‘Some days he would come down early and be continuously busy. On others he would rise late, pace his room, fretting audibly for hours together, smoke, sleep in the armchair by the fire. Communication with the world beyond the village he had none.’
This shows that Griffin is again antisocial; he keeps to himself and does not share things with other people. There is no indication of Griffin spending time with others, but rather spending time in solitude. His antisocial behaviour is of his own doing in that he doesn’t let people get close to him.
Griffin only thinks about his personal occupation and puts it in front of all other activities, ‘was – a desire for solitude. I do not wish to be disturbed in my work,’ he likes to be in secluded areas or at least areas where he can be in private. ‘The stranger did not go to church,’ in those days the church was the main central point of social gathering, but Griffin avoided the church because he did not want to be seen. ‘He chose the loneliest paths,’ this again shows that Griffin brings his loneliness upon himself by not communicating with others and avoiding others. Wells presents the idea of loneliness through dialogue and the speech of Griffin. Also the word ‘solitude’ is repeated for emphasis.
Wells shows that ‘The Invisible Man’ is always alone, and likes to be alone, early on in the novel, because he wants the reader to think that him being lonely is ultimately his downfall. Him being antisocial is by his own doing, ‘but, as a rule, I like to be alone and undisturbed,’ this confirms that Griffin is very hostile towards new characters. Characters do not like Griffin because he is antisocial. Even if the characters in the novel may like him, he puts up a barrier and does not let anybody get too close to him.
I feel that Griffin thinks that he is sociably higher than anyone in the village because of his intellectual abilities and avoids the villagers as if he were of higher status or class. Griffin is a lot more educated compared with most of the villagers. This forms another boundary between them and Griffin, as Griffin speaks with better vocabulary while the villagers speak colloquially. An example of this is shown when Marvel says: ‘The ′Visible Man! After Me! For Gawd’s sake! Elp! Elp! Elp!’ Marvel uses colloquial language because Wells wants to make the novel feel more realistic by showing different people by their language. Wells has Dr. Kemp and Griffin to be the only people in the village to be well educated; the only way Wells can show this through a novel is to change the characters speech patterns. He shows that someone with low intellect speaks colloquially, but if there were someone of high intellect, like Dr. Kemp and Griffin, then their education would be shown through their speech. ‘It’s no devilry. It’s a process, sane and intelligible enough’, this language would not have been used by the villagers because of their lack of education.
Even the children would call Griffin ‘Bogey Man!’ It seems as though the children have been listening to what their parents say about Griffin. The children of Iping do not even socially accept Griffin. This shows that the whole village is against Griffin and he is treated as an outcast. Griffin has no allies; this is further supported by Marvels’ statement ‘He didn’t have any pals.’ Wells presents the theme of loneliness by character dialogue and the behaviour of the villagers on Griffin.
Griffins’ ambition is to break free of what are undoubtedly material causes of his social isolation, particularly albinism and poverty. All these things point to his loneliness. Being albino we get the feeling he may not have been socially accepted and may have been labelled as a minority. Money, moreover, has no value other than exchange, but to exchange with others one must be capable of being acknowledged by them.
‘I must have a partner. And you – We can do such things,’ Griffin introduces the idea to Dr. Kemp about them forming a partnership. This indicates to the reader that Griffin is now sick of being alone. Griffin tried to find a friend in Thomas Marvel ‘an outcast like myself. This is the man for me.’ Griffin chooses his partners carefully. He chose a tramp, Marvel, because Marvel is an outcast like himself. This did not work because Griffin pushed Marvel away. Griffin misuses his allies as he tries to persuade Marvel to steal for him because he thinks that he is becoming too important to do his own work. In doing so he ends up scaring Marvel away. Thus being alone again. He then chose a man who is as educated as him, a man who knew him whilst at University. This again did not work the way Griffin wished. Dr. Kemp betrayed the Invisible Man, by telling the police that Griffin was at his house. Griffin previously had the chance to have a true friend in Marvel, but continued to push Marvel away by threatening his life. Consequently, Marvel fled from Griffin.
In my opinion, Griffin by becoming invisible has completely withdrawn himself from society. He thought he could survive without society by imposing a ‘Reign of Terror’, to terrify and dominate the community. He viciously thought that by being invisible he could survive alone and gain the upper hand in the community. But as time went by he found that he needs others to help him, in particular to provide food and lodging. There are signs that towards the end he is almost resenting his isolation and loneliness and looks for partners. Even when he was looking for a partner his vicious side remained and he tried to use his partner to help him, so that he could gain maximum from the community without giving anything back.
Griffins’ ambition is to break free of what are undoubtedly material causes of his social isolation, particularly albinism and poverty. All these things point to his loneliness. Being albino we get the feeling he may not have been socially accepted and may have been labelled as a minority. Money, moreover, has no value other than exchange, but to exchange with others one must be capable of being acknowledged by them.
To conclude this essay I have learned that the personality Griffin displays include antisocial, emotionally insecure and narcissistic. H.G. Wells presents the theme of loneliness through dialogue behaviour and how others react in the novel ‘The Invisible Man’. This book illustrates that it is not a good thing if a person loses his friends by becoming selfish and a target for society to hate. Wells’ depiction of loneliness is very relevant to us today. Society is becoming very self-centred. The desire to accumulate wealth is seen as more important than forging relationships. This kind of attitude creates isolation and can lead to loneliness. All of these features point towards a dramatic personality.