CRITIQUE OF ETHICAL DEGRADATION IN WELLS'S THE INVISIBLE MAN

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CRITIQUE OF ETHICAL DEGRADATION IN WELLS'S THE INVISIBLE MAN
                                           Bindu Gahatraj,
                    Tribhuvan University, Central Department of English Kirtipur,
                                         Kathmandu, Nepal

ABSTRACT:                                               INTRODUCTION:
       The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells                          H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man (1897) is
portrays ethical degeneracy of The Invisible            regarded one of the privileged works of
Man because of his own fault of discovering             modern science fiction that occupies an
invisibility caused by pseudo- science. It              honored place in the Victorian literature. This
moves around Griffin, the protagonist of                research examines Griffin, the protagonist of
having great desire to make him invisible               the novel as ethically and morally corrupt
via obscure scientific power. But, his                  character. Being the central character he is
invisibility     makes     him      absolutely          invisible and lacks social status. He is the
extraordinary,        unusual,     unsociable,          representative character of the late nineteenth
alienated,     unrealistic    and    inhuman            century and is guided with obscure scientific
character evading him from entire mass of               power along his involvement with chemical
Iping village. Furthermore, he becomes                  apparatus. Griffin is a brilliant research
means of terror and creates more violence               scientist who discovers a formula that makes a
in English society going beyond ethical and             human being invisible. The formula entails
moral contemplations. First, Griffin isolates           taking opium and another drug, which makes
himself from humanity because he wants to               his blood clear, then processing him in a
make all the glory of his discoveries. Later,           radiator engine. It succeeds but he finds
he drives himself to isolation by a fear of             himself unable to reserve the process. Despite
discovery and compelled to be mad by the                his strong abilities and conscience, his
effects of his self-imposed isolation. Griffin's        ambitious nature and consumption with greed
invention is a terrible impossibility that the          scientific power turned protagonist to
pursuit dedicated to improving the human                antagonist to that leads him as ethically and
condition bears the greatest potential to               morally wicked character as well as socially
destroy humanity. He uses science without               bankrupt personality. His anti-heroic deeds are
considering humanity that causes his own                more focused in the novel rather than his
disaster portraying him as immoral                      heroic deeds. Griffin lacks the social status for
scientist and makes him as a figure of                  two reasons: first because he refuses it and
sympathy and mystery. His discovery of                  second society denies it to him. He is the gifted
invisibility represents him as an antisocial            young university student with albinism, who
personality leading English society into a              studies optical density. He believes he is on the
reign of terror as well as disobeying ethics            verge of great scientific discovery; he leaves
of modern science and technology.                       the university and moves to a grimy apartment
                                                        to continue his experiment alone.
Keywords:    Science    fiction,    scientific                  H. G. Wells, a science student and
romance, pseudo - science, gothic, anti-hero            teacher, was keenly interested in how the
                                                        twentieth century would develop its technical
                                                        knowledge. He was equally concerned with the

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morality of the scientific experimenter. Griffin        betrayal and isolation is the product of his
is the scientist who is detached, hostile, and          unstrained interest and desire in scientific
despicable of his fellow humans. Ordinary               experiment and its consequences.
people have annoyance towards him. They                         However, the western modernist
seem petty compared to his lofty concern with           researcher consciously makes him invisible in
the mechanisms of nature. His knowledge                 his moral failure to adopt this realistic
makes him alienated personality and he thinks           humankind under the influence of scientific
only of his discovery and the power that his            romance of late nineteenth century. Like many
special knowledge gives him. Consequently, he           books of the same era, he uses science as the
becomes a hazard to society. It shows through           instrument of retribution for the social crimes
The Invisible man, Griffin tries to escape from         that have been committed. But, as often
the mass of society regarding them as a burden          happens in Wells's work, the science fiction
and chooses an alienated life which portrays            situation in The Invisible Man provides a
him as an ethically and morally ruined                  vehicle for exploring a larger set of ethical and
character.                                              moral problems that preoccupied him
        Wells's        protagonist's      gothic        throughout his career. To put bluntly, the chief
transformation of visibility into invisibility          scientific act Griffin makes of his invisibility
embodies the protagonist's treatment with               because of his blindness on scientific
obscure scientific power. Griffin, the                  judgments and his intention to spread terror
protagonist's attempt to be dissolved into              and horror in English society. At the end, The
invisibility marks him from this sanity world           Invisible Man, Griffin decides to murder him
into insanity. His unusual actions and wired            viciously and begins his own personal “reign of
behaviors that he performs in this fiction              terror” in brutal way.
suggest him as being the morally and ethically                  Various critics have viewed the novel
busted character, mad scientist and egoist              from different perspectives. Paul A. Cantor in
character. His strange wearing, a long-sleeved,         his "The invisible Man and the Invisible hand:
thick coat and gloves; his face entirely hidden         H.G. Wells's Critique of Capitalism" states that
by bandages except for a fake pink nose; and            Wells raises the question about the ethics of
his wearing of wide-brimmed hat leads him               modern technology creating invisibility upon
excessively into reclusive, irascible, and              Griffin. He further admits: The Invisible Man
unfriendly character. His magical and scientific        tells the story of Griffin, the University college
act to put him aside from other characters is           student who finds a way to make himself
also abnormal and immoral that embedded                 disappear. Driven to his experiments by an
with madness and cruelness. The spirit of this          ambition that has always been fierce, Griffin
novel depicts that the western human world in           grows increasingly megalomaniacal once he
terms of scientific pursuit going beyond the            becomes invisible. He thus takes his place in a
realistic and ethical ground and capturing the          line of literary portrayal of mad scientists that
extremely terrorized atmosphere of scientific           stretches back to Marry Shelley's Victor
world. In such a highly organized and modern            Frankenstein. Interest in The Invisible Man has
world, science remains central to Griffin's             understandably tended to focus on the
anomalous adaptation with other characters of           scientific aspects of the tale, specially the
this fiction. Griffin seems to be much devoted          questions Wells raises about the ethic of
with his experiment. The protagonist's extreme          modern technology. (91)

