The Invisible Man Study Guide

Character Analysis

Griffin - Griffin is the model of science without humanity. He begins his road to decline in
college when he becomes so obsessed with his experiments that he hides his work lest anyone
else should receive credit. When he runs out of money, he kills his own father-a crime that makes
the rest of his crimes pale in comparison. He goes from scientist to fanatic when he begins to
focus all of his attention merely on the concept of invisibility and neglects to think about the
consequences of such a condition. He may not have had any intention initially of trying the
potion on himself, but the interference of his landlord and prying neighbor lady motivate him to
cover his work and remove himself from further confrontation. The evil that he could commit
does not occur to him until after he has swallowed the potion and seen the reaction of the
landlord and others. The irony is, that his invisibility is good only for approaching unseen and for
getting away. Any gains from his crimes are useless to him. He cannot enjoy any of the normal
comforts of life-such as food, clothes, and money. He cannot eat without hiding the action, as the
food in his system will render him visible. Clothes, when he is able to wear them, must be used
to cover him from head to foot in order to conceal his real concealment--hardly a comfortable
state in the heat of the summer. He can steal money, but cannot spend it on his own accord. Thus
the condition that would make him invulnerable also renders him helpless.

In spite of his predicament, Griffin at no time expresses any remorse for his behavior or for the
crimes, which he merely describes as necessary. His only regret is frustration over not having
thought about the drawbacks of invisibility. For nearly a year, he works on trying to perfect an
antidote; when time runs out for that activity, he first tries to leave the country, and then, that
plan failing, tries to find an accomplice for himself so he can enjoy his invisibility and have all
the comforts of life as well. He goes from obsession to fanaticism to insanity.

Marvel - Mr. Marvel is the local tramp. He is harmless, eccentric, fat, but not nearly as stupid as
Griffin thinks he is. He is smart enough to know when a good thing has happened to him; the
stories he tells to the press bring him much attention and sympathy. In the end, he gets to keep all
the money Griffin stole, and he contrives on his own to keep the books of Griffins experiments.
He becomes the owner of an inn as well as the village bard, as it is to him that people come when
they want to know the stories of the Invisible Man. In spite of his earlier torment, he is the only
one who actually benefits from Griffins presence.

Kemp - Kemp is referred to as the doctor, but his degree seems to be an academic one rather
than a medical one. He continues his own study in hopes of being admitted to the Royal
Fellows. His own experiments and fascination with science enable him to listen sensibly to
Griffin, but in spite of being rather contemptuous of his fellow citizens, his common sense and
decency prevent him from being a part of Griffins schemes. Kemp is also the only cool
headed person in the town once the final attack begins. He runs to escape Griffin, but as soon as
Griffin catches him, he has the presence of mind to turn the capture around. He is also the first to
realize that even though Griffin is invisible, he is injured, and, ultimately, dead.
Plot Structure Analysis

The plot of the story is very straightforward. It begins in third person as the narrator introduces
the Invisible Man midway through his experiences. Once the Man is revealed, Griffin himself
takes over and tells how he began his experiments and what happened to him after he had taken
the potion. At the end, the point of view once again changes to that of an objective narration.

As Griffin tells his story, one can see that his behavior becomes increasingly reprehensible. In a
very logical way, people first in Iping, and then in surrounding towns, become aware of the
strange being in their midst. The people are curious, frightened and then determined in their
attempts to bring him down and to find out who and what he really is.

The climax of the story occurs when Griffin returns to take revenge on Kemp for betraying him.
The plot is resolved with the Invisible Mans death.
Themes - Theme Analysis

Corruption of Morals in the Absence of Social Restriction - The narrator uses the Invisible
Man to experiment with the depth to which a person can sink when there are no social
restrictions to suppress his behavior. When Griffin first kills his father, he excuses it away by
saying that the man was a sentimental fool. When he takes the potion himself, he endures such
pain that he understands why the cat howled so much in the process of becoming invisible.
Nevertheless he has no compassion for the cat, for his father or for any of the people he takes
advantage of in the course of trying to survive invisibility. On the contrary, he descends from
committing atrocities because they are necessary to his survival to committing them simply
because he enjoys doing so.

