| The Invisible Man | |
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First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | H.G. Wells |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | C. Arthur Pearson |
| Publication date | 1897 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 278 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearson's Weekly in 1897, and published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man of the title is Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it absorbs and reflects no light and thus becomes invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but fails in his attempt to reverse the procedure. Instead, his plight becomes known. When he attempts to enlist the aid of former acquaintance, he is betrayed. Griffin's attempt to begin a "Reign of Terror" by murdering his betrayer ends in his own death.
While its predecessors, The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, were written using first-person narrators, in The Invisible Man Wells adopts a third-person objective point of view.
Contents |
The narrative opens in the English village of Iping, West Sussex, with the arrival during a snowstorm of a mysterious stranger at the local inn, The Coach and Horses. The stranger wears a long-sleeved, thick coat, and gloves, his face hidden entirely by bandages, large blue goggles and a wide-brimmed hat. He is excessively reclusive, irascible, and unfriendly. He demands to be left alone and spends most of his time in his rooms working with a set of chemicals and laboratory apparatus, only venturing out at night. He becomes the talk of the village (one of the novel's most charming aspects is its portrait of small-town life in southern England, which the author knew from first-hand experience).
Meanwhile, a mysterious burglary occurs in the village. The Invisible Man has run out of money and is trying to find a way to pay for his board and lodging. When his landlady confronts the stranger to demand that he pay his bill and quit the premises, he reveals part of his invisibility to her in a fit of pique. An attempt to apprehend the stranger are frustrated when he undresses to take advantage of his invisibility, fights off his would-be captors, and flees to the downs.
There Griffin coerces a tramp, Thomas Marvel, into becoming his assistant. With Marvel, he returns to the village to recover three notebooks that record his experiments in optics. But Marvel soon attempts to betray the Invisible Man to the police, and the Invisible Man chases him into the seaside town of Port Burdock, threatening to kill him.
The Invisible Man's furious attempt to avenge his betrayal leads to his being shot. Griffin takes shelter in a nearby house that turns out to be that of one Dr. Kemp, a former acquaintance from medical school. To Kemp he reveals his true identity: the Invisible Man is Griffin, a former medical student who left the field of medicine to devote himself to the physics of optics. Griffin recounts in the course of several chapters how he invented a machine capable of rendering bodies invisible and, on an impulse, performed the invisibility procedure on himself.
Griffin burns down the boarding house to cover his tracks, but soon realizes he is ill-equipped to survive in the open. He steals some clothing from a theatrical supply shop heads to Iping to attempt reverse the experiment. But now that he imagines he can make Kemp his confederate, he describes a plan to begin a "Reign of Terror" by using his invisibility to terrorize the nation with Kemp as his secret confederate.
Kemp has already denounced Griffin to the local authorities and is on the watch for help to arrive as he listens to this wild proposal. When the authorities arrive at Kemp's house, Griffin fights his way out and the next day leaves a note announcing that Kemp himself will be the first man to be killed in the Reign of Terror. Kemp, a cool-headed character, tries to organize a plan to use himself as bait to trap the Invisible Man, but a note he sends is stolen from his servant by Griffin.
Griffin shoots a policeman who comes to Kemp's aid, then breaks into Kemp's house. Kemp bolts for the town, where the local citizenry come to his aid. Griffin is seized, assaulted, and killed by a mob. The Invisible Man's naked battered body gradually becomes visible as he dies.
In the final chapter we learn that Marvel, who has set himself up as a pubkeeper, has secretly kept Griffin's notes.
Griffin is a fictional character, the eponym and protagonist of H. G. Wells's science fiction novel The Invisible Man, first published in 1897. An albino, Griffin is a former medical student whose research into optics discovers a means of rendering bodies invisible. Griffin is exceedingly irascible and prone to fits of murderous rage.
Dr. Kemp is a scientist living in the town of Port Burdock. He is a former acquaintance of Griffin, who by chance comes to his house to hide after Griffin's transformation into the Invisible Man. It is to Kemp that Griffin tells his story in a long monologue, but Kemp has already resolved to turn him over to the police.
