# VI: The Evil-Looking Boatmen explained — The Island of Doctor Moreau

> Chapter companion for The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

Prendick is rescued by Montgomery and the white-haired man (Moreau) in a launch. He observes the strange, brutish boatmen with disgust and notes their odd physical features. Upon landing, he meets a black-faced man on the beach and learns from Moreau that the island is a biological station. Montgomery releases rabbits onto the island, and Prendick is given biscuits and brandy.

## Themes in this chapter

### Humanity vs. Animality

The boatmen's grotesque, animal-like features and movements blur the line between human and beast, foreshadowing Moreau's experiments.

### Isolation and Alienation

Prendick is stranded on a remote island, surrounded by strange beings, and feels a 'queer spasm of disgust' at the boatmen.

## Character check-ins

### Edward Prendick

Narrator; rescued and towed to the island; observes the boatmen with disgust; speaks with Montgomery and Moreau.

### Montgomery

Steers the launch; rescues Prendick; warns him the island is a 'rum place'; releases rabbits onto the island.

### Doctor Moreau

White-haired, broad-shouldered man; speaks with Prendick about science; reveals the island is a biological station.

### The Beast Folk

The three brutish-looking boatmen with odd limbs and faces; also the grotesque creatures glimpsed scuttling into bushes.

### M'ling

The black-faced man on the beach who runs to and fro and chatters to the boatmen.

## Key lines

> I saw only their faces, yet there was something in their faces—I knew not what—that gave me a queer spasm of disgust.

Prendick feels a sudden, inexplicable revulsion when he looks at the boatmen's faces.

_Highlights Prendick's instinctive horror at the Beast Folk's unnatural appearance._

> You’ll find this island an infernally rum place, I promise you. I’d watch my goings carefully, if I were you.

Montgomery warns Prendick that the island is strange and dangerous, advising caution.

_Foreshadows the horrors Prendick will encounter._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_island_of_doctor_moreau_se/chapters/vi-the-evil-looking-boatmen
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_island_of_doctor_moreau_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_island_of_doctor_moreau_se/chapters