Today's the day! This is the first week of my book review/club blog post series. Enjoy. :)
This post may contain SPOILERS! I don't plan on censoring what I write so if you don't like ruined surprises I suggest you read the book before reading this post. Also, if you have any other ideas, concepts, or analysis up for discussion please feel free to comment at the bottom. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on the novel.
The Invisible Man was published in 1897 by H.G. Wells. Often considered one of the "fathers of science fiction," H.G. Wells created an unmistakable impression upon science fiction and the conflicts that can arise from discovery. Laying the foundation for imaginative possibility and fantastic situations, Wells also gave us insight into humanity by placing people in situations that provided uncommon strain, leading to enlightening reactions.
So what is so frightening about the possibility of an invisible man?
Human definition, control, and accountability. These three concepts are the backbone of The Invisible Man.
Human Definition
So let's begin with a human definition. Human definition is not justly based on the five senses. We can be blind and still be human or we can be blind and the person we cannot see is still human. Same with smell, taste, touch, and sound. But if this were the dilemma in The Invisible Man it would have been solved easily and there would be no novel. It is obvious that this issue is not whether or not Griffin (the invisible man) exists but rather what he is now defined as. The issue becomes that he has literally changed his make up to render himself invisible. This makes it so that no one can see him, whether their eyes are fully functional or not. He begins with removing the pigment from his blood. Already being an albino, Griffin has less difficulty rendering himself pigment-less. Once he has no pigment he uses the serum he has invented to lower refractive index (the number used to describe the way in which light propagates through an object, level of refraction, reflection, absorption, etc.) and lowers his own refractive index to that of air. Thus, he becomes invisible.
The question now is: Does a visible human body play a functional role in the definition of a human? Some may say, "Of course not. He's still a human whether anyone can see him or not." This would be supported by his remaining need for food, shelter, sleep, clothing. Others may claim, "He changed the actual chemical reaction of oxygenated hemoglobin (which creates the red pigment of blood). He also had to alter the other respiratory pigments haemocyanin, haemerythrin, and chlorocruorin which, when becoming oxygenated, deal with the colors blue, green, red, and violet. Had he not been albino he would have also had to alter his skin pigmentation. This would have tampered with his melanin which would have resulted in genetic alteration." The pigment-less human being: just an abnormality or something new, something not human?
Interestingly, had Griffin had the capability to control his invisibility by "turning it on and off" we might have thought of him as a super hero or in his case super villain. But because he could not switch back and forth he became a fearful monstrosity, unable to function in society, and frightening to everyone. Interesting that a visible corporeal frame could make such a difference.
Control
The next question we are forced to consider in The Invisible Man is "how would I react with the control wielded by the invisible man and my lack of control because of his existence?"
Probably not well.
At first, I was inclined to criticize the resident of Iping, who would sit and gossip and then only scream and run away horrified at the truth that they had complained at not having. But as the character and purposes of Griffin were revealed I realized that he had proved to be the exact man whom no one wanted to be in control. At one point Griffin explains his ideas of a "reign of terror" to Dr. Kemp, saying that it would begin with a few inconsequential deaths to establish his power. At another earlier point in the novel, we realize that Griffin has been robbing people since before he became invisible, a habit that has only worsened with his added advantage and inability to provide his own income. Griffin also has an explosive rage which is probably fueled by his occasional use of strychnine as a freaking sleeping aid! Just for those who don't know, strychnine poisoning is one of the most commonly portrayed cinema and literary poisons because of its being one of the most dramatic and painful toxins available or known. Griffin is also tending towards madness. Whether due to his rage, disregard for human life, or his belief in his own impunity, Griffin has created a monster of himself. He deprives others of their most basic ability towards self-preservation: seeing the enemy. He deprives others of their most basic means of survival: money and means. He deprives others of their most basic right: life.
Needless to say, I wouldn't react very well to the invisible man's existence either. Killing him becomes an issue of ethics. Did the police force have the right to use brutal force, resulting in Griffin's death? Was it a necessity because of Griffin's unjust power and menacing control? Did they even mean to kill him? It is very likely that Griffin's death was unintentional since they didn't know how to contain him otherwise, and frankly couldn't see where they were hitting or what and how much they were damaging him. But the commentary still stands: human fear is almost always rooted in a certain lack of control.
