H. G. Wells
Sept. 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946
Mini Biography
• Born in the London suburb of Bromley in 1866
• "The Time Machine" – 1895 first publication
• Journalist, Teacher, Novelist, Historian
• Parents – Joseph Wells and Sarah Neal…Unhappy marriage
• 1891 he married his cousin, 3 years later left her for a student of
his, Amy Catherine Robbins
• Children – 2 boys with Amy: George and Frank, Also Anna-Jane
with Amber Reeves and Anthony West with Rebecca West.
• Amy died in 1927
• Wells died in 1946, reports indicate that it was from his diabetes or
liver cancer.
The Invisible Man
H. G. Wells
Published 1897
Setting
The Invisible Man is set in Iping, West
Sussex located in southern England.
During the winter of 1890’s.
*The book doesn’t say a particular year or date, so we assume that it was set in the
current time the book was written.
Character
Description
• Griffin - Griffin became The Invisible Man when he found
how to make one become invisible but didn’t think before
hand to find a way to reverse it. He studied optical
density at a university. He moves to a town called Iping
where his short temper and erratic antics concern the
townspeople. Griffin was forced to flee because of his
insanity and eventually killed by a mob.
• Mrs. Hall - Owner of the Coach and Horse Inn, where
Griffin stays while in Iping. She is nosey and annoyed
when Griffin refuses to talk with her.
• Mr. Hall – Helps run Coach and Horse Inn and is the first
person to discover what Griffin has been hiding.
• Thomas Marvel – Griffin’s first visible partner before
fleeing to Port Burdock and contacting police.
Character
Description
Kemp – A former associate of Griffin’s in his
college days. Griffin had been his student and knew
Kemp to be interested in bizarre aspects of science.
• Dr.
• Cuss – A doctor in Iping who in very interested in
Griffin and is the first to notice he is invisible.
Plot Summary
Griffin, having rendered himself invisible with a
pervious experiment, enters a small town, Iping,
where he sets up his lab in a small inn with hopes to
reverse the invisibility. When he accidentally reveals
himself, he engages in violent acts, is forced to flee
and find a new hiding place. He goes to an old
college professor’s house whom he thinks would be
interested in his experiments and willing to help find
a cure. Mr. Kemp, the professor, finds out about
Griffin’s actions in Iping and is unwilling to help.
Griffin recruits Thomas Marvel to be his visible
partner. When authorities catch up with Griffin, he is
killed and becomes visible again. Thomas, who
Griffin has carrying his journal, might try the
experiments if he could understand them.
Literary Elements
• Tone – Social/Dark Comedy
• Theme – Corruption of morals in the
absence of social restriction
• Conflict – A man trying to regain his life as
“normal” cannot find someone to help him
because of his insanity, detachedness to
others and habits of using people.
• Point-of-view – Third person most of the
book.
Quotes
“No hand—just an empty sleeve. Lord! I thought, that’s a deformity!…
Then, I thought, there’s something odd in that. What the devil keeps
that sleeve up and open, if there’s nothing in it? There was nothing
in it, I tell you. Nothing down it, right down to the joint. I could see
right down it to the elbow, and there was a glimmer of light shining
through a tear of the cloth. “ -Cuss
"I am one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived.” – Griffin
"to repress not only his emotions but his humanity . . . [to be] invisible, a
walking personification of the Negative, . . . the mechanical man!"
"The white folk tell everybody what to think -- except men like me. I tell
them"
Analysis
• I thought the book was interesting, i enjoyed it. It could've been
more interesting, though, with more action or something. The
beginning and the end were ok, but in the middle it seemed like
there was a lot of just random stuff. Overall very good book. – Cory
• I thought The Invisible Man was a very dry book. Even when people
were fighting Griffin, I wanted to put the book down. Although I did
like that Wells made a very clear point that you need to have
compassion for other people and other living beings. In the end, I
would not wish that book on my worst enemy. – Carmen
• I thought the book was hard to get through and boring. It was written
really well but it’s not the kind of book I would choose to read in my
spare time. - Kelly
Work Division
• Kelly – Biography
• Cory – Setting, and Literary Elements
• Carmen – Title page, Character
description and PowerPoint constructor
• All – Analysis, and quotes