Anne's Reviews > The Island of Dr. Moreau

This was my first time reading this classic sci-fi morality tale, and it wasn't exactly what I expected. <--not in a bad way



I thought it was going to be this Island where Dr. Moreau was splicing and dicing genes and coming up with human-animal hybrids. And then this new guy was going to come along and find out what he was up to and they would talk science. And the new guy would say, This is a bad idea!, and Moreau would say, Nah, it's all good!, and then some shit would happen and the new guy would run off, and Moreau would live on his creepy island with his critters.
I don't know why I thought it would end well for Moreau other than he had an island named after him.



So, he was not doing any genetic splicing. He was chopping up live animals and...well, it really doesn't make any sense. But he was using vivisection to come up with man-like animals. It was gross, to say the least. I mean, you don't get details, but there's this panther that keeps screaming and moaning and keeping the new guy awake and...*shudders*



Ok. So the new guy's name is Edward Prendick. <--dick. heh.
He finds himself shipwrecked, then rescued by a boat with a passenger named Montgomery on it. Montgomery takes pity on Ed and nurses him back to health. Once he's up and about, he notices that Montgomery's manservant is a bit odd. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Still, the guy saved his life, so there's no need to bring it up. Or so he thinks.
Never ignore red flags in your friends, kids.



At some point, the Captain of the ship (who is a bit of an ass) takes a serious dislike to Edward. And he's already freaked the fuck out by Montgomery and his weird servant. So, when the time comes to drop them (and the animals they were transporting) off on The Island of Dr. Moreau, the Captain tells our hero he's got to go, too.
But for some reason, Montgomery is hesitant about bringing him to the island. However, once Edward is set afloat on a dingy with a canteen of water and no chance of survival, Montgomery reluctantly decides to let him tag along.
This is a whole part of the story I was unaware existed.
But it does go a long way to explaining what the hell a normal guy was doing on this freakshow of an island.



I think everyone can kind of guess the basic gist of what happens next.
Edward slowly realizes he's trapped on this hunk of sand with a mad scientist and the ticking time bombs he created.
And just how Moreau did it remains unexplained, because there's just no way that you can stitch together a few parts and come up with a humanoid animal that can gargle out words.
This begs another relevant question. We know where he got the animals from, but where the hell do the human parts come from?!
I decided it was best to just let that whole train of thought go because I just know the answer wasn't going to be anything I'd like.



And how does society work on this strange island?
Well, the doctor keeps his creations in line with the help of a made-up religion, because he's no dummy. And also with the threat of painful punishments, because he's sadistic. Moreau is an absolute peach of a man and you feel terrible when not everything works out the way he thinks it will. <--I'm kidding, of course.
Because like most ideas that come from people playing god, things eventually go tits up and his monsters turn on him. It's kind of funny.



There's quite a bit that happens after the good doctor gets dethroned and a lot of it is excellent food for thought. Or at least, it would have been back in the day.
This was one of the better sci-fi classics that I've read because while the science doesn't hold up, the ethical and moral questions still do.