PODCAST · arts

The Island of Doctor Moreau

by H. G. Wells

Philosophical, strange, and a little grotesque, The Island of Doctor Moreau by influential author H. G. Wells is praised as a classic due to its inspiration for many science fiction books and movies alike. H. G. Wells, who is renowned for his debut novel The Time Machine, is known as "the father of science fiction" thanks to his prophetic fiction on alien invasions, time travel, and space exploration. Wells' work habitually finds itself questioning evolution and religion, while stretching our imagination of a futuristic society. The Island of Doctor Moreau follows Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked scientist who is saved by a man named Montgomery and taken aboard his ship. Here, Prendick is introduced to a grotesque, bestial servant named M'ling and several other animals that belong to Montgomery who are on their way to an unnamed island where Montgomery works. Once arrived, Prendick is not allowed to enter the island, but the natives take pity on him and introduce him to Doctor Moreau, a