"The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read
according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition,
inciting incident, etc.). Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's
purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
The novel takes place in England in 1890. The exposition
begins with the stranger Griffin moving to a small inn in Iping. His
straightforwardness and rudeness allow the reader to quickly understand the
king of character he is. The conflict is that Griffin is invisible and does not
really know how to cope with his situation. Nobody understands his persona, yet
he does not attempt to help anyone understand him. He goes from bad to worse.
He goes from being confused for being invisible to wanting to use his
invisibility for the bad. The climax is when Dr. Kemp one of Griffin’s professors
in college betrayed him by calling the police on him. The resolution is when
the police catch Griffin and kill him.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid
cliches.
In my opinion the theme of the novel is fear of the
unkown. Many people in our society are creatures of habit, they do not like too
much change. It is quite ironic considering that change is constant. The
characters and people in the novel wanted to finish Griffin because he was
invisible. There are others such themes like science within humanity and
corruption and/or advantage of power.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of
three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
*Mysterious: The title itself hints the reader that the
novel will be a mystery. The first sentence of the novel also creates a scene
of mistery and imagery for the reader.
“The
stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a
driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it
seemed from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black
portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand.”
*Whimsical: The whole novel in general is just plain
odd. I mean just think about it a man who turned himself invisible with an
experiment. “Then he put his open palm over his face and withdrew it. The
centre of his face became a black cavity. “Here” he said. He stepped forward
and handed Mrs. Hall something which she, staring at his metamorphosed face,
accepted automatically. Then when she saw what it was, she screamed loudly,
dropped it, and staggered back. The nose- it was the stranger’s nose!”
*accusatory/judgmental: Like I mentioned above people
tend to fear what they do not know, more likely than not they accuse and judge
those who are different. “It’s
strange perhaps, but it’s not a crime. Why am I assaulted by a policeman in
this fashion? “Ah! That’s a different matter,” said Jeffers. “No doubt you are
difficult to see In this light, but I got a warrant and it’s all correct. What
I’m after ain’t no invisibility- It’s burglary. There’s a house been broken
into and money took.”
4. Describe a minimum of ten
literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding
of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For
each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your
readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
1. Imagery: Pg. 143 “ Kemp made
three swift steps to the door, and forth-with the invisible man-his legs had
vanished-sprang to his feet with a shout. Kemp flung the door open. As it
opened, there came a sound of hurrying feet downstairs and voices. With a quick
movement Kemp thrust the invisible man back, sprang aside, and slammed the door.”
2. Theme: Back cover of the book. To entertain,
Science and humanity, fear of the unknown etc… “My fantastic stories do not
pretend to deal with possible things. They aim indeed only at the same amount
of conviction as one gets in a gripping good dream.”
3. Tone: Pg. 38 whimsical- “Then he put his open palm
over his face and withdrew it. The centre of his face became a black cavity.
“Here” he said. He stepped forward and handed Mrs. Hall something which she,
staring at his metamorphosed face, accepted automatically. Then when she saw
what it was, she screamed loudly, dropped it, and staggered back. The nose- it
was the stranger’s nose!”
4. Point of view: Third person, almost like an
omniscient point of view.
Pg. 45 “The eight chapter is exceedingly brief, and
relates that Gibbins, the amateur naturalist of the district, while lying out
on the spacious open downs without a soul within a couple of miles of him, as
he thought and almost dozing, heard close to him the sound of a man coughing,
sneezing, and then swearing savagely to himself…”
5. Hyperbole: The fact that the main character Griffin
turned himself invisible with an experiment is ridiculous. There is no specific
evidence that I could find of this in the book.
6. Characterization: Pg.3 “ It was the fact that all his
forehead above his blue glasses was covered by a white bandage, and that
another covered his ears, leaving not a scrap of his face exposed excepting
only his pink, peaked nose. It was bright, pink, and shiny just as it had been
at first. He wore a dark-brown velvet jacket with a high, black linen-lined
collar turned up about his neck. The thick black hair, escaping as it could
below and between the cross bandages, projected in curious tails and horns,
giving him the strangest appearance conceivable.”
7. Foreshadowing: Pg. 141 “ You have told no one I am
here?” he asked abruptly. Kemp hesitated. “That was implied,” he said.” The
reader has an idea that something bad is going to happen because of the
hesitation and insecurity of Kemp’s reply.
8. Personification: Pg. 32 “ –the bed-clothes gathered
themselves together, leapt up suddenly into a sort of peak, and then jumped
headlong over the bottom rail.”
9. Dialogue: Pg. 11 “The weather” – he began. “Why don’t
you finish and go?” said the rigid figure, evidently in a state of painfully
suppressed rage. “All you’ve got
to do is to fix the hour-hand on its axle. You’re simply hum-bugging.”
10. Setting: Iping, England Pg. 1 “A guest to stop at
Iping in the wintertime was an unheard-of piece of luck…”
