The Island of Doctor Moreau

Moreau’s ambition and arrogance function as his fatal flaws and eventually lead to his downfall. The puma he tortures throughout most of the plot eventually turns on him; however, Moreau is fatally injured primarily because he pursues the puma into the woods rather than abandoning his experiment. Moreau dies in a confrontation with one of his creations, and their fates are represented as inexorably intertwined. Before Prendick leaves the compound for the last time, he catches sight of the funeral pyre “on which Moreau and his mutilated victims lay, one on another” (109); Moreau’s obsession has ultimately sealed his fate.

Moreau’s downfall illustrates the limitations of Violence and Fear as Strategies to Maintain Control. Throughout the novel, cracks appear in Moreau’s authority over the Beast People, revealing their growing rebellion. The systems of power that govern the island are predicated entirely on fear of Moreau, and upon his death they begin to break down rapidly; both Montgomery and Prendick nervously try to maintain some hold on power by preventing the Beast People from fully comprehending that Moreau is dead; they claim that Moreau still exists and has simply changed forms: “show us now where his old body lies. The body he cast away because he had no more need of it” (104). This strained explanation reinforces the portrayal of the Beast People as gullible; it also furthers the allegorical critique of organized religion, since a core tenet of Christianity revolves around belief in Jesus rising from the dead. Prendick and Montgomery invent a somewhat outlandish story that is blatantly untrue, but they do so to trick the Beast People into remaining subservient.

Events after Moreau’s death reveal a significant difference in the characters of Montgomery and Prendick. Both men are aware that their position has become much more vulnerable and dangerous: Prendick responds with focused and determined pragmatism, stating that “the thing we have to think of now […] is how to get away from this island” (106). Montgomery, however, becomes even more despairing and fatalistic than he has been all along, wondering “what’s it all for, Prendick? Are we bubbles blown by a baby?” (106). Montgomery’s consumption of alcohol is a prominent character trait throughout the novel, but it escalates in his final hours, when he chooses to get drunk rather than make any attempt to salvage the situation. While Montgomery is enigmatic about his past, he seems unable to find any meaning or hope in life; his final words refer to “this silly universe. What a mess” (112). While Moreau represents the dangers of insatiable ambition, Montgomery shows the despair that comes from giving up on any goals whatsoever. Montgomery’s heavy drinking also contributes to the novel’s exploration of The Illusory Nature of Reason and Civilization. Human beings do not always make logical decisions, and their willingness to operate based on instinct—seeking pleasure and avoiding pain—shows that they are not as far removed from animals as Moreau liked to think. When Prendick sees Montgomery getting drunk after Moreau’s death, he retorts, “you’ve made a beast of yourself” (107).

The dramatic episodes after Moreau’s death include symbolism involving fire and water. The compound, containing the corpses of Moreau and the animals he had been experimenting on, burns down, mirroring the bonfire that rages on the beach as Montgomery dies. Fire symbolizes purgation and purification; Moreau’s regime is being wiped away, and the island will return to a more natural state, just as the Beast People will return to their animal origins. The presence of multiple fires also reflects how a kind of rebellion or uprising is occurring on the island; in many notable revolts, important structures might be set ablaze both for practical reasons, and to symbolize the overthrowing of an oppressive regime. The burning of Moreau’s compound reflects his authority and control being wiped away, as well as the ultimate futility of his projects.

While Moreau’s body is burned, Prendick arranges for Montgomery’s body to be cast into the ocean. Symbolically, while Moreau is consumed by the fire of his ambition, Montgomery is drowned by his despair and the alcohol he consumes in pursuit of oblivion. While at the start of the novel the ocean is presented as a threat, it becomes a symbol of rebirth and renewal; it is only by taking to the sea that Prendick can hope to be saved. Prendick’s attempts to escape from the island are somewhat comical and reveal that he does not fit the traditional archetype of a hero; he is unable to construct a raft or any type of boat, finding “my helplessness appalling” (124). When Prendick returns to the sea in a small boat, he comes full circle, leaving the island in a state virtually identical to the one in which he arrived.

Prendick’s ordeal has a happy ending in one sense: He survives and makes it back to England. However, Prendick has been so traumatized by his experiences that he is unable to integrate back into Victorian London and becomes obsessed with the notion that “the men and women I met were […] Beast People, animals half-wrought into the outward image of human souls” (130). While Prendick dismisses this belief as a paranoid fear, it reveals one of the novel’s major philosophical claims: “animalistic” traits such as cruelty, violence, greed, and lust do indeed lurk inside most supposedly civilized and rational individuals. Because of the horrors he has witnessed on Moreau’s island, Prendick has to isolate himself form English society. Ironically, he ends his narrative living a life not too different from Moreau’s: isolated, dedicating his time “to reading and to experiments in chemistry” (131). Prendick cannot bear the disorderly and chaotic experiences he has witnessed, and so he takes refuge in intellectual pursuits and isolation. This conclusion supports the theme of Isolation and Loss of Identity and renders ambiguous whether Prendick can truly be considered to have “escaped” from the horrors of the island.