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The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells Essays

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The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells gives an account of a man’s descent into madness as the result of his scientific feat, invisibility. Griffin, the invisible man, first appears as a mysterious stranger, bandaged and seeking shelter and recluse but progressively transforms into a lawless individual with a proposition to initiate a reign of terror. The change in Griffin’s character occurs due to his invisibility and the power it provides because “there is no one, on this view, who is iron-willed enough to maintain his morality and find the strength of purpose to keep his hands off what does not belong to him, when he is able to take whatever he wants from the market-stalls without fear of being discovered, to enter houses and sleep with …show more content…

The invisible man begins to feel limitless and superior to average man, he feels that “an invisible man is a man of power” (Wells). Being invisible and the subsequent notion of invincibility causes the invisible man to act as he pleases as his inhibitions disappear as the fear of being reprimanded is removed. The absence of consequences strips away the good in Griffin’s nature and fosters his madness as he starts stealing from the markets and begins his spree of breaking into houses.
However, the invisibility that Griffin viewed as power ultimately is a poison as the invisible man must sacrifice greatly for his for his power. The invisible man schemes grand dreams that can be realized through his invisibility but discovers that “no doubt invisibility made it possible to get them, but it made it impossible to enjoy them when they are got” (Wells 121). Because of his invisibility, the invisible man finds himself ostracized, in a state of danger, and no longer able to enjoy everyday customs like eating lunch at a restaurant. Griffin finds himself even unable to celebrate his discovery with others with fear of that they might steal credit for his feat or that the exposure might cause a rejection. Due to his invisible state, his “grandest ambitions are trivialized and frustrated by the very discovery that spurred those ambitions” (Beiderwell). The anger, madness, and mania that envelop the invisible man all stem from the abuse of his

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