The Island of Doctor Moreau

Content warning: This section of the guide mentions suicidal ideation.

Panicked, Prendick flees from his room and finds Montgomery outside, preparing to secure the door and shut Prendick inside. Montgomery tries to stop him, but Prendick flees into the forest. Prendick eventually encounters a man whom he dubs the Ape-Man: one of the Beast People. The Ape Man seems curious about Prendick; when Prendick asks about food, the Ape-Man leads him toward a collection of huts where the Beast People live.

The Ape-Man leads Prendick to a dark hut, where he meets a mysterious figure called the Sayer of the Law. After the Sayer confirms that Prendick wants to come and live with the Beast-People, he explains that Prendick will have to obey the law that governs them. Prendick is reluctant but desperate for food and assistance, so he participates in a strange ceremony: the Sayer of the Law recites various edicts forbidding different actions, while Prendick and the other Beast People repeat them. The edicts forbid the Beast People from engaging in activities that might exacerbate or heighten animalistic tendencies, including walking on all fours, eating meat, and chasing humans. The ritual then references a mysterious and omnipotent figure, whom Prendick suspects might be Moreau; this figure doles out punishment and pain to anyone who disobeys him.