“The Invisible Man” is a short classic science fiction novel written by H. G. Well’s in 1897. It describes the events surrounding a mad scientist, Jack Griffin who develops a procedure that will render a person invisible. In an unfortunate series of events, he uses the procedure on himself and can no longer be seen. Unfortunately, Griffin’s scientific notes and papers are damaged or lost. While he was able to develop a potion to become invisible, he was unable to develop the antidote. Until he could produce a cure, he was to be permanently invisible.
The story begins in the small town of Iping in England where a mysterious stranger arrives at an inn named “The Coach and Horses”. The man’s face is covered completely with bandages. He also wears a large hat, gloves and dark glasses. Residents assume he is disfigured or burned and simply wants to hide his true appearance. He is a recluse and his only request is that he be left alone. The local residents of Iping are very suspicious of this stranger.
After the arrival of the stranger, a series of thefts occur in town. Local residents never see the thief and suspicion immediately falls on Griffin. Griffin is short of money needs to fund his continued experiments. He steals in order to obtain funds to develop an antidote. Eventually, Griffin’s secret is revealed when residents of the inn witness strange events in Griffin’s room such as items moving without anyone present. Griffin is forced to disclose his invisibility. Police begin chasing him and he sheds his clothes. Without his clothing, his pursuers cannot see him and he escapes.
Initially, Griffin believed that invisibility would be a huge benefit, but he quickly finds that there are significant disadvantages. Invisibility begins to drive him mad. As the story progresses, Griffin’s becomes even more insane. He begins planning a reign of terror using his invisibility as a shield. Eventually, he is surrounded and captured by an angry mob. The angry local residents viciously beat him to his death. As Griffin lay dying, his invisibility potion begins to wear off and he slowly becomes visible again. His reign of terror is over.
This is not the only H. G. Wells “Mad Scientist” story. Wells uses the same theme in other works as well. Dr. Moreau (The Island of Dr. Moreau) is a mad scientist who performs surgery on animals in an attempt to make them human. Also, Dr. Cavor (First Men in the Moon), is an eccentric inventor and scientist who develops a metal that eliminates the effect of gravity.
This well known story has been adapted into cinema several times. However, these film adaptations tend to be light hearted and not necessarily part of the horror or science fiction genres. It is an entertaining story that depicts complete deterioration of a man’s mental state and his ultimate destruction.
Mark Askeda