“Then I heard a key inserted and turned in the lock behind me. After a little while I heard through the locked door the noise of the staghounds, that had now been brought up from the beach. They were not barking, but sniffing and growling in a curious fashion” (21).
This paper will provide a close reading of the passage in which the narrator is first shown where he will be staying on the island. This scene is one of the first where our narrator becomes aware that something unusual is going on on the island. The emphasis on the locked door and the repetition of the word “heard” in the passage reveals Mr. Prendick’s unawareness of what is happening on the island.
There is great emphasis placed on the locked door throughout this passage. Within two sentences, we see the words “key”, “lock”, and “locked door”. Even though the first sentence very explicitly lets the readers know the door is locked, the author reiterates it again in the next sentence by saying “locked door”. This repetition reveals that there is information our narrator is unaware of that is intentionally being kept from him. He is literally being locked out by not being able to physically go through the door, but he is also figuratively being “locked out” of information. The repetition of “lock” builds the curiosity of the reader, as they are at this point also unaware of the secret being kept from the narrator. The mention of “the beach” in this passage can be seen as a contrast to the room the narrator now finds himself in. The beach often evokes feelings of freedom. If we think of the beach as an allusion to freedom, and our narrator is no longer down at the beach, then we might consider our narrator as no longer free. By having an allusion to freedom in the middle of a passage talking about locks and locked doors, it suggests the room the narrator is now in, or perhaps the island as a whole, is incompatible with freedom.
Not only is there a great emphasis on locks in the passage, but there is also an emphasis on sound. Throughout this short passage, the word “heard” gets used twice. There is also emphasis on sound in the words “noise”, “barking”, “sniffing”, and “growling”. It is important that the narrator is hearing things instead of seeing them. He hears the key get inserted in the door and he hears the staghounds, but he is not actually seeing what is going on. The fact that he is hearing, but not seeing, could allude to the fact that he is unaware of what is happening on the island. If he could see the staghounds “sniffing and growling”, then he would know what they were reacting to. Instead, he can hear them growling behind the door, which could suggest there is something unusual or unsafe behind the door, but the narrator does not get to see what it is. Similarly, the reader does not get to know why the dogs are growling. The use of staghounds, rather than say a poodle or dachshund, could also be meaningful. Staghounds are hunting dogs, and are very protective. The narrator can hear these protective dogs, but they are behind the door, and therefore in a place he is not allowed to go. This could symbolize the narrator losing protection once he got to the island. The emphasis on hearing instead of seeing reveals the narrator’s knowledge that something unusual is happening on the island, but his unawareness of what it is.
Throughout the majority of the novel, Prendick serves as a very very very very passive narrator. This is in part a plot device – readers need things explained to them to know whats going on, which wouldn’t happen if, say, Montgomery narrated – but is also to pronounce the barriers we place on ourselves versus those placed upon us by others. Notice, it is not until Prendick is physically locked away that he shows any sort of initiative. While Prendick had all of the physical freedom in the world, he refused to investigate Moreau, escape the island, or interact with the locals. Perhaps if he had investigated earlier, he would have felt more in control of his situation and less unaware.
I love this analysis because it is focused on such a different topic from so many of the others! A lot of the posts orbit around the subjects of animal vs. humans, wildness, etc., all things that appeal to visuals. Your analysis of the symbolism of the different dog breed in reference to the sound they make reminds me in a way of the section in someone else’s post where they go over the symbolism of the different colors in their chosen scene in a similar way. Your focus on auditory details and what Prendick hears helped me view this particular scene in a whole new light.
The idea of sound in this book is so interesting to me. The only mentions of explicit sounds we get are in reference to the Beast People. Not only that, but the sounds are focused on their animalistic qualities- the “barking,” “sniffing,” “growling.” We never get a description of what the Gorilla Man’s voice sounds like when he introduces Prendick to the Law. There is no mention of the way the group sounds when they all recite the Law together. Perhaps this is because it is more natural for humans to notice sounds that are not their own. But perhaps this is because sound is used as yet another mechanism to emphasize the animal in the Beast People. In relation to sound, I also find the lack of sound in this novel interesting. The moments in which Prendick finds himself deep in the woods after “escaping” one of the Beast People, he often stops to listen for other sounds. Animals often have heightened senses in relation to humans. In a way, Prendick’s senses are becoming heightened, and his use of sound in this way, or rather his recognition of a lack of sound and his reaction to it, enhance the presence of the animal within him.
I really like this post and analysis because it differentiates from the rest of ours. Prendick’s sense of time on the island is so marked by his knowledge of Dr. Moreau’s experiments and the Beast People, and I think it’s interesting that the emphasis on hearing as opposed to seeing is flipped by the end of the novel. Upon his return home, Prendick feels unsure of what he sees in the people surrounding him, and the visions of the Beast People have been so ingrained in his mind rather than the unnatural sounds.
I had not noticed this emphasis on locks while reading the novel, and I liked your analysis that the island itself has locked Prendick in and is preventing him from gaining freedom. This is reminding me of the Victorian anxiety of the unknown, and the fear of what could happen if the door is unlocked. It is also reflective of Dr. Moreau’s downfall – the puma creature escapes from the laboratory enclosure and manages to kill Moreau as a result. Not only did Moreau create the instrument of his own destruction but he also failed to keep it locked up and contained. This also brings up the question of the limits of science, which the Victorians were also wrestling with due to its many unknown factors that had the potential to destroy.