Do Animals Have Social Status?

While at first I considered the entirety of the themes and lessons portrayed in The Island of Dr. Moreau to be strictly scientific, such as a warning against progressive experimentation or a social commentary on Darwinism, I also noticed a parallel between the novel and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Animal Farm is an allegorical satire of Stalinism in the USSR where different animals on a farm are used to metaphorically represent contemporary historical figures. When the Laws were read in the cave, I immediately connected these two novels, as in Animal Farm there are a similar set of commandments. In addition, the revolt of the Beast Men against the humans was very similar to Orwell’s novel, where the farm animals eventually rebel against the farmers.

All of these connections got me thinking about other themes that H.G. Wells may have slipped into this seemingly simple story. The only other H.G. Wells story I had ever heard of is The Time Machine, which was brought up in other posts, where this is a clear distinction between two sects of people, the Eloi and the Morlocks. Therefore, perhaps Wells is indeed supporting some sort of social reformation via The Island of Dr. Moreau. The way in which the lower class, the Beast Men, are brainwashed by Dr. Moreau and his assistants, are frightfully reminiscent of a totalitarian regime. Once there are flaws in the system, where the Beast Men learn that the Laws can be violated and that Dr. Moreau has died, they revolt as if they were a Marxist proletariat.

In a book where I had thought the message was about the advance of science and theories of evolution, I was quite surprised to see this pro-Socialist message in the novel. However, theories of social status and class are actually very closely linked with Darwinian theories of evolution. Ever since hints of evolutionary theory arose, the concept has been used to justify group superiority. For example, it was believed that certain races were evolutionary inferior to others, thus relating certain races to “Beast Men” more so than actual humans. In The Island of Dr. Moreau, Wells is playing with these ideas in genetically and physically altering these creatures so that they appear more human-like. Thus, despite the fact that they may appear misshapen and inferior, the alterations made by Dr. Moreau may have produced benefits in these Beast Men. Also, if Dr. Moreau’s work was a complete success and animals were made to look and act exactly like humans, we would have no distinction between groups and thus no means for superiority, exactly like in Black No More. In his novel, Wells is able to connect a variety of themes and interlink them through this one, rather simple, story.