Herbert George Wells

The Island of Dr. Moreau Herbert George Wells

This novel Ranked among the classic novels of the English language and the inspiration for several memorable movies, this early work of H. G. Wells was greeted in 1896 by howls of protest from reviewers, who found it horrifying and ungodly the Island of Doctor Moreau, science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, published in 1896. The classic work focuses on a mad scientist's experiments involving vivisection to address such issues as evolution and ethics. The story takes the form of a manuscript accidentally found by the nephew of the protagonist, Edward Prendick. It begins with a shipwrecked Prendick being rescued and taken aboard a vessel called Ipecacuanha. There he meets Montgomery, a former medical student, and a "misshapen" man who moves with "animal swiftness." He later encounters a variety of animals on board as well as the drunk Captain Davies. They eventually come to a remote island, where Montgomery and the animals disembark. Davies refuses to allow Prendick to stay on the Ipecacuanha, and he is forced into a dinghy and set adrift. However, Prendick is saved by Montgomery and others, including a white-haired man and several "strange brutish-looking fellows." Once on land, Prendick spots odd creatures and is informed that the island is a sort of "biological station." Later he learns that the white-haired man is named Moreau. Prendick realizes that he is Dr. Moreau, a "notorious vivisector" who was forced to leave England some years earlier after his shocking experiments were publicized