The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man is a science fiction novel penned by the esteemed British author H.G. Wells. It was published in 1897, firmly establishing itself within the captivating realm of speculative fiction.

Recommended for: Beginner-to-intermediate readers. This classic late-Victorian sci-fi novel is accessible to general audiences interested in the early development of the genre.

You will:

Embark on a captivating journey into one of the first invisibility stories and an exploration of the psychological impacts of such an ability
Witness pioneering scientific speculation on light refraction and the visible electromagnetic spectrum
Follow the escalating sense of curiosity, arrogance, madness, and menace in the title character
Appreciate Wells’ deft blending of suspenseful plot and social commentary on class, morality and the fear of the unknown “Other”

Plot

The story begins in the town of Iping, England, with the arrival of a mysterious foreigner. The man is dressed in a long coat, glasses, and a hat, with his face covered in bandages. He is a solitary figure who spends most of his time confined to his room. Consequently, his peculiar behavior and attire spark curiosity and fear among the villagers.

Meanwhile, a series of robberies begins to occur in the town. However, none of the victims can identify the thief. One day, the owners of the pension discover some suspicious activities of the foreigner in his room. As a result, he admits to them that he is the invisible man. They report this to the police, but the invisible man succeeds in escaping to the hills.

While he flees, he tries to take refuge in a house which belongs to Dr. Kemp. Then, the invisible man acknowledged that Dr. Kemp was an old colleague from the same university where he studied. Afterward, he confesses his identity to Dr. Kemp. It turns out that the invisible man was a scientist named Griffin.

Griffin tells Dr. Kemp the story of how he became the invisible man. Due to his poor economic situation, he decided to work on something big. Thus, Griffin started working on an experiment of how to convert people and objects into invisible. Finally, he discovered the chemical formula that makes objects invisible. This formula alters the refractive index, which means that objects cannot reflect and absorb the light. He was making them invisible.

Also, Griffin confesses how he uses his invisibility to steal, burn and become a murderer. And he describes his insane plans for world domination. In this situation, Dr. Kemp realizes that Griffin is crazy and decides to seek help with the police.

Adaptations

There are several adaptations of The Invisible Man. The first version was in 1933 by James Whale. And in 1942 a spy comedy called The Invisible Agent was made.

Licensing

H. G. Wells. The Invisible Man. Harper & Brothers Publishers: New York and London. Originally published in 1897. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. The longest-living author of this work died in 1946, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 77 years or less. Text from Wikisource: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Man_(1897)
This digital edition is provided by Ebooks-net in 2024 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. The full text of the license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.