"Analyses of how H. G. Wells uses the sensation of power to create a once sane scientist become engulfed by the power threat he feels when unseen, and how this power mongering eventually leads to his insanity."

“Analyses of how H. G. Wells uses the sensation of power to create a once sane scientist become engulfed by the power threat he feels when unseen, and how this power mongering eventually leads to his insanity.”

By Mark Buchanan 5ba

Herbert George Wells was born in 1866 in Bromley, Kent. His career as an author was promoted by an unfortunate accident as a child. He broke his leg and spent the mandatory rest period reading every book he could find. Wells was awarded a scholarship and furthered his education bat the Normal School of Science in London. It was at the Normal School that Wells came under the wing of a famous biologist Thomas H. Huxley. Wells’ “science fiction” (although he never called it such) was clearly influenced by his studies at the Normal School and his interest in biology.

The story of the Invisible Man, which Wells wrote in 1896, begins with a mysterious man arriving at a rural English inn during a cold and stormy night. In a small English town it is strange for someone to go “vacationing” in winter but not as strange as the fact that the man’s face is completely covered with bandages. This, of course, sets the small town to gossip. Eventually the innkeeper decides to evict the man because of violent episodes in which he breaks up the furniture. The Invisible Man reveals his “secret” and escapes unseen by anyone.

The Invisible Man is on the run for a few days, startling everyone he comes in contact with , and getting a great deal of satisfaction in the process. This is largely to do with the fact that the process that made him invisible is slowly making him crazy.

He eventually finds an old friend, Dr. Kemp, and stays with him. During this time the Invisible Man explains his story thus far. Kemp decides to turn him into the authorities. The Invisible Man tries to kill Kemp; the police arrive, eventually killing the Invisible Man.

The main ...

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The main character, Griffin, has many of the characteristics of the ‘mad inventor’ stereotype. He has exceptional talents but few social skills, is rude and demanding. Like a number of other scientists Griffin experiments upon himself, changing his body to become invisible. His passion for discovery leads him first to immoral behaviour - robbing his father to provide him with essential research funds - and later to physical violence and murder.

When we first meet The Invisible Man, he has already obtained this mysterious goal, and is trying desperately to undo it. The concoction that he has attained his invisibility with is robbing him of his sanity as surely as his appearance. In a desperate race against time, the Doctor frantically seeks to reverse his discovery before mad delusions of his own greatness to be, already creeping into his mind, claims him completely. But madness overcomes him, his reign of terror begins, and the invisibility serum pulls its final punch in death.

The notion of having the power to be unseen has always been attractive because of the escape from consequences it would offer. An invisible man could rule the world! The power that this implies is the temptation of invisibility; to get away with things that would be impossible to get away with in normal circumstances.

On the other hand, for Dr. Griffin, invisibility becomes a curse rather than a blessing. He is trapped, with his sanity already fighting a losing battle. Not only has he lost his body but he stands to lose his mind as well. The prospect of losing your mind completely is more frightening than death.

The power to become invisible has become the stuff of fantasy and comic books, as writers and artists have given it legendary status. Super-heroes and space-age crime-fighters use the power of invisibility to serve justice and truth, and they control their power easily enough, or with the flick of a switch. But H. G. Wells saw a different kind of character, one vulnerable to the mistakes and consequences of his own ambition. By creating such a mortal character, he successfully suspends our disbelief and demonstrates both wonder and terror.

The harm the Invisible Man’s exploitation of power causes does not go unpunished. Wells demonstrates that the social need for a sense of justice, as the Invisible Man is eventually captured and beaten to death for the horror he both created and wanted to create. His death also signifies the end of the morally wrong science that is too powerful for man.

Griffin was obviously power-hungry to start with, and it would be more interesting to have the power trip he goes on be purely the result of his experience of invisibility. Griffin's plan, essentially, is to take over the world, and he lays it out for his colleague Kemp very logically ("We'll start with the reign of terror..."). After all, power does function most effectively when it's invisible and people believe they are free (of course Griffin is such a psychopath by this point that it would be hard to get to that stage).

One of the disappointing things about “The Invisible Man” by H. G. Wells, however is that it doesn’t explore the erotic possibilities of being invisible in any way except for one man exerting power over other men - even though the title hero has to run around naked whenever he wants to be truly invisible.

By putting his characters in imaginary situations, Wells easily examines how they behave when pushed to the limits of experience. The Invisible Man finds himself with tremendous power to fight and flee, a power which he uses with great delight. As he is invisible, no one can catch him, so there is no moral restraint on his actions.

H. G. Wells brings up many points that are important in a society. He discusses the moral problems of mankind and its reaction to the power science can bring. He criticizes man’s hunger for power and science by showing what mayhem and destruction it can wreak. In the Epilogue he shows how man thinks of himself as moral but cannot make constructive use of the power at his hands. The person finally in possession of the Invisible Man’s journals says, “I wouldn't do what he did; I'd just - well!” Wells is saying that we really do not know what to do with the power so we should not bother trying to gain it all.

Mark Buchanan 5ba “An analysis of how H. G. Wells…”

"Analyses of how H. G. Wells uses the sensation of power to create a once sane scientist become engulfed by the power threat he feels when unseen, and how this power mongering eventually leads to his insanity."

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