The Island of Dr. Moreau, Chapter Questions and Exercises

Prendick’s tone is a neutral tone. He tells the reader in the opening sentence of his encountering of the island. He has been through an ‘unexpected adventure’ even though the audience might think that it is just another thriller.

Prendick’s tone sounds ‘measured’ and ‘innocent.’ The opening paragraph shows Prendick’s eager to explore the island rather than being afraid as to how the reader might see it.

“The reader will perhaps understand that at first everything was so strange to me, and my position was the outcome of such unexpected adventures, that I had no discernment of the relative strangeness of this or that thing about me.”2. There is suspicion to why Moreau is so eager to get to work with the new stuff, even Montgomery was convinced to hear Moreau’s eager to start his work.

“I’m itching to get to work again- with this new stuff, “ said the grey haired man.

Montgomery Fire Dept II

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977 film)

The conversation between Montgomery and Moreau is also unusual because of the uninvited guest, Prendick. The reader feels mysterious about Moreau and Montgomery keeping Prendick on the island. What is Moreau and Montgomery going to do with him? Does he play a significant role to the experimentation? The conversation between Montgomery and Moreau is therefore unusual, but plays a significant role in the suspense of the story.

“And now comes the problem of this uninvited guest. What are we to do with him?”3. Prendick’s room is quite a small apartment but not uncomfortably furnished. The room has a hammock, unglazed windows, making the place look a bit shabby and ugly. Nevertheless, the room had a sea view. The room was very secure as there were locks on doors and iron bars to secure the room ‘for fear of accidents.’ There were several educational items like Latin and Greek books and surgical works. There is also a door inside the room which led to paved courtyard.

4. Pendrick is bothered by the ‘bundle of keys and the elaborate locking up of the place’ on page 30 and 31. Montgomery must be either trying to prevent something dangerous coming in or preventing Prendick from leaving the apartment.

“The grey-haired man produced a bundle of keys from the pocket of his greasy blue jacket, opened this door, and entered.”“His keys and the elaborate locking up of the place, even while it was still under his eye, struck me as peculiar.”However, Pendrick is even more bothered by M’ling’s fury pointed ears.

“Then astonishment paralysed me. Under his stringy black locks I saw his ear; it jumped upon me suddenly close to my face. The man had pointed ears, covered with a fine brown fur!”“His pointed ears were covered with brown fur! Then it came to Prendick –The Moreau Horrors!”5. Pendrick is shocked most by one of Montgomery’s attendants, M’ling. The thought of the “Moreau Hollows” hit Prendick. Prendick remembers seeing the red lettering on the little buff-coloured pamphlet ten years ago.

Moreau had been a brilliant physiologist until a journalist posed as a lab assistant and exposed the gruesomeness of his experiments. There was a public outcry and little support from his colleagues, so Moreau chose to leave England rather than abandon his research.

“Ah! It sent my memory back ten years.”6. The chapters previous had involved introducing the mystery and the background leading up to the main storyline. Chapter seven, however, is different as it starts unfolding the mystery, or otherwise, revealing the plot. Chapters previous talked about the mystery of the creatures. But in chapter seven, the reader gets a feeling of the mystery of the island, hence the unusual conversation between Dr. Moreau and Montgomery, giving the reader the thought of experimentation, the locked doors on the island which added suspicion, the name of Moreau Hollows. This chapter therefore begins to change in the plot, giving out the few secrets and establishing a sense of climax to the reader, even in the early stages of the novel.

Chapter 8: The crying of the pumaThroughout this chapter, Moreau had been trying to keep a secret of the experiment from Prendick. Montgomery has been described by Prendick as being ‘absent minded’ and ‘ignorant’ when it came to answering Prendick’s questions about the strange creatures. He is more or less useless in telling Prendick what is happening on the island. His relationship to Prendick is thus only as a superficial friend.

“Little points on them.”“What were they like?”“I persuaded by his manner that his ignorance was a pretence. Still I could hardly tell the man I thought him a liar.”In Chapter eight, the symbolism of alcohol develops, since not only does Prendick refuse the brandy a second time, but also Montgomery blames the alcohol for the unexplained troubles in London from which Moreau rescued him. Montgomery also reveals that it was indeed alcohol he administered to the sick Prendick, and Montgomery claims that it saved Prendick's life. The alcohol seems to resemble some sort of initiation rite in this context, and one which apparently must be repeated periodically. It is more than just Montgomery’s bad habit. Prendick has been drawn in by the sip aboard the Ipecacuanha, but unlike Montgomery he has no wish to remain and will not drink.

“Whisky?”“No thanks-I’m an abstainer.”The puma continuously howls during this chapter. The puma’s howl seemed to irritate Prendick, forcing him to leave the room. The howling of the puma also generates a mystery to the puma; it leaves the reader wondering why the puma is yelling.

“Presently I got stopping my ears with my fingers. The emotional appeal of those yells grew upon me steadily, grew at last to such an exquisite expression of suffering that I could stand it in that confined room no longer.”Prendick sees the beast to be most human when they appear to connect with him on an emotional level. The way M'ling devotes himself to Montgomery is a good example of the same emotional status between humans and beasts. Wells is exploring the relation between humans and animals.

Chapter 9: the thing in the forest1. Wells uses descriptive language, rhetorical questions and colour. Wells uses a journal-format style of writing.

Wells uses colour to add imagery.