This theme of corruption in the absence of social law has become a motif that is explored in
other literary works. H. G. Well created his story with very little psychological elaboration or
character development. Other writers, however, have taken the idea much farther; we are thus
blessed with novels such as Lord of the Flies, and Heart of Darkness, along with short stories by
Poe and Melville.

Science without Humanity - Although Wells does not have his characters elaborate on this idea,
the concept is represented in the character of Kemp as well as in Griffin himself. Kemp wants to
stop Griffin more out of fear for himself than out of concern for the community, but he is
nonetheless fascinated by the accomplishment of this misguided college student. The problem
with the entire experiment is that Griffin pursued the idea of invisibility without regard to
whether or not there would be any real benefit to society because of it.
The point of view is third person dramatic for the first half of the book. Then it is a blend of third
person and first person while Griffin tells his own story. Chapters 25 through the Epilogue return
to third person.

Mr. Thomas Marvel

Mr Thomas Marvel was a short, fat man. He gave an impression of a tramp the shabby hat,
the charity boots, his clothes and his homeless lifestyle. Being a lazy guy, he did everything in a
leisurely manner.

Griffin made him his sidekick even though he himself considered him stupid and good for
nothing. He was a coward little man and was unable to standup to Griffin. He became his
partner in crime, but cheated him.
He was also an opportunist. The first chance that he got, he tried to sneak away from Griffin,
but failed. The second time he manage to run away with all his money and his three books. Hew
was very clear in the sense that he himself got arrested as he knew Griffin was after him.
Moreover, he kept the three books for himself in hope of solving their mystery an act of
foolishness.

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Marvel is kind of like the Invisible Man's sidekick. Except he's terrible at it. He abandons the IM
and still, he gets pretty nicely rewarded. That's kind of an odd moral.

Marvel is something of a stock character when we first meet him. He's the poor, homeless,
jobless wanderer in other words, he's a tramp. He wears shabby, old-fashioned clothes, like his
"obsolete hat" (13.39), and he has buttons replaced by pieces of string. The narrator goes so far
as to tell us that he does everything in a leisurely manner (9.2). He doesn't seem to like work or
excitement. Typical homeless guy in fiction.

He definitely doesn't like working for the Invisible Man. He carries his stuff, including the
money the Invisible Man steals in Port Stowe, but this isn't a super fun arrangement for him. So
it's no surprise when he decides to jump ship.

But here's the thing: Marvel ends up successful. Since the police can't prove whose money he
has, he gets to keep everything that was stolen by the Invisible Man (Epilogue.2). Then he gets
even more money for telling the story of the Invisible Man (Epilogue.2) was Us Weekly around
then? That's how Marvel is able to rise up from being a poor tramp to being the owner of his own
bar (which is named after his old boss, the Invisible Man).
Marvel might not be any less sketchy than the Invisible Man, but guess what: Marvel doesn't get
caught. Aw, snap.

Dr. KEMP

Like Griffin, Dr Kemp was also a scientist who lived in Burdock. Actually, they both had gone
to the same college. He was a tall and slender young man with flaxen hair and a moustache
almost white.

He was ambitious which was clear from the fact that he wanted recognition of his achievements.
But then he was also a speculative philosopher. The night that Griffin came to his house Dr
Kemp was working on a remote speculation of social conditions of the future.

Kemp is referred to as the doctor, but his degree seems to be an academic one rather than a
medical one. He continues his own study in hopes of being admitted to The Royal Fellows.
His own experiments and fascination with science enable him to listen sensibly to Griffin, but in
spite of being rather contemptuous of his fellow citizens, his common sense and decency prevent
him from being a part of Griffins schemes.