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        According to him, the unusual                   Griffin is also the voice of suffering as much as
invisibility and ambition of Griffin leads him          the embodiment of ambition. Indifferent to the
towards brutal way making himself a mad                 anguish of others...." (36)
scientist in the same way of Marry Shelley's                    Griffin, careless character becomes the
Victor Frankenstein. Griffin makes him                  victim of his own experiment, a consequence of
invisible by the help of false science which            his own creation. As the protagonist, Griffin's
indicates the false ethics of modern technology         character development clearly illustrates a
and it has insisted him as the severe character         shift in attitude towards his invisibility, from
going beyond the reality.                               admiration to contempt, as he begins to
        Concerning the characterization and             understand the nature of his atrocious
individuation in his "Revelation and the Unseen         experiment that he initially does not expect.
in H.G Wells's The Invisible man " Tarryn                       Furthermore, Bruce Beiderwell in his
Handcock says the figure of the invisible man of        "The Grotesque in Well's The Invisible Man"
the novel opens up discussions on the nature of         says that Griffin does not only face human
confessional culture, highlighting themes as            ignorance rather he faces animal ignorance too
relevant today as they were in the late –               because of his nonsense invisibility. He further
nineteenth century when the book was written.           emphasizes, "Dogs are a special curse to Griffin
He further utters "The unseen body –                    because they detect him by scent, not sight.
characterized by Wells not as transparent but           Still, this faculty does not account for the
as concealed current and transgressive – is a           antipathy dogs express toward Griffin. It
malignant presence that pose critical and moral         cannot be that dogs are merely angered by
problems" (41-42).          The interconnected          smelling what they cannot see; in the third
relationship between revelation and unseen in           chapter, a fully costumed, visible Griffin is
the text illustrates how the body may be loaded         bitten by a dog. It seems that dogs instinctively
with meaning, and how literature might allow            dislike Griffin" (121). His statement suggests
us to examine the body as a site of personal and        not only is Griffin isolating himself from the
social concerns.                                        human race, but he is also an outcast even from
        Another critic, Robert Crossley, in his         the animals. The irony is that even though the
"H.G. Wells" asserts it is clear that without           animals can sense him, they still show an
understanding of what he is about to embark,            instinctive abhorrence towards Griffin. This
Griffin’s plan for the acquisition of advantages        demonstrates the detriment of Griffin's
over his fellow men is falling apart. Without           thoughtlessness as he is despised by all of
comprehending the multitude implications of             society, both humans and animals. Wells
his alteration, he fails to accomplish what he          illustrates the inevitable ramification of
yearns for most, the ultimate ability to derive         Griffin’s lack of consideration for his plans
pleasure from life. He further articulates:             through the symbol of dogs hating him.
Griffin demonstrates the inevitability of                       Jeanne Murray Walker in his "The
failures when he uses alchemy, a false science,         isolated Scientist in H.G Wells The Invisible
to obtain invisibility, "…aiming ‘to transcend          Man" comments Griffin as an isolated scientist.
magic’ and attain ‘the mystery, the power, the          He further admits:
freedom’ of invisibility...As simultaneous                      The invisible Man combines a detective
researcher and subject of research, victim and          story format with a sort of special pleading
beneficiary of the experiment in invisibility,          typical of romantic novel and, later of Victorian

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dramatic monologues. These forms portray the             protagonist of the novel. It shows the message
typical human mind at work, sorting evidence             of horrors of granting science humidly.
and reaching conclusions. The scientific                         From         these        aforementioned
theories, which are his only product are                 appreciations, it is quite clear that the novel is
outrageously misunderstood            and                the representation of determined, an
developed by innkeepers and policeman and                ambitious, devoted student of optics wanting to
town gossips. Wells shows the scientific                 be fall from his own invention i.e. invisibility
separated from his society to his method of              caused by false science. Moreover, Griffin has
weighing evidence, which is to patiently                 become pathetic character of 1897 because of
demonstrate a hypothesis without jumping to              his own fault caused by scientific involvement
conclusion. (156)                                        via his own egoistic nature that leads him
        His criticism makes it clear that the            ruthless character. Science that does not
novel with its foundation of Romantic Victorian          involve true knowledge cannot be called true
styles depicts a picture of highly motivated             science. Neither is the man who experiments
scientist trying to isolate from the society but         with applied sciences a true scientist, as he
could not succeeded in his mission. Rather, his          seems to be mad scientist ever.             Only
isolation takes him to the death where science           when Griffin feels cornered and takes refuge in
without humanity overturns his conscience.               Dr. Kemp’s home does Wells fully reveal
        In the same way, another critics Robert          Griffin’s mind and character. For the first time,
Sirabian in his article "Papers on Language and          Griffin has a scientific colleague to whom he
Literature" focuses on the conception of                 can unburden himself. Griffin believes that
science Wells's The Invisible Man. He asserts:           Kemp will understand the scientific details and
        The achievement of The Invisible Man is          share his commitment to terrorizing and
Wells's treatment of science fiction beyond its          remaking society. Griffin reasons in this faulty
oversimplified conceptions, either as a purely           manner because he has completely lost contact
imagination, speculative pursuit or as an                with his fellow man. He sees society only as
analytical activity concerned         only with          material that he can manipulate. Griffin is so
facts. Although an integral conception of                absorbed in his own views that he does not
science is taken for granted in the twentieth            detect the revulsion Kemp feels for his
century scientific method was a significant              murderous plans. Griffin means to use science
issue for discussion. The romantic conceptions           as an instrument of terror; the scientist will
of science presumed by Griffin challenges a              become a dictator, deciding who shall live and
prevailing Victorian notion, of science, defined         who shall die. In the process, the scientist
as      the fact of truth for social good through        himself becomes a monster, oblivious of
the factual revealing and observation of nature.         humanity.
But while the novel clearly shows the dangers                    This present research work deals with
of uncontrolled speculative science, it more             the hero's ethical and moral crash in his
subtly reveals the limits of scientific thought          treatment with extreme scientific power.
based solely on factual observation reasons              Scientific cause becomes determinant in this
and reality. (12)                                        novelist's career as writer during the 1897,
        According to him, the novel excavates            however, its protagonist unfolds differential
the results of uncontrolled speculative science          relationship in his treatment with individual
that leads the disaster on the part of the               power assuming scientific inquiry as important

