This classic scifi morality tale well earns the title of masterpiece for its psychological horror! When an optics scientist with loose ethics develops a serum that changes the refractive index of tissue and bone to that of air, his experiment to become invisible turns out to be not as carefree as he imagined. Paired with his poor upbringing and albino appearance, the fate of the protagonist is all the more tragic as he distances himself further away from society.
A mysterious bandaged man arrives at an inn in Iping, Sussex, demanding lodging, food, and a place to work on his experiments. As an eccentric, irritable recluse, rumors begin to spread about the unusual visitor, especially when a few catch glimpses of an empty pant leg or sleeve. Soon after, out of money and asked to leave, the Invisible Man coerces two separate men to help him, but both situations end in less than ideal circumstances. Throughout, Griffin reveals himself and tells his story. As the world turns against the elusive Invisible Man, Griffin descends into madness, promising a Reign of Terror.
Griffin is an idealized version of the evil scientist. He selfishness, greed, and want of power turn an idealized young optics student into a man forced to lie, steal, and even murder to ensure his own survival. In his haste to prove invisibility, he experiments on himself before he develops a cure, before he recognizes the reality of what invisibility means to the suspicious modern world. Recommended for all scifi fans as a necessary classic.
“No hand—just an empty sleeve. Lord! I thought, that’s a deformity!… Then, I thought, there’s something odd in that. What the devil keeps that sleeve up and open, if there’s nothing in it? There was nothing in it, I tell you. Nothing down it, right down to the joint. I could see right down it to the elbow, and there was a glimmer of light shining through a tear of the cloth.”