Analysis Of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1912) is yet another essential novel, that marked and defined the genre science fiction. Set in an expedition to a plateau in South America, the reporter Edward Malone tells his journey along with the hot-headed and eccentric Professor George Edward Challenger. What differentiates the protagonists from Doyle’s, what was soon to be known as Challenger Tales, his Sherlock Holmes series, is not only the ambiguity in attitude, as Sherlock Holmes is considered self-controlled and analytical, whereas Challenger portrays the stellar opposite, but also the way both novels are being narrated. Whereas former novel series has Sherlock’s assistant Dr. Watson as the narrator of the protagonists adventures, The Lost

Naturally, it is unavoidable to draw comparisons to H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), as both share similarities in both scientific and narrative areas. Before a detailed analysis of the narrative structure and contemporary diegesis can be made, it is of utmost importance to differentiate between the definition of reliable and unreliable narrators. According to Wayne C. Booth, the best summarization for the narrative structure that Doyle conveys in The Lost World, can be reflected in this

(Kerr 3). Additionally, in accordance with the Jurassic creatures that Challenger and Melone encounter during their venture in the Maple-White Land, they also come in contact with two different ape species, namely the ape-men and a modern human tribe which call themselves the Accala. One similarity that is hard to dismiss in the context of the current discourse of the seminar, is that of H.G. Well’s congruence in The Island of Dr. Moreau. Both novels are strongly juxtaposed in the concept of Darwin’s entangled bank, as both the Island in Dr. Moreau and the plateau in The Lost World are compromised by extinct animals and animals that possess human-like features. Whereas it is clear that in Dr. Moreau the scientist with the given name is responsible for the origin of these creations, achieved via vivisection of animal into human, the origin of the creatures in The Lost World is unclear. Yet, both novels feature human-like animals that are at war with each other. Kerr rightfully remarks that Doyle was inspired by Wells’s previous publication of The Time Machine (1895), using the creative idea of merging contemporary scientific advancements for the time of the novel’s publication with a microcosm in which characters have to face these prehistoric