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factor. The hero's treatment with scientific                       Science fiction is largely based on
power in modernist fiction portrays western                writing rationally about alternative possible
ignorance and carelessness towards moral                   worlds or futures. It is related to, but different
stand during this period, a period of high use of          from fantasy in that, within the context of the
science and technology. Analyzing the hero's               story, its imaginary elements are largely
immoral attitude in this fiction contributes               possible within scientifically established or
intellectual and moral debates in modernist                scientifically postulated physical laws. The
narrative with different theoretical perspective           settings of science fiction are often contrary to
and outlook.                                               those of consensus reality, but most science
        Science fiction studies research the               fiction relies on a considerable degree of
history, culture, and works of science fiction             suspension of disbelief, which is facilitated in
and more broadly, speculative fiction. Science             the reader's mind by potential scientific
fiction is a genre of speculative fiction typically        explanations or solutions to various fictional
dealing with imaginative concepts such as                  elements. Science fiction elements include: a
futuristic science and technology, space travel            time setting in the future in alternative
and time travel, faster than light travel, parallel        timelines, a spatial setting or scenes on other
universe, and extraterrestrial life. Science               world, characters that include aliens, mutants,
fiction     often    explores     the    potential         androids or humanoid robots and other types
consequences of scientific and other                       of characters arising from a future human
innovations.      It   usually     eschews     the         evolution, scientific principles that are new or
supernatural, and unlike the related genre of              that contradict a accepted physical laws for
fantasy, historically science fiction stories were         example time travel or faster- than- light travel
intended to have at least a faint grounding in             or communication, new and different political
science – based fact or theory at the time the             and social systems e.g. utopian, dystopian,
story was created, but this connection has                 post- scarcity or post-apocalyptic, paranormal
become tenuous or non-existent in much of the              abilities such as mind control, telegraphy,
science fiction.                                           telekinesis and other universes or dimensions
         Speculative fiction is a broad category           and travel between them.
of narrative fiction that includes elements,                       The modern field of science fiction
settings and characters created out of                     studies is closely related to popular cultural
imagination and speculation rather than based              studies a sub discipline of cultural studies and
on reality and everyday life. It encompasses the           film and literature studies. It has great tie with
genres of science fiction, fantasy, science                futurism and utopian works where there is
fantasy, horror fiction, superhero fiction                 often overlap with these fields as well.
alterative history and magic realism. It                   However, the field's roots go back much
typically differs strongly from reality and so             further, to the earliest commentators who
many feature fictional types of being like                 studied representations of the sciences in the
mythical creatures and supernatural entities,              arts and literature, and explorations of utopian
technologies that do not exist in real life like           and social reforms impulses in fantastic and
time machines and interstellar spaceships or               visionary works of art and literature.
magical or otherwise scientifically inexplicable                   Science fiction has great role in
elements.                                                  Victorian era because of its development in
                                                           science and technology. The Victorian age was

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the period of significant changes and people of           he becomes a threat to English society of
England was being highly motivated for new                1990s.
sorts of development. European society                            Wells does not reveal the full
continued to transform amid rapid industrial              implications of Griffin's threat to order until
growth       enormously        spreading     new          the last pages of the novel. At first, The
technologies. The rapid industrial growth and             Invisible Man, Griffin is a mysterious stranger
high development in new technologies made                 seeking seclusion. His gruff manner is partly
life of people so easier. In order to increase            excusable because he is fending off the prying
new technologies, science has become major                questions of his landlady and other villagers.
part to influence the way of people life. English         After his plight as an invisible man is revealed,
people more depend on high use of science and             the narrative shifts to an absorbing, intricate
technologies keeping much concern on its                  account of how he tries to remain at large. The
benefits only. While experimenting in scientific          moral implications of his discovery are not
romance people did not care the dark part of              considered while society is still mobilizing to
science and drop the moral and ethical                    cope with this new phenomenon.
considerations undermining human values.                          Wells in The Invisible Man highly
But, later, scientific values were highly                 exaggerates science creating 'Scientific
criticized pointing its negative consequences to          Romance' that leads his protagonist, Griffin out
human beings. Thus, charging closed concern               of social order and rule with losing ethical and
with this scientific supremacy, H.G wells one of          moral deliberations. At the late nineteenth
the influential writers of the 1890s wrote his            century and beginning of early twentieth
frictional novel making scientific power as               century, Wells brands of Science fiction i.e.
most awful part when it crosses its limitation.           "Scientific Romance" was differed then the
Wells further attempts to represent the                   brand of earlier writer. Concerning Wellsian
realistic    English     society    along    with         scientific romance critic Brian Stableford
misrepresentation of science.                             states: "Science fiction is a story which
        Moreover, H. G. Wells, a scientist of late        scientific discovery has drown back the
nineteenth century and early twentieth century            curtain." (Stableford 8) It means Wellsian
was keenly interested in how the twentieth                scientific discovery becomes incomprehensible
century would develop its technical knowledge.            that goes crossing boundary of real curtain or
He was equally concerned with the morality of             real ground of literary genres.
the scientific experimenter. He also examines                     Stableford further adds his view in same
the immorality of Griffin in The Invisible Man.           paragraph notifying Wells scientific romance
Griffin is one type of scientist, unfriendly,             and articulates "Wells's fiction uses science
destructive, and scornful for his people.                 more as an enabling literary device to enhance
Common people do not like him. He seems very              the verisimilitude and deepen the emotional
unusual to them and they become afraid with               impact of his fantastic vision" (21). By
him. They seem petty compared to his arrogant             aforementioned lines of Stableford, it is clear
concern with the mechanisms of environment.               that most of Wells's fictions enjoy "Scientific
His knowledge segregates him; he assumes                  Romance" representing emotional impact of his
only of his invention and the power that his              speculative vision rather than real one. As far
special acquaintance gives him. Consequently,             concerned Griffin's characteristic in the novel
                                                          The Invisible Man, the protagonist, Griffin,

