Playing very much on the hero worship cultivated during the end of the eighteenth century (The Victorian Age, 1068), H.G Wells presents Dr. Moreau as an omen of what such worship can lead to. Becoming a symbol of rule and power for his fledgling society in much the same way that Victoria influenced England, Moreau’s reign is cut abruptly short, presenting a far bleaker scenario to warn readers with. While the death of Victoria leads certainly to a degree of chaos and loss of purpose resulting in the decline of the British Empire, her people do not as a whole die out and run themselves into collapse in the way the beast people do.
Beginning with the the chapter “The Sayers of the Law”, Wells presents the blind dedication the beast people have towards the Law through Prendick’s less than subtle reactions to hearing it recited. The “mad litany” as our oh so judgmental narrator terms it served its purpose, as: “a kind of rhythmic fervour fell on all of us; we gabbled and swayed faster and faster, repeating this amazing law” (Wells, 43). Although Prendick first holds the belief that this recitation is inane, insane, and entirely disconcerting, he quickly changes his opinion on the matter. Faced with a repeating list of stipulations and mandates of which he understands not the first cause of, Prendick soon finds himself taken up by the chanting, following along whether or not he believes the words himself. However, Prendick does stipulate his participation by explaining it as a purely superficial action. The important question becomes not whether or not he believed his own act, but whether his faith in the Law actually matters or not.
Whereas Prendick’s confided thoughts reveal him to be caught between laughter and disgust, his fellow practitioners of the Law cannot possibly suspect his infidelity to the tenets by which they abide. As such, they have nothing but him professing his belief in the Law. Were someone else to come along and ask him about his beliefs, it could be reasonably assumed that Prendick would once again support them, so as to superficially fit in. If this newcomer was unsure what to believe, however, he may be swayed to take up the Law after Prendick’s support of it. In such a scenario, Prendick’s closely guarded disregard for the Law becomes irrelevant, as only his open beliefs matter to the continuance of the society.
By way of this short and seemingly innocuous reaction to the saying of the Law, Wells manages to present a small scale scenario where the blind support of a law (even if the support is mere lip service) can be viewed with its consequences. If one were to turn such support towards any nations laws and not share their disagreements, how then could flaws be addressed and amended? And if the authority for this uncontested law comes to be rooted in a mortal figurehead, what is to be done when said figurehead passes on? In Wells’ tale, this dissolution of authority leads to a reign of chaos and disorder which horrifies readers who can imagine their own society in such a way. Through his extended parallels between Moreau and Victoria as mortal figureheads of their law, Wells presents the greatest flaw in such a system, giving grim warning to those who read his omen.