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Suffering
We all suffer, some of us more than others. For some, suffering is a painful existence of starving daily. For others, it's being without an Internet connection for a day—well, half a day, let's not get carried away here. The question is, how can we measure suffering? In the comparison above, it's pretty obvious who is truly suffering. But do animals feel pain just like humans; do they suffer like we do? Should one person suffer if it means ten won't have to? Given the vast scale of the universe, does our suffering even matter? Back in Wells' day, these questions were important but difficult to answer. And guess what? Today, we are no closer to answering them than we were back then. Doesn't mean we shouldn't try though, and The Island of Dr. Moreau is one way to jumpstart the discussion.
Moreau believes pain is meaningless because it's possible that "nowhere else does this thing called pain occur" (14.23). However, maybe pain's possible rarity in the universe is actually what makes it meaningful...
There are two types of suffering in The Island of Dr. Moreau: physical suffering, like the puma's, and social suffering, like Montgomery's. Which is worse is left ambiguous, but they do seem related in some way.
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