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primarily uses scientific supremacy influenced             SF text were entirely concerned with
by "Scientific Romance" of 1890s English world             'estrangement' then we would not be able to do
and ignores the moral and ethical values of                with 'cognition', then it would be scientific or
aesthetic world.                                           documentary rather than science fiction. (7)
        Moreover, his speculative science                          From Roberts's analysis it is clear that
misuses the real science that invites his own              both terms 'Cognition' and 'Estrangement'
pathetic death. Taking this point in case, this            donates alien world of speculative in any SF
paper      explores      Wells's     protagonist's         book, film or story. 'Cognition' focuses
immoralist and in- humanist lifestyle under the            alienation with rational and logical scientific
influence of scientific supremacy by using some            implication where as 'Estrangement' estranges
of the science fiction studies drawing on                  us familiar and everyday lives in certain
concepts from Raymond William's Science                    context. These both terms play vital role to
Fiction Studies (1988), Adam Roberts's Science             expose scientific alienation of any science
Fiction (the New Critical Idioms) (2000),                  fiction books, film or story. But, any science
Arthur B. Evans's "Nineteenth- Century SF " of             fiction book that is closed only with
The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction                 'Estrangement' and minimize 'Cognition' would
(2009), Patrick Brantlinger's "The Gothic                  not grasp rational or logical implication of
Origin of Science Fiction" of The Routledge                science rather it would be scientific or
Companion to Science Fiction (2009), Sherryl               documentary.
Vint's "Science Studies" of The Routledge                          In case of Griffin, in The Invisible Man,
Companion to Science Fiction (2009), Adam                  the protagonist Griffin is alone in his scientific
Roberts's Science Fiction (2001) and Adam                  world which is not rational and logical rather it
Roberts's The History of Science Fiction                   is     just    scientific     or    documentary.
(2006).                                                    'Estrangement' play vital role to Griffin's story
        Concerning Darko Suvin's definition of             than 'Cognition'. He, every time makes him
science fiction " a literary genre or verbal               alien via his invisibility which is not based on
construct whose necessary and sufficient                   real science or scientific truth. He himself
conditions are the presence and interaction of             desires to separate him from people of Iping
estrangement and cognition, and whose main                 and dissolves him into his scientific experiment
device is an imaginative framework alternative             being lonely.
to the author's empirical environment" (Suvin                      The Invisible Man, Griffin is about a guy
37) in his Science Fiction (2001) critic Adam              with no friends, no family, and, well, just no one
Roberts asserts:                                           at all. It seems like no matter where he finds
        'Cognition', with its rational, logical            himself, he is isolated from the larger
implication refers to the aspect of SF that                community. He is as alone in Iping as he is in
prompts us to try and understand, to                       London. If the Invisible Man was just a solitary
comprehend, the alien landscape of a given SF              person who lived alone by choice, that would
book, film or story. 'Estrangement' is a term              be one thing. But Griffin is a genius scientist
from Brecht, more usually rendered in English              who is surrounded by people; they just do not
– language criticism as       'alienation'; it this        understand him. That might be the worst form
context it refers to that element of science               of isolation: surrounded by people but always
fiction that we recognize as different that                alone. He has no communication with people
estrange us familiar and every day.          If the        around him. As it has been said by narrator:

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"Communication with the world beyond the                 personality turn protagonist expression of the
village he had none" (28). In this case, we              way science denies common nature and
thought that the Invisible Man had some                  humanity. It means Wells's science to be
particular complain with Iping, we learn pretty          scientist for his protagonist does not deserve
quit slowly that he actually does not talk to            common rules and regulation of pure science. It
anyone. He says "I was alone…In all my great             is just artificial and unrealistic. Claiming
moments I have been alone" (128). At the                 antisocial personality of Wells's protagonist
beginning of his talk with Kemp, the Invisible           caused by scientific alienation Roberts points
Man makes a connection between being alone               out wrong implication of Wells's science that
and being awesome.                                       goes     beyond      reality.    He    articulates:
         Furthermore, uttering his lonely work                   Wells's protagonist, on the other hand,
to his landlord he further says "What was I              is a scientist. His invisibility is specifically on
doing? Why was I always alone and secretive?             the other hand is a scientist. His invisibility is
Was it legal? Was it dangerous?" (137). with his         specifically rationalized as the result of
statement it is clear Griffin does not seem              scientific research. The particular alienation
serious in his work though he does it alone. He          experienced by Wells's invisible man stems
himself does not know about his work and its             from his own antisocial personality, which in
upcoming consequences. He is completely                  turn is an expression of the way science denies
unknown about his work either his work is                common nature and humanity. (19)
legal or dangerous. Griffin talks about his                      By his analysis, it can be seen that
landlord in London or rather, it is more like            science used to make invisibility to Wells's
Griffin speaking for the landlord, who is                protagonist creates alienation being himself as
worried that Griffin is up to no good. And the           antisocial scientist. His science is not based on
landlord's evidence that Griffin is bad news.            real scientific values and denies common
She realizes Griffin does his work feeling               nature and human behavior.
without help. He is always alone. He himself is                  Similarly, in The Invisible Man, Griffin
more responsible to make him alone from the              himself realizes his isolation and laments with
rest of the people of Iping along with his               Dr. Kemp: "I made a mistake, Kemp, a huge
scientific world that is not based in real               mistake, in carrying this thing through alone. I
science. Every time he is guided with wrong              have wasted strength, time, and opportunities.
science. Griffin's scientific world is completely        Alone - it is wonderful how little a man can do
different than the world we live; however it is          alone!" (173). Here is where Griffin ends up,
not rationally or logically verified it is just          even though he seemed to love being alone
scientific or documentary rather than science            when he started to tell Kemp his story. Of
fiction.                                                 course, Griffin's plan to recruit Kemp does not
         Again, critic Adam Roberts in his book          work out and Griffin is forced to work alone.
Science Fiction talks about the science used to                  Noticing Griffin's alien behavior
make Wells's protagonist as scientist is not             Dr.Kemp says: "By this time I knew he was
rationalized rather it denies the common                 alone in the house, and so I made no more ado,
nature and humanity. On the one hand, Wells's            but knocked him on the head" (164).
protagonist to be scientist into invisibility is         Sometimes being alone is associated with being
rationalized as a result of scientific research.         vulnerable because of wrong implications of
On the other hand, the protagonist's antisocial          science. Here Griffin tells Kemp how he took

