Book Review: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

 

The Invisible Jerk

Summary: A mad scientist creates a serum that makes him invisible. He holes up in a small town and uses his new condition to create chaos.

There were two things about this short novel that took me by surprise. First, I didn’t realize how much humor there would be. Wells added a lot of slapstick and dry wit, composed of scenes with various citizens of a small town chasing and being terrorized by the title character. I always thought of Wells as deadly serious, so this book was more entertaining than I was expecting.

The second thing was my preconceived idea that Griffin, the mad scientist, would be a “misunderstood monster.” I expected an Incredible Hulk-type story where a scientist’s experiments go horribly wrong and ruin his life. You felt bad for him because his change was accidental, and the consequences force him to deal with the struggles of his humanity. He would travel from place to place, and people would hate and fear him, while he tried desperately to restore his former self.

But instead of all that, Griffin is a jerk. You can’t feel bad for him. He made himself invisible on purpose, thinking how superior he would be to everyone else. He never considered the implications of his discovery for the future of science and certainly didn’t want to share it. He robbed people without remorse and scared the hell out of them deliberately. He was also selfish, bad tempered, and violent. Did the potion short-change his compassion or sense of perspective?

His brilliance in figuring out how to render himself invisible is cancelled out by his lack of consideration of the consequences. His thoughts are, “great, I can rob people!” and “oh crap, I can’t eat in restaurants.” Not to mention all the times he was nearly run down or crushed because people can’t see him. It’s not easy being invisible. Being a genius doesn’t guarantee that you’re mentally sharp.

Griffin’s obnoxious nature became more serious later on in the book, when he decided on a “reign of terror” and planned revenge on his old friends. The book got less funny but more exciting. Fun and quick read for a rainy afternoon.

Review originally posted on Goodreads, July 2021