“The Invisible Man” H.G. Wells Response
In order to facilitate an effective discussion about a group of people, it is important to be familiar with their language and how they use it to transfer ideas. H.G Wells’ The Invisible Man is an excellent reference to explore the Victorian era because it exudes not only the concerns of the people, but their language and the ways in which they exchange information.
In The Victorians, David Gange explains that Britain was experiencing a stark social contrast between the rich and the poor during this time. For the rich, the Victorian era was a time of luxury in a material and physical sense. On the other hand, the poor and working class suffered from deformity and disease such as typhus and cholera (Gange 27). This social gap is evident in the language between the innkeeper’s’ wife and the more educated Mr. Huxter at the sight of blood on the mysterious stranger.
“He don’t want no help, he says”, he said in answer to his wife’s enquiry. “We better be a-takin his luggage in.”
“He ought to have it cauterised at once!” said Mr. Huxter. “Especially if it is at all inflamed.”
In this excerpt, it is clear that the economic structure of the Victorian age was very extreme and closed off to the socially disadvantaged. Also, the presence of mass media in The Invisible Man seemed very obvious due to the fact that main characters such as Marvel received many pieces of news about the Invisible Man’s activities through word of mouth or the local newspapers (Wells 207).
Next, a very prevalent theme in the novel was the fear of the consequences of pushing the boundaries of science and of scientific experiment as a whole. This apprehension can be associated with the fact that the Victorians were deeply religious and consumed by the consequences of sin (Gange 126). The Invisible Man’s transformation into becoming invisible was marked by “ravaging anguish, sickness, and fainting” (Wells 319). The fear of new discoveries and developments in science likely stemmed directly from discouragement from the church. Using the fear of sin as a deterrent, fear in regards to scientific advancement was not uncommon in this time period.
Finally, there were particular excerpts from The Invisible Man that echo Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Structurally, The Invisible Man begins with the appearance of a mysterious stranger, whose life and experiences unravel and explain his initial eccentricities over the course of the plot (Wells 356). I am curious to know if this is a coincidence or a popular writing strategy in Victorian science fiction. Even further, the victim of the experiment in both Frankenstein and The Invisible Man are both chased and maimed by an angry mob of local citizens (Wells 310 and 353). Interestingly, these furious throngs of angry people are portrayed as both menacing and unintelligent through their language and use of simple weapons (312). It is unclear here who the victim is: the character who was unfortunate enough to undergo the experiment or the people who are affected by his actions? I am interested because I recall having similar questions after reading Frankenstein in terms of accountability and other related themes.
Hello, A. Murguia,
I’m in the other class section, and I have not read The Invisible Man, so I appreciate your overview. I think it’s interesting that both Frankenstein and The Invisible Man have a transformation that in some way is associated with physical illness and fainting. During the time that Frankenstein was written there was a strong association between fainting and death. The two states were seen as indistinguishable in some respects. When someone was revived from a fainting spell, they were thought to have been brought back to life. In The Invisible Man is there any question of how alive the invisible man actually is? I’m assuming that he still has a physical body because he can perform acts of mayhem, but do other characters in the novel suggest that he is more ghost/ death like?
I have a question about your distinction between the “luxury in a material and physical sense.” How are you distinguishing between the two categories? Do you see “material sense” as the possessions? I understand that as middle class Victorians became wealthier, they often crowded their homes with knickknacks and other items. How do you define luxury in the physical sense? Do you mean a kind of sensory richness?
Hello, great post! I really liked how you focused on the wealth disparity that existed during the Victorian Age. I think you’ll appreciate this analysis of The Invisible Man.
https://mises.org/library/invisible-man-and-invisible-hand-hg-wellss-critique-capitalism
This author from the article above implies that Wells actually was referencing Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations ( the Imvisible Hand concept) in writing his book.
The author writes “For Wells, Griffin’s invisibility symbolizes the working of an impersonal, decentralized, and — in Wells’s view — dangerously chaotic market economy, which fails to respect the dictates of either traditional communal ties or established government authorities. In effect, what is most significant about Griffin is his invisible hand. In his Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith had argued that in an unfettered market economy, an invisible hand guides the self-seeking actions of individual entrepreneurs for the good of the community as a whole.“
( Invisible hand concept)
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/invisible-hand
During the book Griffin moves money around. He steals and loses it and steals again. The author from the first link implies this is symbolic of a market economy.