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out the costume-shop owner: as soon as Griffin            cannot meet the real scientific fact and truth.
realizes the guy is alone, bam, he knocks him             Griffin makes him invisible using pseudo-
out. It can imagine that Griffin would                    science. Mentioning his own scientific
empathize with people who are alone like him,             experiment Griffin, in this line says: ""I should
but he does not seem to care about anyone.                explain," he added, "what I was really too cold
These lines show his abnormal action with                 and fatigued to do before, that I am an
villagers where he performs Thus, Griffin's               experimental investigator." "Indeed, sir," said
science to make him invisibility becomes                  Mrs. Hall, much impressed" (13). Mrs. Hall does
dangerous when it is isolated from the larger             not really understand the science that the
community. If we think of Griffin as a symbol             Invisible Man is doing, but she has still
for science-gone-wrong, this makes a lot of               impressed by it. He says he is experimental
sense. Finally, his wrong science makes him               investigator, however, his observation cannot
anti-social personality and person of                     prove him as an experimental investigator. His
regression and vulnerability refusing common              scientific way is alike than real scientific
nature and humanity.                                      method. Griffin's scientific collections are so
        Concerning definition of science, Adam            many that even Chemists' shop could not
Roberts again states science must be defined              deserve it. Noticing Griffin's production
with a body of examination and it is based on             narrator utters:
derived laws established by experiment in the                     bottles – little fat bottles containing
real world. But, science fictionalized in science         powers, small and slender bottles containing
fiction cannot meet this standard of real                 coloured and white fluids, fluted blue bottles
science rather it rules being out controlled              labeled Poison, bottles with round bodies and
inciting impossibility. Insisting on the portrayal        slender necks, large greenglass bottles, large
of scientific impossibility in science fiction            white- glass bottles, bottles with glass stoppers
Roberts further attaches: "We must want to                and frosted labels, bottles with fine corks,
define 'science' as a body of observations and            bottles with bungs, bottles with wooden caps,
derived laws established by experiment in the             wine bottles, salad-oil bottles – putting them in
real world; but according to this definition,             rows on the chiffonnier, on the mantel, on the
several of the frequently deployed 'nova' of              table under the window, round the flower, on
science fiction are things that 'science' has             the bookshelf – everywhere. The chemist's
specifically ruled out of court as literally              shop in Bramblehurst could not boast half so
impossible" (8). By his analysis, Roberts                 many. (22)
suggests science is the body of examination and                   By these above lines, it is clear Griffins
derivative laws established by experiment in              collected materials to earn his invisibility
real world. But, science use in science fiction           which are quite unusual and impossible. How
does not assemble this standard and follows               can he make invisibility formula using these
literally impossible world which is too difficult         aforementioned equipments are also amazing
to comprehend and quite mysterious to                     and hard to believe? In terms of collecting
deserve normally. It has no logic and                     experimental materials, he collects tiny
rationality; it is just unbelievable.                     resources to justify his investigation. He
        In case of Griffin, the science used by           randomly gathers so many supplies which
Griffin to make him invisible from English                cannot afford by chemist's shop in
society is not appropriate scientific law and             Bramblehurst. Hence, it is easily proved

