The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells - A Short Summary & Review
The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells - A Short Summary & Review
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review
A short summary:
In The Invisible Man, H. G. Wells tells the story of Griffin, a brilliant but unstable scientist who discovers how to make himself invisible. Seeking refuge after his experiment succeeds, he hides in a small English village, bandaged, secretive, and increasingly volatile.
But invisibility proves to be more of a curse than a triumph. Griffin’s isolation, paranoia, and hunger for control spiral into violence as he attempts to leverage his condition for power. Wells uses this classic premise to explore ambition without ethics, the dangers of unchecked ego, and the way anonymity can corrode whatever humanity remains.
My favorite quote from the book:
Questions to ponder while reading:
My review:
The Invisible Man is a sharp reminder that no one can live in complete isolation, and that power without accountability doesn’t liberate a person; it reveals them. Griffin isn’t a misunderstood genius. He’s reckless, cruel, and increasingly unhinged, and the novel refuses to romanticize him.
Wells builds the tension with a kind of clinical inevitability: Griffin’s problem isn’t just that he’s invisible, it’s that he didn’t fully think through what invisibility would mean. Survival becomes complicated. Connection becomes impossible. And the temptation to treat other people as less than human grows stronger with every step he takes outside consequence.
Griffin’s character is the darkest part of the book. His entitlement, his escalating violence, and his willingness to harm the innocent make him difficult to sympathize with, and that’s intentional. (And yes: anyone who kills the cat is automatically on my permanent “no” list.)
This is a brisk, unsettling classic: part sci-fi, part horror, and part moral fable about what happens when brilliance is severed from conscience.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
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