Accountability
This final concept constitutes less of a question and more of a statement. Most people agree that accountability while often avoided through means of dishonesty, is always deserved since our actions necessitate the corresponding consequences. Yet in The Invisible Man, Griffin seems to believe himself outside of the "common conventions of humanity." In his conversation with Dr. Kemp, it is obvious that Griffin thinks the end justifies the means. He is eerily nonchalant as he explains that he can't be blamed for necessity: robbing his father and his father's consequential suicide, robbing and tying up a man who lived alone and never checking if he was found, killing people to establish his "reign of terror," threatening people because "he chose them" for a specific job. It's pretty unnerving to watch Griffin so easily deprive others of their livelihood, freedom, lives, privacy, safety, etc. while still maintaining that he himself should be left alone. To Dr. Kemp he explains that "I've a particular objection to being caught by my fellow-men." My question is, "And...?" It's simple to say one objects to being caught, heck we all do. But if your actions necessitate the chase, then good luck.
Dr. Kemp agreed. But he went a step further, not only allowing the hunt to begin by betraying Griffin but by depriving Griffin of his own necessity. He cut off his means of shelter, food, and clothes. He set out police dogs. He alerted the trains, grounding Griffin's ability to travel. He even suggested lining the roads with powdered glass. When Col. Adye starts at this idea expressing its unsportsmanlike flavor, Dr. Kemp simply replies, "The man's become inhuman, I tell you. . . . He has cut himself off from his own kind. His blood be upon his own head." Essentially forcing Griffin to receive the consequences that his actions have required.
The Invisible Man
In the end, Griffin is killed by a mob who is trying to stop him from murdering Dr. Kemp. It's interesting because as he dies his body slowly becomes visible again, making the cruelty he suffered just as visible as the cruelty he dealt out.
Quotes from The Invisible Man
*all sections of quotes in bold was a change I introduced, not included in the original text.
"The more I thought it over, Kemp, the more I realised what a helpless absurdity an Invisible Man was—in a cold and dirty climate and a crowded civilised city. Before I made this mad experiment I had dreamt of a thousand advantages. That afternoon it seemed all disappointment. I went over the heads of the things a man reckons desirable. No doubt invisibility made it possible to get them, but it made it impossible to enjoy them when they are got. Ambition—what is the good of pride of place when you cannot appear there? What is the good of the love of woman when her name must needs be Delilah? I have no taste for politics, for the blackguardisms of fame, for philanthropy, for sport. What was I to do? And for this, I had become a wrapped-up mystery, a swathed and bandaged caricature of a man!"
"It was worse than anything. Mrs. Hall, standing open-mouthed and horror-struck, shrieked at what she saw, and made for the door of the house. Everyone began to move. They were prepared for scars, disfigurements, tangible horrors, but nothing! The bandages and false hair flew across the passage into the bar, making a hobbledehoy jump to avoid them. Everyone tumbled on everyone else down the steps. For the man who stood there shouting some incoherent explanation, was a solid gesticulating figure up to the coat-collar of him, and then—nothingness, no visible thing at all!"
"He has cut himself off from his own kind. His blood be upon his own head."
"A feeling of extraordinary elation took the place of my anger as I sat outside the window and watched these four people...trying to understand the riddle of my behavior....I was invisible, and I was only just beginning to realize the extraordinary advantage my invisibility gave me. My head was already teeming with plans of all the wild and wonderful things I had now impunity to do."
“And there it was, on a shabby bed in a tawdry, ill-lighted bedroom, surrounded by a crowd of ignorant and excited people, broken and wounded, betrayed and unpitied, that Griffin, the first of all men to make himself invisible, Griffin, the most gifted physicist the world has ever seen, ended in infinite disaster his strange and terrible career.”
“But-! I say! The common conventions of humanity-Are all very well for common people.”
-Natalie Cherie
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