Midterm Question

By 1896, England was well into the Second Industrial Revolution, and it had developed a strong confidence in science's ability to solve problems. Darwinism had proven to many that humans and animals were not finished, immutable products but were flexible subsets of a constantly evolving biosphere. With this realization came the dreams of eugenics, of perfecting humans and animals by way of the laboratory and the surgeon's hand.

Throughout the novel, Wells refers to the Beast Men as "travesties" and "mockeries" of humanity. Through Prendick, he implies that no matter how Moreau or anyone else puts them together, animals are by nature animals, not men. Thus he emphasizes the qualities of humanity that exist outside of a physical body. Darwin's theory challenged this metaphysical barrier by suggesting that humans were merely exceptionally well evolved animals, and Wells appears to be trying to assert human exceptionalism. Of particular note is that what Prendick seems to find most human in the Beast Men is their constant awareness of their inadequacy. That is, they are cognizant and desirous of an ideal they are unable to reach, and this shortcoming makes them unhappy.

Montgomery provides an alternative perspective, and he introduces a degree of relativity to the issue. Separated from other men for so long, he has become much closer to the Beast Men, and he does not make as clear a distinction between them and himself as does Prendick. Perhaps as a result of the variation in Dr. Moreau's experiments, the Beast Men are not uniform in their degrees of bestiality versus humanity; besides, some animals are by nature closer to men than others are.