Before, they had been beasts, their instincts fitly adapted to their surrounds. Now they stumbled in the shackles of humanity, lived in a fear that never dies, fretted by a law they could not understand; their mock-human existence, begun in agony, was one long internal struggle, one long dread of Moreau--and for what? It was the wantonness of it that stirred me.
In H.G. Wells' "The Island of Doctor Moreau," the transformation of beasts into humanoid creatures is depicted as a tragic shift from their natural instincts to a tormenting existence. The former animals, once perfectly attuned to their environment, now find themselves struggling under the weight of human consciousness and societal laws they cannot comprehend. This change introduces a perpetual state of fear and confusion, highlighting the loss of their original identity.
The narrator reflects on the agony of these creatures, suggesting that their mock-human lives are consumed by an endless internal conflict and anxiety, all orchestrated by the enigmatic Doctor Moreau. The narrative questions the morality behind such a transformation, emphasizing the senseless cruelty that drives the experiments, evoking a sense of pity for the beings trapped in this nightmare of existence.