In the 1933 Universal film adaptation of the book, Kemp is given the first name Arthur and is played by William Harrigan. The Kemp of the film is a much less likable character, and is not as fortunate as his literary counterpart. In this version, Arthur Kemp is a "friend" of Dr. Jack Griffin, who serves as an assistant to Dr. Cranley. Unlike Griffin, Kemp is a thoroughly incompetent scientist, as well as an opportunistic coward. He continually criticizes Griffin for his experiments with monocane, and secretly covets Griffin's fiancé (and Dr. Cranley's daughter) Flora. (H.G. Wells's early scientific novels tend to be devoid of romantic interest and Hollywood screenwriters felt the need to compensate for what they perceived as an essential defect.) When Griffin disappears and goes to the remote village of Iping, Kemp attempts to report his colleague's questionable experiments to Dr. Cranley, and tries to woo Flora. Although he manages to convince Cranley that Griffin is up to no good, however, he fails to persuade Flora to forget about her beloved Jack. Shortly after this, Griffin, now made invisible as a result of his monocane experiments and hunted as a criminal by the police in Iping, turns up in Kemp's house seeking his old colleague's assistance. Although Kemp initially goes along with Griffin's plans, helping him retrieve his notebooks from the Lion's Head Inn (where, unbeknownst to Kemp, Griffin has murdered Inspector Bird), Kemp soon grows too afraid of Griffin to continue assisting him, and alerts Flora, Dr. Cranley, and the police to Griffin's whereabouts. Although Griffin is delighted to be reunited with Flora, his increasing madness frightens her away. Shortly after, Kemp secretly alerts the police, but is unaware that Griffin is standing beside him the entire while. Kemp is marked for death by a furious Griffin, and despite intensive police protection and a daring plan by Inspector Lane to get Kemp safely out into the country disguised as a police officer, Griffin manages to make good on his threats: he ties Kemp up, puts him into his car, and then sends the car over a cliff. Kemp perishes in the crash. (In the novel, there are no cars, and even bicycles are a novelty.)
Mrs. Hall is the wife of Mr. Hall and the owner of the Coach and Horses Inn. A very friendly, down-to-earth woman who enjoys socializing with her guests, Mrs. Hall is continually frustrated by the mysterious Griffin's refusal to talk with her, and his repeated temper tantrums.
Mrs. Hall appears in the 1933 Universal film adaptation, where she was played by Una O'Connor and given the first name Jenny. In the film version, her primary occupation is to scream.
Mr. Hall is the husband of Mrs. Hall and helps her run the Coach and Horses Inn. He is the first person in Iping to notice that the mysterious Griffin is invisible: when a dog bites him and tears his glove, Griffin retreats to his room and Hall follows to see if he is all right, only to see Griffin without his glove and handless (or so it appears to Hall).
Mr. Hall appears in the 1933 Universal film adaptation, where he is given the first name Herbert and seriously injured by Griffin. In the film, he is portrayed by Forrester Harvey.
Thomas Marvel is a droll tramp unwittingly recruited to assist the Invisible Man as his first visible partner. He carries the Invisible Man's scientific notebooks and stolen money. Eventually Marvel grows afraid of his unseen partner and flees to Port Burdock, taking both the notebooks and the money with him, where he seeks police protection. Although the Invisible Man is furious and vows revenge, he becomes preoccupied with hiding from the law and retaliating against Dr. Kemp, and Marvel is spared. Marvel eventually uses the stolen money to open his own inn, which he calls the Invisible Man, and prospers. The novel ends with him secretly "marveling" at Griffin's notes.
Marvel does not appear in the 1933 film, but in Alan Moore's comics series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, in which Griffin is a major character, people have suggested that Marvel may have been the man killed by a mob at the end of the original novel, after being substituted by Griffin himself. The only problem with this suggestion is, as Campion Bond introduces the league to Griffin, he commented Griffin made a half-wit albino invisible first.