“He was clothed in a bluish cloth, and was of a copper-coloured hue, with black hair.”Wells also explores the five senses experienced by Prendick to add the suspenseful atmosphere.

“I was startled by a noise behind me.” (hear)“Invisible things seem to be watching me.” (see)Wells use of figurative language like.

“My heart was in my mouth.”This sentence gives the reader a feeling that Prendick was extremely afraid.

Wells use of rhetorical questions adds to the mystery in this chapter.

“What on earth was he-man or animal?”2. Prendick sees these ‘grotesque’ creatures as being alien; they are out of the ordinary world. Prendick is confused and lost in a world of ‘ugly half-human creatures.’ He also sees them as been aggressive and savages, this can be explored through the creature’s language and movements. Nonetheless, Prendick is eager to explore the mystery of the island and further acknowledge these creatures as human beings.

3. Colour is used effectively to identify the beast’s features. “He was clothed in a bluish cloth, and was of a copper-coloured hue, with black hair.” Wells use of colour enhances the imagery for the reader and not only give a sense of unhuman and unrealistic thought.

The use of colour to describe the sky symbolises a mysterious and dangerous atmosphere. As the sky turns darker, the danger starts to unfold in the bushlands when Prendick is being chased by the beast.

Black represents evilness and the unknown while blue represents the opposite.

“One black shadow seemed to leap into another.”“The blue sky above grew momentarily deeper, and the little stars one by one pierced the attenuated light….that had been hazy blue in daylight, grew black and mysterious.”Coloured is also used to display key ideas, especially the idea of the ugly creatures.

“He was clothed in bluish cloth, and was of a copper-coloured hue with black hair.”Wells use of darker colours in describing the creature develops an evil, savagery feeling of this creature. It is Wells key idea in introducing the physical features of the creature to the reader, creating affective imagery.

Chapter 10: the crying of the man1. The barrier between man and beast is diminished by Prendick’s misinterpretation of the puma’s cries as those of a man, clarifying that,“It was no brute this time, it was a human being in torment!”The fact that Prendick does not recognize the howling to be the puma’s reveals that Moreau really can turn an animal into a human being.

The significance of the title of this chapter compared to Chapter eight is the narrative diminishing the boundary between man and animal and the comparison of the crying of the puma or the crying of the man. What is that indefinite but unavoidable sense that is unique to humans among the animals? If the Beasts do not count as human, what are they lacking?This chapter is also significant because of its title “The crying of the man” compared to chapter eights title, “The crying of the puma” as Dr. Moreau’s vivisection of human beings also points out Pendrick’s danger.

Dear nephew,Do u remember Dr. Moreau?…..hmmmm…. The history of the British scientist who was kicked out of the country for scientific reasons. Am I correct Charles?I am one of the four men that made it to a lifeboat after the “Lady Vain” sank. After six days of starvation, cannibalism was brought upon and two other men died. I have been shipwrecked for eight days and then saved by a drunken man and his hairy crew. They brought me into an island, peaceful at first but I was yet to discover the islands myth.

Montgomery, the man who had saved my life, instructed me to stay in my apartment.

I was very eager to discover what the numerous cries were. On numerous occasions, my questions on the islands creatures were ignored by Montgomery.

It became obvious that Dr. Moreau was conducting an experiment on vivisecting animals. The mystery had only been partly solved.

Moreau had been a brilliant physiologist until a journalist posed as a lab assistant and exposed the gruesomeness of his experiments. There was a public outcry and little support from his colleagues, so Moreau chose to leave England rather than abandon his research. I suddenly recognised the antiseptic odour of the operating room. The animals on the ship must be for Moreau's experiments in vivisection. But I do not see the secrecy for such vivisection alone, there must be more to it.

Were all these short, pointed eared, hairy creatures on the island a result of Dr. Moreau’s experiment?M’ling, a little helper of Montgomery’s shocked me when I saw his pointed ears!On the day of my first arrival, I walked through the islands bushland to discover the crying puma. I think I fell into sleep and woke to see a creature with short legs, sucking water. The creature seemed ill proportioned like the other natives on the island. I heard the straining of the puma again but decided to go deeper into the jungle.

Hidden in the undergrowth, I confronted three grotesque people with pink skin and bristly hair on their foreheads, dancing and chanting indistinctly. I notice the unmistakable mark of the hog in all three creatures.

I headed back to the enclosure and sensed someone stalking me. Dawn was arriving, I rushed through the undergrowth in a panic, hearing the pursuer crash after me. I made a makeshift sling using a rock and a handkerchief. The beast staggered to the floor after a heavy blow to the head.

I followed a light back to the enclosure, sighting Montgomery calling my name. I asked Montgomery who these creatures were but Montgomery tells me that it must have been my imagination and convincing me to take a rest.

Waking up, I remembered what had happened the night before. I suddenly hear the agonising cry from within the enclosure, this time being a man’s voice. I rushed past Montgomery and caught a glimpse of a red bandage on a bed. Moreau appeared, seizing me back towards the entrance and slamming the door shut.

If Moreau is practicing vivisection on human subjects, even my own life may be in danger.

Whatever happens next I do not know, my life is already at risk.

Whoever receives this bottle please send it to my nephew John as soon as possibly.

His address is at England, Lorcester, brooklem, 24 hills street.

Prendickhttp://www.allreaders.com/Topics/info_14602.asp?BSID=28456840

English: First edition (in London by Heinemann in ...

Illustration of Psychotria ipecacuanha

Français : Adrien Moreau, peintre