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Griffin's attempt to deserve his invisibility                funny thing. People in Iping on the whole, agree
seems literally impossible that does not depend              to dislike him. He is just irritable character:
on real scientific lab experiment.                           "His irritability, though it might have been
        Similarly, Adam Roberts also claims                  comprehensible to an urban brain-worker, was
science fiction as the dull and adventurous                  an amazing thing to these quiet Sussex
characterization and exhausted plot that limits              villagers" (30). What amazes the Iping villagers
criteria applied to other literature. He further             might be pretty ordinary to most people. So far,
says "It is hard to deny many Science Fiction                amazement has to do with relatively normal
tests are limited and narrow if judged by                    things: weird hair, acts like city-folk as usual.
aesthetic criteria sometimes applied to other                         He is the means of terror for people
literature that their characterization often is              when people do not know him but later he is
then, their style dull and adventurous, their                nothing to them. It clarifies "In the morning he
plots hackneyed" (14). By his criticism, it can              had still been simply a legend, a terror; in the
be known that the characterization and plot of               afternoon, by virtue chiefly of Kemp's drily
science fiction is duller, adventurous and                   worded proclamation, he was presented as a
drained in comparison to other literary genres               tangible antagonist, to be wounded, captured,
and it loses the aesthetic criteria making                   or overcome" (181). When people do not know
narrow judgment.                                             what the Invisible Man is, he is a source of
        As we also can see in The Invisible Man              terror and amazement. Once they know that he
Griffin's story loses aesthetic standards                    is just a man, people realize that he can be dealt
because of its dull characterization and unreal              with. It seems like the unknown is the biggest
adventurous plot. In The Invisible Man, as we                source of awe. His invention is not based on
might have guessed, it is awe and amazement                  scientific truth because real science based on
and of course it has sheer terror. Invisible men             observation and experiments makes us think of
might be everywhere in other literature too but              test tubes, labs, and some other procedures.
this Invisible men is really strange guy than we             That is why Griffin's invisibility could not meet
have actually seen in real life. Here, these                 aesthetic values of serious literature or science
villagers are living their normal lives, and                 fiction rather it seems just funny and
suddenly they have to deal with something                    marvelous.
they have never even thought about.                                   Focusing the materialist value of science
        Considering that a random stranger is a              Roberts also shouts: "Wells is a concrete
big deal in Iping, an Invisible man is almost too            symbol of the dehumanization of science, a
much to handle and bear. As, it is clear through             particular coding of the very materiality of
these lines: "It was inevitable that a person of             science practice" (19). Hence, it is clear Wells's
so remarkable an appearance and bearing                      science using in science fiction make himself as
should form a frequent topic in such a village as            the icon of dehumanization of science and he
Iping" (29). Even before he has revealed as the              uses science for material perform. In The
Invisible Man, the stranger is so strange that he            Invisible Man, Griffin is the model of science
is a source of amazement. Amazement can lead                 without humanity. He begins his road to
to curiosity and, in this case, it is gossip. This is        decline in college when he becomes so
an example of people being amazed by                         obsessed with his experiments that he hides
relatively regular things – that is, compared to             his work lest anyone else should receive credit.
an invisible man, a strange visitor is small                 Griffin always hides his plan to people around

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him. He is the person of distrust and dishonest.          himself from all sense of human compassion.
Hesitating Griffin's plan to hide himself from                    Simultaneously, in spite of his
people of Port Burdock Kemp says ""No one?"               predicament, Griffin at no time expresses any
insisted Griffin."Not a soul"" (173). Kemp                remorse for his behavior or for the crimes,
means Griffin is not the person of soul. Nobody           which he merely describes as necessary. His
insists him to hide; however, he attempts to be           only regret is frustration over not having
hidden from people. He himself dehumanizes                thought about the drawbacks of invisibility. For
him.                                                      nearly a year, he works on trying to perfect an
        When he runs out of money, he kills his           antidote; when time runs out for that activity,
own father- a crime that makes the rest of his            he first tries to leave the country and then plan
crimes light in comparison. Pointing murder of            failing tries to find an accomplice for himself so
his own father Griffin says: "I robbed the old            he can enjoy his invisibility and hence all the
man- robbed my father- The money was not                  comforts of life as well. He goes from obsession
his, and he shot himself" (129). Griffin takes his        to fanaticism to insanity.
father death as light thing because he makes                      Again, Adam Roberts mentions Darko
his father to commit suicide to fulfill his               Suvin's statement; he tries to say scientific
material gain using his scientific power. He              portrayal exposed in Science Fiction as
goes from scientist to fanatic when he begins to          falsifiability because science itself is not true
focus all of his attention merely on the concept          rather it is the experiment based on various
of invisibility and neglects to think about the           hypotheses. He states:
consequences of such a condition. Griffin again                    For Suvin the important things about
says "I did not feel bit sorry for my father. He          the "science fiction" is that it is a discourse
seemed to me to be the victim own his foolish             build a certain logical principles that avoids
sentimentality. The current cant required my              self-contradiction; that it is rational rather than
attendance at his funeral, but it was really not          emotional or instinctual.             Scientists
my affair" (131). His statement suggests he has           sometimes like to assert that they deal in
no regression and guilty in his father death. He          "facts" and "truth" where fiction deals in
tries to escape from his responsibility towards           "imagination" and is a form of laying. But, it is
his father funeral being himself as an inhuman            more accurate to describe science as a
character.                                                discipline based on falsifiability; a discourse in
        Most of the events, Griffin seems                 which hypothesis are tested by experiment.
irresponsible and treats himself as inhuman               Accordingly whilst a scientific premise may
character. He deceives everyone. Noticing                 provide false, it cannot be proved true. In
Griffin's attempt for murder Kemp says "He has            science fiction, it is not that the use of science
cut himself off from his own kind. His blood be           gives the tests a particular privileged access to
upon his own head" (179). Kemp has been                   truth. (9)
explaining Griffin’s intentions to the police. In                 As can be seen by Roberts's study,
devising the plan for murder and a "reign of              Science Fiction discourse is based on logical
terror," Griffin has become "inhuman," and                principle so it is rational rather than emotional
completely selfish. He "cut himself off" first by         or instinctual that avoids self-contradiction. He
creating a condition which would force him to             further says though the science fiction is the
the fringes of society. In planning to terrorize          rational discourse; however science used in
that society for his own ends, he divorces                science fiction it cannot present scientific fact