Dr. Kemp, a physician. Griffin knew him when both were university
students. To Kemp, Griffin reveals his story. Later, he says that he plans to
use Kemps rooms as a base for his reign of terror, and he threatens
Kemps life. Kemp goes to the police, with whose aid he finally succeeds in
destroying Griffin.
 Mrs Hall Character Sketch

Janny Hall, or better known as Mrs Hall, was the owner of the Coach and Horses inn in Iping.
The first time we encountered her, she appeared to be an opportunist. She gave the stranger a
room in her inn without showing much concern to confirm his identity.

She was a bit money minded. She accommodated with Griffins rudeness and awkward
behaviour only because she was being paid. However, she had a courteous side also which we
see when she tried to know about Griffin.s physical impairment and showed sympathy towards
his state.

She was superstitious and believed that her furniture was haunted. She was a dominating wife
and didnt shy away from giving her husband a lecture.

Moreover, she could put her foot down if required. When she had enough of the strangers
rudeness, she decided to set him straight and stopped serving him. She replied in such an angry
tone that Griffin had to back away.

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Mrs. Hall, his wife. The Halls are the first to be puzzled by unexplainable activities on the part of
their guest. Unintimidated, however, Mr. Hall swears out a warrant for Griffins arrest after the
lodger becomes abusive because of ill feeling over an unpaid bill. After a struggle, Griffin at last
unmasks and escapes in the ensuing horror and confusion.

Mr. and Mrs. Hall are a typical country couple who own the
Coach and Horses Inn where Griffin decides to stay. Mr.
Hall was the first person in Iping to notice Griffins
strangeness. He was the one to discover his invisibility. Mrs.
Hall is a happy-go-lucky and a friendly woman who enjoys
regaling her guests with her friendly talks. She gets annoyed
with Griffins aloofness and his temper tantrums. The couple
represents normal people in the novel whom the average
reader can identify with.

MR TEDDY HENFREY
Teddy Henfrey was a clock repairman who Mrs Hall used in an attempt to find out more about
Griffin. When he arrived, he was taken to Griffins room and he was at once startled by his
appearance.

He was quite inquisitive by nature and tried to find more about the stranger. He purposely tried
to work slowly. But the silence in the room made him nervous. He tried to talk, but got snubbed
by Griffin. This irritated him a lot.

He was a also a gossipmonger. When he couldnt find anything more about the stranger, he
started spreading rumours about him. He had a suspicious nature. He was the one who said
that the stranger was perhaps wanted by the police and that is why he kept himself covered.
ADYE
Colonel Adye Character Sketch
Colonel Adye was the Chief of Police in Burdock. Our first impression of him was that of a
brave man. He came running to arrest the Invisible Man residing in Dr Kemps house.
Then we see him as a person who took decisions very swiftly. However, blindly followed what
Dr Kemp asked him to do and didnt five his own opinion which showed that instead of being a
leader, he was more of a follower.
He was a moral being and opposed the idea of spreading powdered glass on the roads as it was
unsportsmanlike. But Dr Kemp pursued and he obliged. We again see a glimpse of his bravery,
and foolishness also, when he tried to fight the Invisible Man having a gun. This resulted in his
getting shot.

Colonel Ayde, chief of the Burdock police. Kemp goes to

him with his information about Griffin. Ayde is wounded by
his own revolver, which Griffin has snatched from his
pocket.

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Adye is the chief of police for Burdock, so he's in charge of

organizing the fight against the Invisible Man. When Kemp
suggests to put ground glass on the roads, Adye momentarily
objects that it's "unsportsmanlike" as if they should fight fair
with a man who is invisible (25.17). (Though it seems like he gives
in, since there's glass on the road at the end [28.8].) Although
Adye momentarily looks like he'll betray Kemp to save his own
life, he ends up fighting the Invisible Man to the end. That's why
we give him an award for being a good sport though he might
not be alive to get it.