The moor symbolizes this underlying fear of atavism. The “sinister aspects” of the moor symbolize a primitive environment, while the inhabitants of the moor, primarily Stapleton, symbolize the “transgressive nobles and clerics who brought forth merciless evils” (Fisher 187). The setting develops the ground for atavistic behavior; it is a primitive, rather isolated region, which does not follow the norms of society. Atavism is a theory created by Cesare Lombroso. Lombroso believed that “multiple physical abnormalities distinguished criminals from ordinary men”; he called these physical signs “stigmata” (Ramsland 70). A major opposition within the novel is the division between “humanity and nature” (Taylor-Ide 56). People wanted a clear distinction between nature and humans in order to promote the growth of civilization; atavism is the antithesis of