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George Wells Dystopian

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Science Fiction Wells-Done Herbert George Wells was a paradox of a man. Despite having a fascination with utopias, advocated free love, and had an optimistic vision for humanity, Wells created the modern dystopian template, married twice, and wrote works with dark themes, such as The Island of Dr. Moreau. These contradictions may have been rooted in his childhood. Herbert George Wells was born in the town of Bromley, located in Kent, England, to a set of lower-middle-class parents. Despite his parents lack of education, Wells attempted to educate himself “. . . by reading in the libraries of his mother’s employers. . . ” according to Novels to Students (“The Island” 154). During his self-education, he unknowingly laid the foundation for his …show more content…

Moreau having a more dystopian tone to it, Wells still manages to slip some of his utopian ideals into the tale, although they appear twisted. He believed that in order to achieve a utopia, all of its citizens must be highly educated themselves and be willing to learn. The Beast Folk in The Island of Dr. Moreau follow Wells’s utopian citizen’s template. Kanakas, Pacific Island workers who helped Dr. Moreau set up his island, educated them about morals and show some drive to learn more in order to please their sadistic creator, Dr. Moreau. He admits to Prendick, the protagonist of the tale, in chapters thirteen and fourteen that he, the doctor, created the Beast Folk in an attempt to create the ideal human. During his lifetime, Wells followed in his antagonist's footsteps in a less sadistic way. “Under the influence of Plato’s Republic. . . he imagined an Order of Samurai - a group of dedicated. . . young people. . . who would give their lives to. . . the society of the future” claimed critic Christopher Isherwood from his essay in the 1950s (“H(erbert)” 507). A group of this sorts did form, though without proper leadership, dispersed. Despite failing to create his own republic, Wells’s bibliophilic tendencies transcended into his adulthood, as another famous book has made its way into his subconscious. Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book has captivated imaginations since its debut, including H.G. Wells’s. Whether he read it at his leisure or with his …show more content…

Moreau in a conversation between Prendick and Montgomery, the man who saved Prendick’s life, in chapter two where the two men talk about biology. Evolution and vivisections, on the other hand, play a major role in the plot of the tale. Moreau uses vivisection to turn animals into human-esque beings. On page 45 of The Island of Dr. Moreau, Prendick claims to hear a scream that sounded as if “It was if all the pain in the world had found a voice”. This was Wells playing on the fear of vivisection. In reality, it was as safe as any other surgery during his time. As the tale continues, Moreau admits that his forced evolution backfires after a period of time and his Beast Folk become their former feral selves. In chapter sixteen, Prendick notes: “As I [looked in that direction] the Hyena-Swine saw [the Leopard-Man] and flung itself upon it with and eager cry, thrusting thirsty teeth into its neck”. Even before the other Beast Folk begin to regress, the Hyena-Swine appears to be more feral than the rest, suggesting that either Moreau purposely made him that way or his regression from his previously evolved state occurs faster than the rest. This maybe due to the fact the Hyena-Swine seems to have more adrenaline highs than the others, since Moreau seems to have him help with the tracking of Beast Folk who disobeyed Moreau’s laws. Those adrenaline highs

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