501 Critical Reading Questions

Critical Reading Questions

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of the laws of growth.
This, and the detail with which he explains
the background of his investigations, reveal that he is a calculating
and systematic scientist. (Although he 
confesses
that he chose the
human form 
by chance
(line 45), it is likely that Moreau 
did not
just
happen upon this choice but that he found the human form, as he
later states, more appealing 
to the artistic turn of mind [ . . . ] than
any animal shape
(lines 48–49).
294.
d.
Right after he says 
these things
, the narrator says 
these animals
to
clarify that he is referring to the creatures that Moreau created.
An additional context clue is provided by Moreau’s response, in
which he explains how animals may be 
educated
so that they 
may talk.
295.
b.
The narrator asks Moreau to justify 
all this pain
(line 54), implying
that he has inflicted great pain on the animals he has used in his
experiments.
296.
c.
Both men make remarkable discoveries in their fields; in the other
aspects the men are different. Dr. Moreau uses live animals to
change their form, and there is no evidence in the passage that he
wants his creatures to worship him or that he has kept his experi-
ment a secret (though these facts 
are
evident in other passages in
the book). Passage 2 also suggests that Moreau did not have a spe-
cific application or justification for his work; he responds to the
narrator’s request for a justification by philosophizing about pain.
297.
a.
Frankenstein confesses that he was horrified by the torture of
living animals that that he trembled just remembering the pain
he inflicted (lines 52–55). He also characterizes himself as having
lost all soul or sensation
(line 57) in his quest. In addition, he is
telling this tale as a warning. Thus it is likely that he would be
most offended by Moreau’s indifference to the suffering of other
creatures.
298.
b.
In lines 29–35, Frankenstein cites specific goals for his pursuit of
knowledge: he wanted to 
pour a torrent of light into our dark world
by making important new discoveries; he wanted to create a new
species that would 
bless [him] as its creator and source
; and he wanted
to 
renew life
. Moreau, on the other hand, does not offer any appli-
cation or justification; he seems motivated only by the acquisition
of knowledge. He states that he has 
devoted
his life to 
the study of
the plasticity of living forms
(lines 2–3) and seems more interested in
what science has to teach
(lines 65–66) than in what can be done with
that knowledge. This is reinforced by the fact that he does not
offer a justification for his experiments.
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