The Island of Doctor Moreau

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

“His case was discussed among psychologists at the time as a curious instance of the lapse of memory consequent upon physical and mental stress.”

This quotation occurs when Prendick’s nephew introduces the written account of Prendick’s experiences. Prendick initially claims that he doesn’t remember anything about what happened to him between the sinking of the Lady Vain and his rescue. The quotation is significant because it contrasts a medical and scientific perspective with the fantastical events that occur within the narrative. Prendick’s claim to “not remember” is actually more believable than the memories he does possess.

“It is quite impossible for the ordinary reader to imagine those eight days. He has not, luckily for himself, anything in his memory to imagine with.”

This quotation occurs as Prendick describes the period in which he and two other men drift in a small lifeboat, before he is picked up by the Ipececuanha. Prendick does not provide many details of the suffering they endured but manages to drive home the point of how horrible it was. Prendick’s comment that a reader can’t understand what the experience was like is ironic in light of the even more shocking events he will describe upon reaching the island.

“‘You were in luck,’ said he, ‘to get picked up by a ship with a medical man aboard.’”

Montgomery makes this remark when Prendick first awakens after being taken aboard the Ipececuanha; Montgomery has begun nursing Prendick back to health. The quotation ironically introduces the notion of chance and luck into the novel; on one hand, Prendick is indeed lucky not to perish at sea.