the invisible man hg wells essay

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The Invisible Man

H. g. wells.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on H. G. Wells's The Invisible Man . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Invisible Man: Introduction

The invisible man: plot summary, the invisible man: detailed summary & analysis, the invisible man: themes, the invisible man: quotes, the invisible man: characters, the invisible man: symbols, the invisible man: literary devices, the invisible man: theme wheel, brief biography of h. g. wells.

Historical Context of The Invisible Man

Other books related to the invisible man.

Full Title: The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance
When Written: 1897
Where Written: Worcester Park, Southwest London, England
When Published: 1897
Literary Period: Late Victorian Era
Genre: Early science fiction/horror
Setting: Iping and Port Burdock, Sussex, England
Climax: The final fight between Griffin, Colonel Adye, and Doctor Kemp, which ends in Griffin being beaten to death by a mob
Antagonist: Griffin (The Invisible Man)
Point of View: Third person limited narrator

Extra Credit for The Invisible Man

Adaptation after Adaptation. The Invisible Man has been adapted as a movie many times, including as a 1933 science fiction horror film, a 1984 Soviet film, and a six-part BBC adaptation.

Mixed Reception. Some critics dismiss The Invisible Man as being too comic and silly compared to Wells’ other work from this era, while others stress that the novel is an important work vital to the development of the science fiction genre.

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The Invisible Man

By h.g. wells, the invisible man analysis.

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Written by Timothy Sexton

Who is the invisible man in H.G. Wells ’ novel? The most obvious—and correct—answer would be, of course, Griffin. Griffin, the mad scientist whose half-genius at unlocking the secrets to invisibility but not the secrets to the way back, is clearly an invisible man. But is he really the invisible man? Again, the answer is obvious: yes. So, the much better question to ask—for the sake of analysis—is whether a more proper title for the novel might not be “The Invisible Men” with a plural?

H.G. Wells is remembered today primarily as one of the godfathers of science fiction. But Wells was also a social critic immersed in the politics and culture of the day. This novel is often viewed solely within the context of Wells writing about the inherent corruptibility of man. The indication is that Griffin was typical—no more or less corrupt than average—before he found the secret to invisibility and that it was the invisibility which corrupted him totally. That much is true and mostly beyond argument. But it is important to remember two things. One, Griffin enjoyed a fair amount of privilege—not extensive and certainly not bottomless, but definitely some—and so really doesn’t quite qualify as a typical member of society. The second thing of importance is the idea of invisibility having the power to make men do things they would not do under normal circumstances had been explored in literature going at least as far as back as far back as Plato’s ring of Gyges. Psychologically speaking, Wells had to know he wasn’t covering particular fertile and untilled territory on that aspect.

Which raises the significance of the novel’s epilogue to a new level. The death of Griffin which brings his visible form back to normal would seem to be the perfect climax from literary perspective. Circularly-speaking, a story that starts with an invisible man which ends with that man now visible is just about a perfect as it gets. And if it is only death which can bring redemption—in the symbolic form of a return to visibility—then ending the novel on that image is also thematically perfect. Everything fits into place like a jigsaw puzzle and the narrator even supplies a final sentence as the bow tying the gift wrapping tight: “Griffin, the most gift physicist the world has ever seen, ended in infinite disaster his strange and terrible career.”

Cut! Print! It’s a wrap. The story is over and the cover can be closed. Except that is not where The Invisible Man end. In fact, it continues on for nearly another seven-hundred words. And those words bring the ending of the story to a close not with a focus on Griffin—the titular character, supposedly—but on a character who doesn’t even enter the story until the ninth the chapter than all but disappears after the eighteenth chapter. He does make that return appearance in the epilogue, however, and so there must be something to that.

Thomas Marvel is introduced by the narrator as an imperative by the narrator: “You must picture Thomas Marvel as a person a person of copious, flexible visage, a nose of cylindrical protrusion, a liquorish, ample, fluctuating mouth, and a beard of bristling eccentricity.” This is hardly the description of someone who goes unnoticed. And yet, Thomas Marvel is a homeless tramp who acquires new footwear as the occasions arises for it to be found. He is one of those poor unfortunate few who go about their day as good as invisible to the masses. Most don’t see these people at all and many who do see them will themselves not to. If they are not already invisible to society, society makes them invisible by choice. This aspect of Marvel already being ignored by society is one aspect which makes him such a delicious choice for Griffin to exploit for the purpose of carrying out those tasks he cannot without risk of losing his advantage of invisibility. Thomas Marvel is not the invisible man, but he most certainly is an invisible man.

He is more than just another invisible man, however. He is the invisible man who actually lives out Griffin’s dream to “become famous at a blow.” The novel’s epilogue relates how Marvel took Griffin’s money to become the owner of an inn and how that inn is popular because people come to hear his stories about his encounters with Griffin. He is living the dream of using invisibility to acquire power. The difference being that unlike Griffin, Marvel’s dreams of power are more manageable, less monomaniacal and allows him to be perfectly content. The man who was once an invisible tramp having to choose between boots that were comfortable but damp or dry but too roomy ends the story not just financially stable, but visible to all: he is considered “great thinker” with a “reputation for wisdom.”

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The Invisible Man Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Invisible Man is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

The Invisible Man, Ch 1

d) She wants to impress her guest.

The Invisible Man - Ch 1

"He stamped, shook the snow from off himself in the bar, and followed Mrs. Hall into her guest parlour to strike his bargain. With that much introduction and a couple of coins flung upon the table, he took up his quarters in the inn." (Par 1)

I might go with :

d) "He made no answer, and had turned his face away from her again. Mrs. Hall, feeling that her attempts at conversation were ill-timed, set the rest of the table quickly and whisked out of the room." (Par 7)

Study Guide for The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man study guide contains a biography of H.G. Wells, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man Summary
Character List

Essays for The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

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Wikipedia Entries for The Invisible Man

Introduction

35 pages • 1 hour read

The Invisible Man

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapter 21-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

What is the historical context of The Invisible Man ? How did the era during which the novel was written influence Wells?

How are the villagers portrayed in comparison with the highly educated Griffin and Dr. Kemp?

How is religion portrayed throughout the novel? What about the relationship between religion and science?

Why might Griffin have chosen to pursue invisibility? What advantages could he gain from invisibility? What does invisibility symbolize in the text?

Why does the novel begin in Iping? Why might the plot take place in the countryside, rather than London?

What is the significance of Whit Monday? How does it reinforce the novel’s themes? Why does Wells include this particular holiday?

Compare and contrast Griffin and Dr. Kemp

Analyze Wells’ inspiration by Plato’s tale of the ring of Gyges. Why might an author in the late 1800s want to retell that story from the 4th century BC?

Much of science fiction explores the dangers of scientific progress. Does the novel make a statement about scientific development?

How does Wells achieve what is referred to as early horror? What techniques does he use to create fear and suspense in the novel? Why is the Invisible Man so scary, even before he turns criminal?