Summary of The Invisible Man:
In this article, we’ll be talking about H.G. Wells’ novel ‘The Invisible Man.’ We’ll go through a brief biography of the author, a summary of the book and the list of characters in the story. Find out the summary of The Invisible Man in this article!
About the Author
Herbert George Wells, also known as H.G. Wells, was a renowned British author who is quite famous for his work in the science fiction genre like The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. Even The Invisible Man is a novel about how science can lead to trouble if it gets isolated and unrestricted by morality. Wells, who is aptly called the father of science fiction, was born on September 21, 1866, and died on August 13, 1946.
Plot Summary of The Invisible Man
In the story of The Invisible Man, a mysterious man goes to a village called Iping, which is in the middle of a snowstorm. He then stays in an inn that is owned and run by the husband and wife George and Janny Hall. They ask him to not be worried about the storm, so he goes to his room with his luggage. This man’s name is Griffin, a scientist, who usually spends his time in his room experimenting with different chemicals and formulas.
He is an introverted guy, which becomes a huge problem as he lives in a town where the there is a lot of gossip.
Griffin goes outside at night; however, be keeps himself completely bandaged up and wears a fake nose. The villagers think that he is very peculiar, especially because there are suddenly weird break-ins and a lot of robberies start happening in the village. But things become worse when the owner Janny Hall asks him to pay up his overture rent or leave. So, he gets depressed and frustrated, taking off all his bandages and clothes and manages to disappear into the night with his invisibility tricks.
Griffin then forces Thomas Marvel, a tramp, or migrant worker by profession, to become his assistant. But Marvel betrays him and takes him to the police, so Griffin runs away again. The Invisible Man beats them up and wreaks some major havoc while leaving.
While he is on the run again, Griffin happens to meet Dr Kemp, his old acquaintance from medical school. Griffin then tells his friend Kemp about his experiments with invisibility. He also tells him how he has made plans to terrorize England by using his discovery of invisibility. Here’s the gist of what he tells him: he was poor and was desperate to study invisibility, so he steals money from his father, who later commits suicide (it’s not revealed why he does that). Finally, Griffin gets a grip of the idea of invisibility and proceeds to do these things: (1) set his landlord’s building on fire; (2) wander around London; (3) rob a department store; and (4) wear a ridiculous outfit hired from a theatrical costume shop and go to Iping for work.
But soon Kemp realizes that Griffin has gone berserk, and hands him over to the police.
But Griffin still breaks through the police line and starts chasing Kemp into the town. But unfortunately, the locals get hold of Griffin and kill him. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Marvel has saved all the notes written by Griffin in his room at the inn, but luckily, he can’t make heads or tails out of them.
Summary of The Invisible Man: Main Characters
Griffin
He is the Invisible Man. Primarily an albino college student, he changes his area of study from medicine to physics and then becomes interested in refractive indexes of tissue. While studying, he stumbles across formulae that would make body tissues invisible. Finally, he successfully tries the formula on himself and thinks about all the things he could do if he were invisible. Sadly, the positives are far outweighed by the disadvantages, so Griffin starts opting for crime as a means of survival.
Mr Marvel
This is the first character that Griffin makes his assistant and uses as a partner in crime. Mr Marvel is a short, fat loner who is the area tramp. Griffin thinks that he stupid and so trusts him by believing that he will not be believed even if he tries to tell anyone about his predicament.
Dr Kemp
Griffin’s former associate from his college days. As students, Griffin was aware that even Kemp was keen about strange and idiosyncratic aspects of science. Griffin actually goes to Kemp’s house in his final attempt to find an accomplice and start leading a more normal life. Kemp; however, does not have a sense of loyalty to his former student and is not willing to be a part of Griffin’s grand schemes. He is also quite cunning and lands up betraying the invisible man by pretending to support Griffin’s experiments.
Summary of The Invisible Man: Minor Characters
The Halls
Proprietors of the Coach & Horses. Mrs Hall is primarily in charge. She is someone who will leave Griffin alone as long as she gets her money on time. But her husband is more apprehensive but avoids interfering until Griffin’s erratic behavior starts becoming obvious.
Teddy Henfrey
Teddy is a clock repairman who visits the inn for a cup of tea. Mrs Hall finds a way to take advantage of him and get some information about her strange guest. Since the stranger does not talk, Teddy convinces himself that the man has a “suspicious” nature. He also starts spreading rumors that the man is wanted by the police and merely does this to conceal his own identity.
Fearenside
A cartman whose job is to deliver luggage from the required stations. He is the one who notices darkness through a torn pant leg where he should ideally be seeing some pink flesh. So, he spreads stories that Griffin is either a black man or a piebald.
Cuss
A general practitioner who wants to interview Griffin as he realizes that he actually saw emptiness where there should be flesh and bone. He begins telling despicable stories to his friends in town when Griffin scares him by using his invisible hand for pinching his nose.
Mr And Mrs Bunting
Bunting is the vicar and Cuss is the one who tells the story of Griffin to Bunting. Then, Bunting and his wife hear some noises in their house after going to bed next evening. They also hear someone sneezes and their money disappears right before their eyes.
Other Characters Who Appear Briefly
Huxter; Wadgers
The Blacksmith
Jaffers
The village constable
The mariner; Colonel Adye
Chief of Burdock Police
This was our article on summary of The Invisible Man.
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