THE INVISIBLE MAN

THE INVISIBLE MAN

BY PRATYUSH

Title: The Invisible Man

Author: H.G Wells

Publishing Info: Dover Publications INC

Date: First Edition was published in

1897

BOOK INFO

SETTING

Iping,

England in 1890

L E SS ON 4M R . C U SS I N T E RVI E W S

T HE S T R AN G E R

VENUE: ‘Coach and Horses’ inn

Characters:

1. The strange man(Griffin)

2. Mrs. Hall ( The

Landlady)

3. Mr. Hall

(Landlord)

4. Mr. Cuss

(General practitioner)

5. Bunting (Vicar)

MAIN EVENTS The chapter starts with the words of

narrator saying about the circumstances

of the arrival of stranger in the iping and

the impression created by him in the

minds of the readers as well as the

villagers.

Mr. Hall didn’t like the stranger and also

doubted his intentions to come in a

remote village like Iping. Mrs hall didn’t

like him either but the punctual setting of

the bill makes her to bear his irritating

behavior.

.

 

The stranger didn’t go to church and made no

difference between Sunday and the other

irreligious days. Some days he would get up very

early and remains continuously busy while on some

days he would rise late, walks deliberately in the

room, smoke and sleep in his arm chair placed by

the fire.

He had no communication beyond the village. His

temper was very uncertain; sometimes it may seem

that he is suffering under almost endurable

provocation and sometime he tore, broke and crush

things. He seemed under a chronic irritation of the

greatest intensity.

The stranger works diligently in his

room until the end of April with only

occasional skirmishes with Mrs. Hall.

Whenever she disapproves of anything he

does, he quiets her with additional

payment.

He rarely goes out during the day, but

goes out nearly every night, muffled up

regardless of the weather. He chooses

the loneliest paths and those which are

overshadowed by trees and banks. His

ghostly appearance had sometimes

frightened the home returning labourers.

.

He rarely goes out during the day, but

goes out nearly every night, muffled

up regardless of the weather. He

chooses the loneliest paths and those

which are overshadowed by trees and

banks. His ghostly appearance had

sometimes frightened the home

returning labourers.

The young men begin to mock his

bearing; a song called “Bogey Man”

becomes popular and children follow

at a distance calling out “Bogey Man.”

The curiosity of a general

practitioner named Cuss is aroused,

and he contrives for an interview. Mr.

Cuss had gone for demanding

donation for nurse fund from the

stranger.

There he saw many bottles,

chemicals, test-tubes balance etc.

there he asked him about his

research.

During the interview the

stranger accidentally removes

his hand from his pocket. Cuss

is able to see down the empty

sleeve to the elbow. Cuss

questions him about “moving an

empty sleeve.” The stranger

laughs, then extends the empty

sleeve toward Cuss’s face and

pinches his nose. Cuss leaves in

terror and tells his story to

Bunting, the vicar. Bunting

didn’t believe his story.

POINTS TO PONDER OVER

General public wants something to talk

about and explain about. Explain

with refrence to the chapter?

Describe the meeting of Mr. Cuss with the

stranger?

Describe the meeting of Mr. Cuss with

Bunting?

What kind of character Mr. Cuss appear to

be?

Griffin: He is the main character in this story. He is described to be an albino college student who majored in physics and medicine. During his expirements he came across formulas that causes himself to turn invisible. He ends up becoming the burglar in the story.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

Mrs. Hall Mrs. Hall, the owner of the inn, appears a worldly woman. She is a

good host and knows very how to let the customer feel at the home. In

spite of getting many snub by the customer she shows no irritation as

she knows that the customer is minting machine for her. The

behaviour of the guest does upset her but she keeps quiet. she is

sympathetic towards the stranger. Seeing the bandages at his head

she thinks that he might have met an accident. She is ready to help

him get settled and comfortable in the room. She is hard task master

also, she knows how to handle her maid. She gives her a few scoldings

for being so slow in her job. Mrs. Hall knows how to get things done.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

MR. CUSS

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 pretense of asking

for a donation to the nurse's fund. He is the first to

realize he actually see emptiness where

there should be flesh and bone. He also tells

an outrageous story to his companions in

town after Griffin terrifies him by pinching

his nose with an invisible hand

Tone: Throughout the novel,

you get a sense of mystery,

suspense and often a bit of

arrogance when the author

was speaking of Griffin.