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and truth. Science itself a discourse that based             tries many hypotheses like real science for
on hypothesis tested by experiment so                        example he tries the invisibility on a cat then
scientific portrayal of science fiction cannot               himself. Nevertheless, he himself fails to
access truth. It is just scientific fictionalizing in        deserve his body to make invisible. His science
which science appears as pseudo- science or                  has gone untruthfully making himself just as
imaginative.                                                 pathetic character going out of social order.
        In the same way, in the novel The                            Moreover, another critic Raymond
Invisible Man science just has been                          William in his Science Fiction Studies utters
fictionalized. The invisible Man is all about                much of the science fictions evokes the anti-
science gone wrong. The science, Griffin use to              scientific sentiment and dreadful breakdown of
make him invisible is totally based on                       man and society. He further asserts:Much
unrealistic scientific facts and truth. Griffin              science fiction is really anti- science fiction-
tries to follow the law of optics that absorb                Humanism is discarded in the very affirmation
light passing the refractive index of his body               of the familiar contemporary myths of human
into air and makes him invisible is completely               concern- The convention powerfully supports
anti scientific rule. Doubting the Griffin's                 this not only catastrophe, but social breakdown
attempt to make apparent human body                          is dominance. Under new adversity man and
invisible Kemp says: "Visibility depends on                  society at once breakdown but the evidence for
action of visible bodies on light. Either the body           this is not from the record; it is rather
absorbs light or it reflects or refracts it, does all        unconsciously from the writer's feelings
things. If it neither reflects nor refracts nor              consciously from the convention of the thrilling
absorbs light, it cannot of itself be visible"               story which needs trouble. (359)
(124-25). Kemp's lines suggests human body is                        According to William, it is clear most of
apparent neither it can absorb light nor it can              the science fictions carry anti- scientific
refract light so it is impossible to make human              sentiment. Humanism is lost and the
body invisible. His invisible just outcasts him              protagonist loses his social status getting
from society and experiences a psychological                 lowest points that cause his social breakdown.
disconnection from humanity. Griffin's science               The devastation of man and society is made
to make his body invisible is quite imaginative              unconsciously by the writer; however, the
and not based on scientific truth. In order to               convention of stimulating story needs trouble
convince his own experiment to be invisibility               consciously. The central character goes beyond
to Kemp, Griffin speaks: "To do such a thing                 inhuman world breaking the social and moral
would be to transcend magic. And behold,                     standards spreading violence revealing him as
unclosed by doubt, a magnificent vision of all               brutal character. In the same way, in The
that invisibility might mean to a man- the                   Invisible Man, we can view the situation of
mystery, the power, freedom." (128). It is clear             Griffin as wicked character who invites anti-
through these Griffin's lines that Griffin himself           scientific sentiment because of his violent
is not sure in his experiment and says his                   behavior to people. He is very inhuman
experiment is magic and his invisibility is                  character and rules Iping village violently going
mystery, power and freedom which is not                      beyond humanity. The narrator says: "People
based on real science. Griffin could not                     down the village heard shouts and shrieks, and
convince to Kemp about his experiment and                    looking up the street saw the "Coach and
utters not to doubt him. In his experiment, he               Horses" violently firing out its humanity." (50)

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It means it is clear Griffin orders people in            with a violent gesture tore at his whiskers and
violent way destroying humanities. Griffin, the          bandages" (50). Man, everything the Invisible
protagonist overwhelms him in false science in           Man does is violent! He throws bottles, he rips
order to make him invisible thinking himself as          his bandages off, and he even sneezes violently:
an adventurous character. But, his invention             "The Invisible Man amused himself for a little
does not seem quite audacious. While involving           while by breaking all the windows in the
wrong scientific method, Griffin not only                "Coach and Horses," and then he thrust a street
invites his catastrophic situation but also put          lamp through the parlor window of Mrs.
him in social breakdown. The central character           Gribble" (83). Breaking street lamps! Party!
of adventure later, slowly follows the criminal          Once again, the Invisible Man shows us his
way to threat English people but, he himself             character through his incredibly violent
becomes the tool of danger and indicates the             actions.
failure of science. Because of his failure he                   The central character, Griffin, is a
diminishes his aim and transforms himself in             psychologically unrest character. His case can
pitiable and violent situation.                          be made for it also being a psychological crime
        In the novel, The Invisible Man there is         narrative of sorts, which tracks the journey one
no scientific environment rather it has sound of         man, takes into criminality and madness, whilst
violence in each scene spreading anti- scientific        pursuing a scientific experiment. His criminal
sentiment. In this book, dogs attack men and             way crafts him to be troublesome and feeble
men attack dogs which we suppose is not fair.            character undermining his endeavor. William
Dog's presence starts violence: "Then the finer          further adds "The central character of an
end of Fearenside's whip reached his property,           adventure story is usually so criminally
and the dog, yelping with dismay, retreated              careless that he would not serve a day real
under the wheels of the wagon" (20). A little bit        danger, but this makes for trouble and for more
of violence goes a long way. From this quick             story and so here with the unacknowledged
scene, we learn that dogs can detect that there          underlying aim" (359). By his analysis, it is
is something wrong about the Invisible Man.              apparent the central character becomes more
        There is another violent scene that              hasty and decent less criminally and cannot
stones get thrown at people and at windows. A            deceit day real danger. His incapability to cope
lot of furniture gets thrown, smashed, or just           real danger suspiciously formulates the
banged around. Panicky way the Invisible Man             protagonist to be as troublesome, pathetic and
gets into at least three big brawls, one of which        aimless character. His criminality dissolves him
ends in his violent death. " But, once there was         in such situation where he completely loses his
a concussion and a sound of bottles ringing              sense and leads him to be failing in his
together as though the table had been hit, and           destination.
the smash of a bottle flung violently down, and                 In case of Griffin, he also becomes
then a rapid pacing athwart the room" (24).              extremely sloppy in his invisibility action and
The Invisible Man will take out his frustration          leads him into vulnerable character losing his
on anything close to him.                                sense. In his ways of scientific quest, Griffin
        For another example, check out the               deserves all sorts of criminal activities namely
Invisible Man's "violent smashing of bottles"            in threatening, beating, cheating and killing
(46). Here, we are not going to touch this guy           people inhumanly. While doing so he
with a ten-foot pole. "He took off his hat, and          disregards his goal of invisibility and directs

