The Invisible Man

By

H. G. Wells

The Invisible Man is a very famous 1897 science-fiction novel by H.G. Wells. The Invisible Man of the title is Griffin, a scientist who thinks that if a person's refractive index is changed to exactly that of air and his body does not absorb or reflect light, then he will not be visible. He successfully carries out this experiment on himself, but then he can’t become visible again.

The story starts in the English village of Iping, in West Sussex, when a mysterious stranger arrives to stay at the local inn. The stranger wears a long, thick coat and gloves, and his face is hidden entirely by bandages, large glasses  and a hat. The stranger wants to stay always in his room, working with chemical products and he wants to see nobody.

Meanwhile, some mysterious robberies take place in the village with no explanation.

One morning when Mr. and Mrs. Hall, the owners of the inn go into the stranger’s room they see the stranger's clothes all over the floor but they can see nobody around.Suddenly, the furniture seems to be alive, flying in mid-air. Later in the day Mrs. Hall asks the stranger about this, and he finally confesses that he is invisible, taking off his bandages and glasses. Mrs. Hall flees in horror, the police tries to catch the stranger but he throws off all his clothes and escapes.

The Invisible Man meets a tramp, Thomas Marvel, with his invisibility and forces him to become his assistant. Together they go back to the inn and Marvel steals the invisible Man's books and apparatus.

H. G. Wells

After that, the invisible man meets Dr Kemp, an old colleague from university.

The invisible man reveals to Kemp his true identity — His real name is Griffin, and he was a brilliant medical student.

Griffin explains to Kemp that after leaving the university he decided to do something of scientific significance, he began work on an experiment to make people and objects invisible…