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Apocryphal
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Yes, in the understanding of the situation, but also I think in the growing understanding of what a person, specifically a scientist, is capable of. Moreau has become a near god, and has created beings, including the very worms of the earth: "…
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(Quote) Interesting - and was Wells not writing at the dawn of Liberalism, which recognizes and elevates the needs of the individual?
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My own take is that Wells wasn't trying to say anything about Colonialism. The reason you see Colonialism is because it's part of the fabric of society of the day.
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Yes, I think @NeilNjae has read on past p.177, too. Perhaps breaking up the stories is too artificial... and not generating as much dialogue as I had thought in the midpoints. Would it be better safe the discussions to the ends of the stories (keepi…
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Maybe the solution is just to take a break for the summer…
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The 'Lord of Mystery' has performed a misdirection and fooled all of us in one regard, as you'll see with the next chunk of reading.
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Richard: Yes, thanks for that, and for the encouraging email you sent me a week or two ago - I appreciate it very much. I know that you are very busy - especially with reopening - and it was not my intention to criticize anyone. You are a wonderful …
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Maybe the three humans represent three ills of society: the amoral, the lazy, and the aimless? One can almost stretch that to ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ Moreau sees no evil in what he’s doing. Montgomery doesn’t want to hear about it…
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Yes, that’s true. The new info hadn’t reached the writers of Star Trek, though, which had Jordie turn into a giant newt one episode and it turned out to be caused by something that advanced him evolutionarily along the line. Why they thought giant n…
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I don't know. For reasons I could never understand, there's always a cadre of people that want to play anthropomorphized animals. Probably because of their cozy upbringing reading Sweet Pickles books.
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I'm not sure it fits Campbell exactly, and certainly Wells wasn't following Campbell's lead since he pre-dates him by half a century. I think the comparison to God is likely on purpose. Did I share that Shmoop page on religion in the book? https://…
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Moreau is certainly a character. He has a personality and a character arc. He's a highly symbolic one, sure, but so was Gandalf - who actually had less of an arc, having never had a youth or a previous run-in with Society. Yet I never heard anyone s…
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I was reading that people at the time believed that species could somehow climb or descend the evolutionary scale, and that this was what Wells was riffing off. The moral here seems to be that people are little better than animals, but that God (the…
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There's definitely something about alcohol and it's role in turning men into beasts. I wonder if Wells was a tea-totaler. Despite not drinking, Prendick seems to be finding his own path to decline, so I don't think there's anything as simple as a ca…
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@clash_bowley : Wise in the Ways of Wells :)
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My first thought was that this could more or less be lifted wholesale into Glorantha, and perhaps set in the Eastern Isles. "The Island of Duck Tomoro" - a place run by Tomoro the duck, who purchases human prisoners and exiles to bring the…
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M'ling had a name - perhaps an abbreviation of 'Manling'? Arguably one of the most human characters in the novel, apart from Prendick. I'm not sure if the ship names are a comment on society, so much as suggesting a theme for this particular story.…
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Jurassic Park was the first one to spring to my mind as well. It does seem like a re-make, though it doesn't capitalize on all the themes present in Moreau. You also mentioned Lord of the Flies, which I also wondered at being, if not a re-make, at …
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I agree the the book didn't sustain the tension of the beginning. I wonder what you guys think the climax was? I'd put it at the death of Moreau, with everything after that being denouement. But the death of Montgomery and Prendick's killing of his …
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I agree the end of the book lacked the tension that propelled us through the first half, both the dramatic and the horific tension. Prendick seems to spend his last weeks on the island in an uneasy peace with the creatures, and there are no new deve…
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Though Satire is often funny, it's not exclusively so. It's more frequently absurd, I think. Wikipedia describes it as a genre in which the "vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, with the intent of shaming individual…
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There are tons of religious references in the book. The Shmoop entry even identifies it as a major theme: https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/dr-moreau/analysis/religious-allegory I think the clue to Well's view is in the last paragraph …
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(Quote) Yes, for sure. I think those are all questions Wells is asking. Apparently there was a lot of scientific debate at the time about vivisection.
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One thing that occurred to me on after I posed the question, is that Prendick died in The Lady Vain. So the story takes us through 4 stages: 1. The Lady Vain, in which which all civilization breaks down. Prendick dies here - of dehydration, I assume…
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I think an attempt to justify colonialism would have showed positive results with the animals, wouldn't it? What I see here is colonialism backfiring. The book is usually described as a satire, using the animals to send up our own sense of self impo…
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@NeilNjae Would you mind making an announcement thread that I can pin, please?
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Discussion topics are up and can be found here, for those who like to bookmark: https://www.ttrpbc.com/categories/100-%28may-2021%29-the-island-of-dr-moreau-by-h-g-wells
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(Quote) Interesting catch.
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The only thing noteworthy for me was that in this version she encounters some kind of blood mist in the bedroom, that is a literal ‘trace of him’, whereas the trace in the other version was more just a metaphoric memory of cheroot smoke or something…
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Here's an interesting review of Piranesi: https://www.tor.com/2021/05/12/susanna-clarke-piranesi-tbr-stack-book-review/