and had no sense of logic. Montgomery acting like a violent brute solidifies his title of being a monster. Furthermore he is a drunk. Throughout the story he is consistently not sober and often acts out because of it. One example is Near the end when they are finding Moreau and Prendick describes Montgomery: “When I saw Montgomery swallow a third dose of brandy I took it upon myself to interfere. He was already more than half fuddled” (79). While Prendick is trying to find real solutions and discover what happened to Moreau, Montgomery is drowning himself in alcohol and running from his issues. He was acting completely irresponsible and illogical. Furthermore he continued with this behaviour and it eventually lead to his downfall. Montgomery irrationally gives the creations alcohol as a result of being intoxicated and the shock of Moreau’s death. He wouldn't listen to the sensible Prendick urging him to stop: “You don't give drink to that beast!” (83). His stupidity and carelessness shows that even Montgomery is a monster. H.G Wells yet again forges and divulges a new monster in Montgomery to further his point and further his question. Not