Negative Aspect Prevalent in the Language of Science in the Island of Doctor
Moreau
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November 20, 2012
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1. Introduction:
The book, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” by H.G. Wells has been taken as a base to analyze the
significance of science from the perspective of the characters in the book. Science has been a
major developmental language since its inception. All the scientists are working in collaboration
to generate a society that is well defined and well supported by the principles of nature. Science
has been successful in accomplishing what is known as evolution and has also been able to ease
the life of humans but there certain aspects that are still under discussion including the creation
of ideal human being. This is the main idea being utilized by the book when the word “island” is
being used. This island is referring to a creation which is being analyzed differently by every
character in this book. The main perception of the book came as negativity on the part of Doctor
Moreau as a scientist because he fails to perceive what science really is and how different
principles of nature should be integrated to build a society where everyone can thrive. This idea
has been taken as a base to formulate the essay. The thesis of the paper is to justify that language
of science is negatively affecting community and fails to define human characteristics as
depicted by the characters of the book and social Endeavour created by Doctor Moreau. For
justifying the argument the essay has been divided into two major sections: a brief summary
indicating the role of every character in the novel and discussion of the main thesis. The
argument will be supported by quotations of the characters from the book as these are the main
bodies depicting that science is not what it is believed to be, and the study of the literature.
Authentic journals and peer reviewed articles will be utilized for the purpose of achieving the
task of supporting main ideas.
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2. Brief Description of Book:
The book, “The Island of Doctor Moreau” is about a scientist who spent his life on
experimentation for creating humans from animals. This results in unacceptability from society
and he left London to live on an island where he created a number of beast men who were close
to humans but retain their animal like characteristics. Prendick was lost and came to that island
where he came to know of Dr. Moreau’s creations and realized that contradiction of nature is
what is wrong in this society and although laws were imposed on beast men yet they adopt the
behavior which they wanted to adopt. Beast men were also punished for their actions and this is
the reason that Doctor Moreau got killed by the beast men and their ruling time got over. The
narrator was Prendick and he was the main character of the book and his perceptions are the
leading basis of the respective essay a she was the main person who experienced various
communities.
3. Discussion:
The Island of Dr. Moreau, although fictitious, represents a major flaw in its main theme
which is changing nature and working against the rules of the obvious. This is the main negative
perception of the book where Wells is trying to depict that nature never changes. The law of
nature is dominant in every scientific principle. Science if defined by the prevalence of natural
phenomena. If this principle is altered then there are no true or definitive results. This is what has
been gathered from the book and this is what the social Endeavour created by Doctor Moreau is
primarily depicting. The creations of Doctor Moreau are humans but the original organisms used
were animals and the nature of animalism is still dominant in all the beast men. Dr. Moreau
himself stated that there exists a difference between animals and humans. His character reflects
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that science is the creation of innovations and evolutionary change in the world and for this he
regarded every aspect as negligible. This is the reason why he neglected every notion of
changing the nature of animals to humans. His actions were against the principles of science and
showing science as a negative phenomenon towards life. Dr. Moreau was the character on which
the science was actually defined because he reflected a noble society and the way he carried his
actions implied negative face to scientific principles. The Island of Dr. Moreau, as presented by
Dr. Moreau’s character, is a failure in understanding the true principle of working in line with the
natural principles of life (Christensen 575-595).
The characters, if studied and analyzed individually, are not favoring the language of
science. The significance of scientific language should be such that the whole population gets
benefited and the community itself shows that it has been benefited from science. This is not the
case, as depicted from the book. The main character of the book is the narrator, Prendick, who
has experienced many different communities on his lost journey to the island. The first
experience was with Montgomery who was an assistant of Dr. Moreau and a biologist. He has
studied science but failed to get benefit from it. He was unable to control the pain he suffers with
his experience on the island. He stated it in the following way:
“As if all the pain in the world had found a voice” (Well 1-292).
His statement indicates that although practical implication of science is present on the island yet
human sufferings are not minimized. The main purpose of science lies in the fact that it is brining
something that would benefit humans but what if the creations are all getting harms from it and
trying to survive the negativities. Montgomery’s character is supporting the issue that science is
the language that is not working in favor of humans, although respected by the society.
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Similar depiction of negativity of science and its failure can be seen from other characters
of the book, beast men. Beast men are all unhappy and according to them science is not what it is
meant to be. The perception they gained about science is from the actions of Dr. Moreau. They
considered science as working for the benefits of community but they were the ones being
subjected to ruling body that punishes them and their true nature is what is being asked to disrupt
in the whole process. According to them, science is dominance of one person who created them
as they were all made to follow the rules of Dr. Moreau who was god as stated,
“You shall have no other gods before me.... You shall not make yourself an idol in the form of
anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Well 1-292).
A major phenomenon discussed in this book is the creation of humans in the era when
this was not what science was doing. He incepted the idea in human mind at the Victorian time
when every single person was focusing on evolutionary change. This book was fiction at that
time and regarded the aspect in the book as being negative but today this is not regarded negative
and every scientist is working on it. However, the characters in the book are not favoring the
ideas of science and its possible changes.
The most significant aspect that is prevalent in the book and is not justifying the position
of science to be a positive approach is the social creation which is against scientific laws.
Science is the creation of natural thriving ecosystem and supporting it. The book, however, is
against it and showing that science is not what is being expected from it. The grotesque reality of
the book is that all the phenomena, although true for present day, are against science and its idea
for the people of that era. The beast men were imposed to live against their nature then how can
they be expected to consider science a positive approach (Levine 17-26). The language of
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science, in the book, fails to describe that evolution is necessary and it can be achieved through
the adoption of scientific principles. This is because the society, created on the basis of science,
fails to continue living and fails to justify science as significant phenomena.
4. Conclusion:
The main aim of the paper was to describe that science is a language that fails to define
human characteristics and their survival as depicted by the characters of the book and society
created by Doctor Moreau. From the above discussion, it has been proven that science is not
perceived as a positive approach by the characters of the book and they are against the basic
principles. This is because of three main reason including; failure of depicting true nature of
beast men, failure to survive in the society, and failure to bring positive results to humans as a
whole. These all are the main aspects that the narrator perceives as the book has been written
from his perspective of science. Community sees science as a language of significant
evolutionary changes but this book has failed to justify the respective notion.
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References:

Christensen, Timothy. “The "Bestial Mark" of Race in the Island of Dr. Moreau.” Criticism.
46.4 (2004): 575-595. Print.

Levine, Suzzane. “Science versus the Library in the Island of Dr. Moreau, La Invencion de
Morel (The Invention of Morel), and Plan de Evasion (A Plan for Escape).” Latin American
Literature Review. 9.18 (1981): 17-26. Print.

Well, Herbert. The Island of Doctor Moreau. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2009. 1-292. Print.