Book Review - The Invisible Man By Herbert George Wells

Why I chose the book

I chose the book because I enjoy detective and science fiction stories and both these themes are woven into the story of this book.

Summary of the book

This was about a brilliant young scientist, Griffin, who worked on the idea that a person can become invisible when his refractive index was exactly the same as that of air, so that his body did not absorb nor reflect light. However, in a twist of events, before perfecting the technique nor finding a way to reverse the procedure, Griffin made himself invisible to hide from his landlord. Thereafter, he would scheme, steal, lie and even break into stores and homes to steal cash and clothings. When he blundered into his old university mate’s home, Griffin thought he had found a confederate to carry out his new plan to establjsh a Reign of Terror by first taking down a town and dominating it and kill people if they dared to disobey him. Kemp, his old university mate, who although was amazed by Griffin’s invisibility, was the one that informed the police of Griffin’s whereabouts. He was also instrumental in helping to bring about the downfall of the invisible man as he realised the threat of Griffin to society.

Character analysis of the main characters of the book who interest me

Griffin (Also known to the commoners as ‘The Invisible Man’)

He was a bright and ambitious scientist who sought power and fame. He was creative and imaginative and was very driven to be able to put common ideas of science together and find common resources to find a formula for invisibility. However, he was anti-social, he hardly went out, preferring to stay at home to do his experiments. He did not have friends, so that in his darkest moments, he had no one to turn to. He did not seem to have any qualms to do what it takes to achieve what he wanted including killing and robbing. When he stole his father’s money and his father killed himself as the money was not his, Griffin, did not even feel any remorse. His greatest weakness was his temper which often led him to act impulsively and most of the time caused him to get into trouble.

Dr Kemp

Dr Kemp was also a scientist and a university mate of Griffin. He was a very observant man, he even noticed a small dark spot of dried blood on the carpet in the dim although he was tired after working until 2.m. in the morning. Unlike Griffins, he was not poor, he was a practising doctor and had a house and servants. Unlike Griffins, he was cool-headed and acted only after thinking through the situation. Although he did think that he might be betraying Griffin, he decided to work with the police after reading several newspapers that showed the misdeeds of Griffin and he realised that Griffin was so insane with power that he was willing to kill. When Griffin vowed to him, Dr Kemp demonstrated bravery by not hiding but continuing to use his quick wit to help the police and the townspeople to apprehend Griffins.

My Opinion and recommendation

The book started its narration when Griffin was already invisible. I found it interesting because at first I thought the book was going to show that the invisible man was a good scientist putting his invisibility to good use. It was interesting to read as the story developed and show how a brilliant scientist deteriorated to a pitiful personality because of his greed for fame and fortune at the expense of his morals.

However, when the author tried to use the local dialects of the townspeople in their conversations, I found myself quite lost in what they were saying sometimes and this distract from my enjoyment of the story.

Hence, this book has a fascinating story with a plot that keeps me in suspense but some words that made me scratch my head. This book is a good book to read especially for mystery and science fiction fans. After reading it, you may wonder if you have the special scientific power, how would you use it, for good or for evil?