LITERARY ELEMENTS

Theme: Corruption of Morals in the

Absence of Social Restriction

For example: For everything that Griffin did, he had an excuse for it. When he killed his father he excused it by saying that he was a “sentimental fool”.

Conflict:

Throughout the novel many people are trying to figure out Griffin in a whole. Why isn’t he showing himself? What does he have to hide? Griffin shows to have no compassion for anyone in his attempt to survive invisible without others finding out. His main conflict is finding an antidote to become visible. The society’s conflict is finding out who is the burglar that is breaking in and stealing.

Point-of-View:

In the first half of the story, it is told through third person. Giving us the opportunity to meet and get to know the characters and their inner personality.

The second half Griffin takes over and gives us a taste of his inner side, and his history. After chapter 25, the story returns third person.

“He rarely went abroad by daylight, but at twilight he would

go out muffled up invisibly, whether the weather were cold

or not, and he chose the loneliest paths and those most

over-shadowed by trees and banks.”

• This quote reflects the irony that Griffin must cover up invisibility by becoming invisible and blending into his surroundings.

QUOTES

Sometimes called the father of modern science

fiction, H.G. Wells was born on September 21,

1866 in Bromley, Kent, England. His father, a

professional cricket player and shopkeeper, and his

mother, a former lady's maid, raised Wells with the

idea that he would find a place in the work world

that they were accustomed. He aspired to a

different place in society.

BIOGRAPHY HG WELLS

When he was thirteen, he left school to

become a draper's apprentice, a job his

family expected would be proper for a boy

of his station. Then H.G. Wells finally found

a job as a teacher's assistant in a grammar

school. Education and academia suited him

well. In 1884 he entered college with a

scholarship to study biology. He was able to

study under one of the great biology

teachers of the time, Thomas Henry Huxley,

and Wells graduated in 1888.

The writings of Jules Verne undoubtedly

influenced Wells, and he wrote his first

novel, The Time Machine, partly in response

to this new kind of literature that Verne

produced. The story appeared in various

forms in magazines from 1888 to 1894 and

was released in its current form in 1895.

The book was successful, and Wells did not

need to teach or worry about money from

that time on.

Wells' early novels continued in the science fiction mode of The Time

Machine. The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897)

and The War Between the Worlds (1898) cemented his position

within the genre. For many readers, these early novels are the

extent of Wells' writing. He's the "time machine guy" or the "Martian

guy." Wells, however, wrote short stories, mainstream fiction and

non-fiction essays his entire life, most of them espousing in some

form or another his views on humanity, society and the direction he

saw the world going. Some of these works were also science fictional

in nature.

(The Time Machine)

After reading the story, I think it is very queer and amazing. At the beginning, the author doesn’t make the entire story clear, which make readers have a lot of questions. Just like how the invisible man became invisible and what he wanted to do? All these questions will make you continue to read it and yearn for knowing the result. In this story, the invisible man wanted to control the world. In order to realize his dream, he did it by hook or by crook. Finally he became lonely and no one wanted to help him since he was dangerous and ambitious.

The story tells us no one can live against the world. And you can’t live without any friends. So how to get along with others and develop a good personality which make others like you is important. By the way, don’t dream to be an invisible man. It isn’t fun at all.

After thought

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

It was a good read, and exceptionally short. The

story depicts that obsession of just about

anything can cause insanity; it caused a fictional

character to kill and rob innocent people only

because he was invisible. The Invisible Man was

a good quality science-fiction book, and I would

recommend it to my peers.

"Well's Biography." SFF Net. The Time

Machine. Web. 27 Nov. 2010.

<http://www.sff.net/people/james.van.

pelt/wells/biography.htm>.

Wells, H. G. Invisible Man. Mineola, NY:

Dover., 1992. Print.

REFERENCE

SHERLOCK HOLMES QUOTES

A mad killer might be

standing beside you

…..

You wont know until

its too late….

So

BE ALERT

AND BE SAFE

CLASS 12 B

THANK YOU