Col. Adye is the chief of police in the town of Port Burdock. He is called upon by Dr. Kemp when the Invisible Man turns up in Kemp's house. Adye saves Kemp from the Invisible Man's first attempt on his life and leads the hunt for the unseen fugitive. He mostly follows Kemp's suggestions in planning the campaign against the Invisible Man. He is eventually shot by the Invisible Man with Kemp's revolver. Upon being shot, Adye is described as falling down and not getting back up. However, he is mentioned in the epilogue as being one of those who had questioned Thomas Marvel about the whereabouts of the Invisible Man's notebooks, and is never made clear whether this occurred prior to his being shot, or if it occurred afterwards and Adye survived.
Dr. Cuss is a doctor living in the town of Iping. Intrigued by tales of a bandaged stranger staying at the Coach and Horses Inn, Dr. Cuss goes to see him under the pretence of asking for a donation to the nurse's fund. Cuss is scared away after Griffin pinches his nose with an invisible hand. Cuss goes immediately to see the Rev. Bunting, who not surprisingly does not believe the doctor's wild story. Later, Cuss and Bunting obtain the Invisible Man's notebooks, but these are subsequently stolen back from them by the invisible Griffin, when he also takes both men's clothes.
J. A. Jaffers is a constable in the town of Iping. He is called upon by Mr. Hall and Mrs. Hall to arrest Griffin after they suspect him of robbing the Reverend Bunting. He overcomes his shock at the discovery that Griffin was invisible quickly, determined to arrest him in spite of this. The Invisible Man knocks him unconscious in his flight from Iping.
Jaffers appears in the 1933 Universal film adaptation.
The Reverend Mr Bunting is the vicar in the village of Iping who serves mediocre sherry and has forgotten his Greek. Dr. Cuss goes to visit him following his first encounter with Griffin. Bunting laughs at Cuss' claims of an invisible hand pinching his nose, but the following evening whilst both men are examining Griffin's notebooks the rectory is burgled by the Invisible Man himself. Griffin manages to recover his notebooks and, in a comic touch to the narrative, also manages to make off with most of their clothes. Although Dr. Cuss loses only his trousers, the poor Reverend Bunting has all his clothes stolen.
The cast for the production at Stratford East in 1991 was as follows: Jon Finch [Griffin], Brian Murphy [Thomas Marvel], Toni Palmer [Mrs Hall], Andrew Secombe [Squire Burdock], Geoffrey Freshwater [PC Jaffers/Dr Kemp], Caroline Longo [Miss Statchell], Liza Hayden [Millie], Miles Richardson [Dr Cuss/Fearenside/Wadgers/Col. Adye], Philip Newman [Wicksteed], Jonathan Whaley [MC/Teddy Henfrey/Rev. Bunting].[1]
Currently (started 13 November 2010)The Invisible Man is being shown at the Menier Theatre (Menier Chocolate Factory) London until the 13th of February 2011.It has currently received a good review from the Guardian, which gave it four stars. However the Financial Times gave it 3 stars out of five, criticizing the plays lack of including the darker elements, this may be due to the fact that the show targeted a broader audience. Readers from whatsonstage.com gave the play a better review than the website. There was a slot of BBC London news 26 November 2010 that talked about the production.Paul Kieve the illusionist was called on to provide the special effects for this, and all the actors were told to keep a tight lip on the special effect secrets (source:BBC)
Russian writer Yakov I. Perelman pointed out in Physics Can Be Fun (1913) that from a scientific point of view, a man made invisible by Griffin's method should have been blind, since a human eye works by absorbing incoming light, not letting it through completely. Wells seems to show some awareness of this problem in Chapter 20, where each of the eyes of an otherwise invisible cat retains a visible retina.
As a moral tale, The Invisible Man can be seen as a modern version of the "Ring of Gyges" parable by Plato.[3]