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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.
Confusion
Although Prendick is presumably narrating the story in retrospect, he retells events through the lens of his initial confusion as the story unfolds. Especially in the first half of the novel, Prendick frequently misreads situations and struggles to comprehend the behavior of others, which lands him in frightening situations. His confusion manifests itself most clearly in his inability to recognize the Beast Folk for what they are. Aboard the schooner, he recognizes something strange and unsettling about M’ling, but he does not understand why the captain and crew regard him with such disgust. Likewise, he notices the abnormal physique of the bull-brutes who unload Montgomery’s cargo, and later the Ape-man waiting on shore, but he assumes these are physical deformities. Even after Prendick begins to suspect that the island’s strange creatures are Moreau’s creations, he mistakenly concludes that Moreau has been vivisecting humans and that he himself could be the next victim. Prendick’s seemingly perpetual state of bewilderment generates suspense by forcing the reader to continually question Prendick’s reliability as a narrator. Although he seems to be a reasonable, trustworthy person, his assumptions frequently turn out to be wrong, leaving the reader just as confused as he is.
The Grotesque
Prendick repeatedly uses the word “grotesque” to describe the creatures and Beast Folk he meets throughout the story. The word, which appears at least sixteen times, conveys the visceral disgust and terror invoked by the physical deformities and quasi-human qualities of Moreau’s creations. Prendick first uses the adjective to describe M’ling, noting his “grotesque ugliness” upon their first encounter, and he continues to weave it into his descriptions of various Beast Folk even after he recognizes them as such. As Prendick comes to understand the Beast Folk, his revulsion for them gradually gives way to pity, and their grotesqueness becomes slightly less unsettling. Late in the novel, he describes the Beast Folk as “grotesque caricatures of humanity.” This change in perspective reflects Prendick’s sympathy for the Beast Folk. Although he considers them victims of Moreau’s depravity, he never quite overcomes his fear of their animal tendencies.
Pain
Pain plays a central role in the novel’s exploration of what it means to be human. Moreau’s experiments in the “plasticity of living forms” employ the excruciating procedure of vivisection, or surgery on a fully conscious animal. Moreau also wields the threat of pain to maintain his rule over the Beast Folk, who submit to the Law in order to avoid his so-called House of Pain. Moreau’s willingness to inflict pain marks him as an inhumane and singularly evil character. His argument that pain serves no purpose and can therefore be ignored illustrates his complete disregard for the sentience of other living beings. Prendick, on the other hand, has a moral aversion to pain. Although he claims not to be squeamish, the cries of the puma nearly drive him mad. For Prendick, even death is preferable to pain. When he believes Moreau plans to vivisect him, he nearly commits suicide, and later shoots the Leopard-man rather than allowing him to be tortured.
