Comparing H. G. Moreau And Conrad's Heart Of Darkness
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Between the early 19th and late 20th century, the quest for knowledge and answers to unknown phenomena quickly began to rise. In this era of technological and industrial breakthroughs, humans crossed the line between the justified advancement of society and self-centered attainment of valuables. In H.G. Well’s Island of Dr. Moreau and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, I will argue that claims to ‘progress’ are used as a justification for human mistreatment and the innate desire to exploit nature which ultimately weakens humanity. First, I will define progress in the context of each work. Second, I will argue that, in H.G. Well’s Island of Dr. Moreau, Dr. Moreau uses ‘progress’ as a means to justify his rash mistreatment and innate desire to exploit…show more content… In The Island of Dr. Moreau, the change in Pendrick’s attitude towards Dr. Moreau’s creations greatly signifies this. Towards the end of the novel, Pendrick becomes this character who is oppressive towards the man beast. Since Dr. Moreau justified his actions with the idea of progress and denoted that pain is not felt by his creations, Pendrick is able to justify his own actions towards the creations using the same logic. When confronted by one of the man beasts, Pendrick says, “I realised again the fact of its humanity. Abruptly I slipped out my revolver, aimed it between his terror struck eyes and fired” (Well’s, 72-73). Once sympathetic towards the creatures, Pendrick now turned into a human who saw a distinction in humanity between the creatures in himself, which he used to justify his radical behavior towards them. Loss of humanity can also be seen in Dr. Moreau and his companion Montgomery. As Pendrick and Montgomery are having dinner, the cries of the vivisected puma grew as if all the pain in the world had found a voice (Well’s, 26). Loss of humanity can be seen here as Montgomery is blatantly unaffected by the deep cries of the puma. Montgomery simply grabs himself more run to help tune out the cries. The idea of progress and perfection blinded Montgomery, as well as the others, to a point where they were completely unaffected by terrifying howls of a hurting animal. Damage done to humanity by justification of false progress is clearly evident in the Island of Dr. Moreau. In the Heart of Darkness, weakening of humanity can be symbolized by Kurtz loss of sanity. Kurtz voracious hunger for ivory got into his veins, and consumed his flesh, making him a completely different person (Conrad, 44). His station was bordered by a fence of severed human heads from natives that did not comply with his orders. Kurtz lost all sense of compassion and the quest for ivory dehumanized