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him in violent and criminal proceedings. The                way, we expect someone to keep their friend's
Invisible Man beating up windows in the                     secrets, but when Griffin outlines his super
"Coach and Horses", check out the siege of                  villain plan to take over England, Kemp decides
Kemp's house refers another violent and                     that he has a more important priority than
criminal scene. Griffin use scientific violence             loyalty to his friend: protecting his country and
and crime as the source of power to threaten                neighbors. As, Griffin says: "He is invisible!" he
and defeat other:                                           said. "And it reads like rage growing to mania!
       Not wanton killing, but a judicious                  The things he may do! The things he may do!
slaying. The point is, they know there is an                And he's upstairs free as the air. What on earth
Invisible Man - as well as we know there is an              ought I to do" (121)? Kemp thinks his friend
Invisible Man. And that Invisible Man, Kemp,                Griffin potentially dangerous, and decides that
must now establish a Reign of Terror. Yes; no               he owes more to his neighbors and England
doubt it's startling. But I mean it. A Reign of             than he owes to Griffin. So, he decides to help
Terror.         He must take some town like                 everyone else by betraying Griffin. Griffin
your Burdock and terrify and dominate it. He                himself also becomes the part of betrayal due
must issue his orders. He can do that in a                  to his tricky business based on unrealistic
thousand ways - scraps of paper thrust under                scientific inquiry among the people of Port
doors would suffice. And all who disobey his                Burdock as well as whole Iping territory.
orders he must kill, and kill all who would                         Real science of many scientists is
defend them. (174)                                          shaped by wider social world. But, scientists of
       For the Invisible Man, it seems like                 many science fiction books separate their
violence and crime are often just a hobby or a              science from human values and desire because
fun activity. However, he lays out a plan. He               it could not meet the scientific standard of real
only uses violence and crime in order to get                science. It is just fictionalized going beyond
what he wants. In other words, violence and                 reality that creates tension for many scientists
crime here is a source of power. He focuses                 of science fiction books. Their science is more
both violence and the criminal way to use                   fictionalized and violets human values and
people in his order. He threats everyone                    choice. Talking about the relationship of
showing his power to kill them if they disorder             science and science fiction Sherryl Vint in her
him. So, it is true it is a pretty violent book that        "Science Studies" mentions statement of David
follows criminal way to make people afraid.                 Bloor that is " "real" science shaped by the
The criminal violence surrounding of the                    wider social world, a source of tension with
Invisible Man makes him to be more or less                  many scientists who insist on a vision of
human. His aim to be invisibility turns into                science as separate and purified from the
criminal way and it leads him as a dismal and               contingencies of human values and choices"
offended character.                                         (414).Bloor line spells out fake science created
       Betrayal also portrays another sound of              in many science fiction books also creates
anti- scientific sentiment. Betrayal is always              tension to their own scientists. Their scientists
tied up with priorities in The Invisible Man.               cross moral and human values that lead
The Invisible Man does not steal from his dad               themselves to be out from wider social world
just to be mean. He steals because he cares                 making them as inhuman character.
more about his scientific experiments than
anything else including his family. In the same

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         In the story, the scientist, Griffin               philanthropy, for sport. What was I to do? And
displays character traits that exemplify his                for this I had become a wrapped-up mystery, a
negligence of consideration for his plan of                 swathed and bandaged caricature of a man!"
invisibility, leading him to inevitable                     (156)
consequences. As Griffin pleads for Dr. Kemp’s                       It is clear that without understanding of
assistance, he explains his yearning of                     what he is about to embark, Griffin’s plan for
""...elaborate plans for the complete realization           the acquisition of advantages over his fellow
of the advantages my invisibility gave me as I              men is falling apart. Without comprehending
still imagined over my fellow men""(139). In                the multitude implications of his alteration, he
this narrative, Griffin plainly admits his illusion         fails to accomplish what he yearns for most, the
of the associated benefits transforming from a              ultimate ability to derive pleasure from life.
visible human being into an invisible character.                     Talking about the scientist appeared in
The corrupt thought of his alteration's                     science fiction and his situation, another critic
advantages motivates Griffin to impulsively                 Patrick Brantlinger in his "The Gothic Origin of
secure its realization without considering the              Science Fiction" utters scientist's monstrous
consequences of its establishment. However,                 invention destroy his life rather it enriches to
only as an invisible man is Griffin able to                 him. He further affirms "The mad scientist is
understand        the    implications     of     his        one item that shows up often in modern
transformation as he expresses:                             science fiction; the monstrous invention that
         The more I thought it over, Kemp, the              destroys life instead of enhancing it is another"
more I realized what a helpless       absurdity             (33).       Through this line, it is obvious
an invisible man was - in a cold and dirty                  Brantlinger lets know Scientist's invention
climate and a crowded civilized city. Before I              destroys his life making him as pathetic
made this mad experiment I had dreamt of a                  character at the end. The invention created by
thousand advantages. That afternoon it seemed               mad scientist is not true and cannot enhance
all disappointment. I went over the heads of the            their life rather it seems monstrous invention
things a man reckons           desirable.        No         that can destroy his life. He further adds "In
doubt invisibility made it possible to get them,            this pattern of radical disjunction from the
but it made it impossible to enjoy them when                actual –what might be called the structural
they are got. (156)                                         expression of imagination of disaster – lies the
         Through      this   complaint,      Griffin        central bond between science fiction and the
expresses sincere regret of the misjudgment                 gothic romance" (35). Brantlinger affirms the
that leads him to the failure of his dreams, even           pattern of science fiction is the patterns of
after invisibility has been attained. He now                radical disjunction from actual that cause the
realizes the challenges of invisible man faces in           structural expression of imagination of disaster
all aspects of life, from obtaining the basic               which is the central bond within science fiction
necessities to withstanding the vicious                     and gothic romance. It means imagination
weather. He further exposes:                                created in science fiction leads the disaster in
         Ambition - what is the good of pride of            the life of scientist and this disaster has
place when you cannot appear          there? What           become the central content in most of science
is the good of the love of woman when her                   fiction novel.
name must need be Delilah? I have no taste for
politics, for the black-guardisms of fame,       for

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