An Unseen Look at The Invisible Man

Young Anthony wrote the following literary analysis of H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man for his Honors English class his junior year of high school.

An Unseen Look at the Invisible Man


The Well-Doing of H.G. Wells
Born Herbert George Wells on September 21, 1866, Wells was highly successful in his earliest writing of scientific romances, making bestsellers of The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, and The Island of Dr. Moreau, but seemingly fell of the face of the earth soon after. He continued to write countless books in different styles, none being highly appraised. He was found not guilty in court after being accused of plagiarism by a fellow author, preserving his reputation as a unique thinker.

As Hastily As a Strike to the Head
In the scientific romance novel The Invisible Man, author H.G. Wells tells of the downfall of a man named Griffin who brilliantly made himself invisible, yet dully cannot find an antidote. While starting out as a sensible man, his lack of patience, most apparent through his violent rages, deepens over time and ultimately leads to the choice  wrong-doing and his ultimate downfall.

The Leading Men
Griffin, a.k.a. "The Invisible Man" - 28 years old; attended University College; described as an albino, six feet high, and broad,with a pink and white face and red eyes; won a medal for chemistry, yet gave up medicine for physics. Is very sensible, yet lets his emotions get the best of him. Experiences rapid mood swings resulting in violent outbursts. He is driven by his will to find a reversal for his invisibility.

Thomas Marvel - An aging man who doesn't desire the work he's required by Griffin. His loyalty to Griffin is highly questionable, and he attempts to flee him twice due to his increasing fear over time. He wants to simply be left alone and live peacefully.

Doctor Kemp - A former school colleague of Griffin's, his decision to "allow" Griffin to stay in his residence displays his lack of awareness. His suspicions of Griffin intensify rapidly, while his innocence diminishes, eventually igniting the miniature war game between himself and his invisible target.

"Sensible" Subjects
Fear*
Rage
Knowledge
Sensibility
Trust*

The Modern Invisible Man
If The Invisible Man took place during modern times and he had a MySpace, this is what it would probably look like.
Profile picture: His whole head is bandaged up..
Location: Iping, England
Age: 28
About Me: I'm a real mood swinger. Over time I become more and more upset, which leads me to attacking all of Iping. To do this I have to take all my clothes off, so I could be considered a nudist. My best features when I'm calm are that I'm a really intelligent and sensible man.
Interests: Football
Television: Fashion programs (The whole novel is based around appearances and knowledge)
Music: Linkin Park (very moody band) and Pink Floyd (like most people in England)
Heroes: Me (Because he's an arrogant jerk pretty often)
Friends: 0 (That's on purpose, because he can't trust anyone)

"What Appears to Be the Problem, Sir?"
Invisibility - Griffin cannot figure out a way to reverse his invisibility. 
Civilians - Their constant fears of Griffin draw unwanted attention to him and motivate the police to capture him.
The War Game - This is Griffin's true test of endurance, as he takes on Kemp and the entire population of Iping.

As Legend Goes
Griffin is a classic example that those with undeniable power eventually use it solely for their own good and, later, for evil.

An Incremental Advancement towards Hell
*The novel is horizontal, with one major flashback

• Griffin begins his stay in Iping
  
• Mr. Cuss takes a closer view at Griffin
• Griffin robs the vicarage
• Griffin reveals himself as invisible to the public
• The Invisible Man meets Thomas Marvel
• Griffin releases some of his anger in a pub
• Marvel runs away and Griffin tries to punish him
• The Invisible Man reacquaints with Dr. Kemp
• Kemp learns of how Griffin became what he is now
• Griffin declares the beginning of his Reign of Terror
• The Invisible Man is no longer invisible after death
• Kemp discovers Griffin's secret to invisibility

An Unseen Eye
The Invisible Man takes place in its entirety in a third-person narrative view.

Appraise the Ways of Wells' Tales
Author H.G. Wells goes about telling his novel, The Invisible Man, with a large variety of literary devices which make his writing style his own. However, of those devices, no two stand out more than his usage of tone and mood. With the combining of these two, sentences are created which describe the current situations with engulfing detail which give off a complete awareness of the surrounding environment. To begin with, The Invisible Man is a novel with a constantly evolving main character. Therefore, in order to fully realize the extent of Griffin's change, it is necessary for a large dosage of tone to illustrate how his vocal and physical natures are changing. This leads to a greater development of character--a key element in the novel. As well, mood follows right under the same principle guidelines. It becomes an emphasis of Wells to be able to control the environment which the reader is experiencing. For example, when several men are in Griffin's room and a fully-invisible Griffin begins to attack them, Wells emphasizes the feeling of vulnerability of anticipating being attacked but not knowing when. He achieves this through the use of mood, and nearly completely controls what the reader feels. Ultimately, in a book focusing highly on the feelings of people, its appropriate that tone and mood are literary devices Wells places the greatest emphasis on.

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Kemp read a strange missive, written in pencil on a greasy sheet of paper.

"You have been amazingly energetic and clever," this letter ran, "though what you stand to gain by it I cannot imagine. You are against me. For a whole day you have chased me; you have tried to rob me of a night's rest. But I have had food in spite of you, I have slept in spite of you, and the game is only beginning. The game is only beginning. There is nothing for it, but to start the Terror. This announces the first day of the Terror. Port Burdock is no longer under the Queen, tell your Colonel of Police, and the rest of them; it is under me — the Terror! This is day one of year one of the new epoch — the Epoch of the Invisible Man. I am Invisible Man the First. To begin with the rule will be easy. The first day there will be one execution for the sake of example — a man named Kemp. Death starts for him to-day. He may lock himself away, hide himself away, get guards about him, put on armour if he likes — Death, the unseen Death, is coming. Let him take precautions; it will impress my people. Death starts from the pillar box by midday. The letter will fall in as the postman comes along, then off! The game begins. Death starts. Help him not, my people, lest Death fall upon you also. To-day Kemp is to die."

This passage, which occurs at the beginning of chapter 27 in H.G. Wells' scientific romance, The Invisible Man, fully captures the overall experience of the novel and illustrates just how far down the wrong path a once hopeful scientist has traveled. While it may not display the sensibility that Griffin once had, it does deliver the pure form of his rage and anger associated with his all-too-common mood swings. As well, it promotes the theme of the novel when Griffin writes, "Port Burdock is no longer under the Queen, tell your Colonel or Police, and the rest of them; it is under me--the Terror!" This clearly displays that he has fallen victim to his own power, and furthermore lost all respect for himself by choosing such a childish name for a potential super villain of his power. There is connection to his past in this instance in that he had enough sense not to name himself the lame and obvious "The Invisible Man," but clearly he could have put more thought into it, because "The Terror!" makes Barney sound scary. Ultimately, this passage captures one of the final emotional releases of a brilliant physicist, making it a perfect representative for the rest of the novel.