The Island of Doctor Moreau

Philosophical, strange, and a little grotesque, The Island of Doctor Moreau by influential author H. G. Wells is praised as a classic due to its inspiration for many science fiction books and movies alike. H. G. Wells, who is renowned for his debut novel The Time Machine, is known as 'the father of science fiction' thanks to his prophetic fiction on alien invasions, time travel, and space exploration. Wells’ work habitually finds itself questioning evolution and religion, while stretching our imagination of a futuristic society. The Island of Doctor Moreau follows Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked scientist who is saved by a man named Montgomery and taken aboard his ship. Here, Prendick is introduced to a grotesque, bestial servant named M’ling and several other animals that belong to Montgomery who are on their way to an unnamed island where Montgomery works. Once arrived, Prendick is not allowed to enter the island, but the natives take pity on him and introduce him to Doctor Moreau, a researcher who works on the island. As Prendick stays on the island, he begins to realize that he’s heard of Doctor Moreau before; known for horrific experiments that were publicly exposed which caused Moreau to flee from England. When Prendick mistakenly finds a group of people who seem to be human, but resemble hog-like hybrids of animal and man, he begins to recognize that something blasphemous may be happening on the island. The Island of Doctor Moreau is a riveting tale of danger and horror that provides Wells’ signature social commentary on evolution, divine creations, and the ethical question of what it means to be animal or man.