The Invisible Man by H G Wells

The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand.  He was wrapped up from head to foot, and the brim of his soft felt hat hid every inch of his face but the shiny tip of his nose; the snow had piled itself against his shoulders and chest, and added a white crest to the burden he carried.  He staggered into the “Coach and Horses” more dead than alive, and flung his portmanteau down.  

“A fire,” he cried, “in the name of human charity!  A room and a fire!” He stamped and shook the snow from off himself in the bar, and followed Mrs. Hall into her guest parlour to strike his bargain.  And with that much introduction, that and a couple of sovereigns flung upon the table, he took up his quarters in the inn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My first experiment was with a bit of white wool fabric. It was
the strangest thing in the world to see it in the flicker of the flashes soft and white, and then to watch it fade
like a wreath of smoke and vanish.
"I could scarcely believe I had done it. I put my hand into the emptiness, and there was the thing as solid as ever. I felt it awkwardly, and threw it on the floor. I had a little trouble finding it again.

Posted for The Friday 56, which is hosted by Freda's Voice


The Invisible Man by H G Wells

The Invisible Man starts with a stranger arriving at the town of Iping. The stranger doesn't get along with the villagers, especially the people who own the inn where he's staying. He spends most of his time trying to do something scientific in his room. The villagers accuse him of robbery. He takes off all his clothes and reveals that he is invisible!

He fights the villagers and flees, leaving his important scientific notes behind. To get them back, he forces a homeless man Marvel to help him. They go back to Iping and get the Invisible Man's stuff, but the villagers attack and again he takes shelter in a house that happens to be owned by an old college friend named Kemp, and this is where we learn that our anti-hero's name is Griffin.

Kemp has alerted the police to Griffin's whereabouts when he arrives but when they come to arrest him, he escapes.  Kemp works with the police to catch Griffin, who in turn, tries to catch Kemp. In the end, a bunch of people in Burdock gang up on the Invisible Man and kill him. As he dies, Griffin loses his invisibility.

H G Wells does not explain why Griffin needed to invent that apparatus which turns him.anything invisible. And Griffin is an arrogant and violent person. Not at all endearing. We ought to sympathize him but we do not.