The Invisible Man (with Audio & Text)

H. G. Wells

May 2021 · CLASSICS OF THE WESTERN WORLD Book 7 · East West Studio

About this ebook

The Invisible Man is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and who invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light. He carries out this procedure on himself and renders himself invisible, but fails in his attempt to reverse it. A practitioner of random and irresponsible violence, Griffin has become an iconic character in horror fiction.

In the book, the author wants to express that when a scientist loses his mind and humanity, the scientific results will not only fail to benefit mankind, but may harm the world. The selfishness and criminal desire in human nature may make a talented scientist take the path of degradation and destruction.

While its predecessors, The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, were written using first-person narrators, Wells adopts a third-person objective point of view in The Invisible Man. The novel is considered influential, and helped establish Wells as the "father of science fiction".