Compare the ways H.G. Wells in The Island of Dr Moreau and William Golding in Lord of the Flies examine the struggle between civilisation and savagery in an isolated setting.
H.G. Wells and William Golding diversely explore the struggle between civilisation and savagery in an isolated setting, through their novels: The Island of Doctor Moreau and Lord of the Flies. Both texts feature an untainted island location, where characters' morality and humanity is challenged by fear and lack of order. Wells emphasises through vivid imagery and characterisation, the qualities of humanity that exist outside of the physical body, and employing rhetorical questions and biblical allusions, plays with class expectations and distinctions in his …show more content…

This is echoed by the tribe, for when the boys are first deserted on the island, they behave like innocent children, playing with nesting birds that look "like icing on a pink cake," but disturbingly by the end of the novel, they act on "the darkness of man's heart," by harming without hesitation or regret. This lost innocence, as well as the island’s conflicts and symbols, powerfully highlight humanity's inherent savagery. Similarly, Wells' God-figural Moreau echoes Golding’s antagonist’s violence, as through anaphoric expression, "this time I will burn out all the animal. This time I will make a rational creature of my own," his savagery is exposed. Reprehensibly, this results in his total control of the island society, as well as his safety from the Beast People’s suggested "sabre-like canines," presented through unsettling simile as "keen and brilliant as knives." Analogous to Ralph, Wells’ Prendick represents civilisation, evoking our sense of morality and justice when rhetorically questioning the Doctor’s actions, "one long internal struggle, one long dread of Moreau-and for what?" Effectively, we are moved to associate with Prendick, feeling alienated from inhumane Moreau who commands “sharp and sure” punishment over the island. Moreover, Wells’ strictly civilised hierarchy commanded by the “Law”, evokes a religious undertone to the