SCPL Teens discussion

At the outset of H. G. Wells’ science fiction masterpiece, The Invisible Man, a stranger, wrapped entirely in bandages and thick clothing, wearing bug-like spectacles, stumbles out of a blizzard into an inn in the small British countryside town of Iping. The stranger’s secret is sooner revealed to the reader through the title than it is to the townsfolk, and much less violently too—he is the Invisible Man. But this is no magic, nor happy childish fairytale power—this is a curse of invisibility, brought about by the merciless scientific experiments of the man in pursuit of some satisfaction resulting from such great knowledge, and the power it would seem to bring. This, coupled with an inhuman madness expertly crafted in the eloquent and sometimes Biblical writing of Wells, turns what could have been an enormous advancement in the physical sciences into a monster, who wreaks havoc and violence wherever he goes.

Ultimately, the genius of Wells’ novel is not in plot alone, but in the mildly humorous and vivid way he crafts the characters of his work. Their inner thoughts and actions portrayed cleverly through their actions without breaking from a colorful setting to delve into their minds, the characters develop and evoke many qualities which can undoubtedly be found within the reader. The importance of the empathy this creates with even the most distasteful of characters cannot be understated. The Invisible Man himself is of great interest, a character who slowly grows to have less regard for human life other than his own, consumed by the betterment of himself and constantly highly suspicious of others. In his tireless workings to gain some satisfaction of knowledge, some reuniting of himself with the world around him, he succeeds only in ensuring his isolation for the remainder of his life, losing forever his humanity and sympathy for those closest to him. Ultimately, The Invisible Man is a grotesque warning about a man made twice invisible—first in his isolation from humanity, and second in his “evil experiment.” It is a story of human self-absorption, with the downfall of the antagonist being owed only to the fact that men decided to act outside of their own self-interests, a concept which the Invisible Man cannot grasp in his selfish rage. And whether taken in the philosophical context or as simply another of Wells’ many works of science fiction, the well-crafted novel is, and continues to be, a classic. Rating: 5 stars.