The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man (1897) blends comedy and tragedy in its story of a scientist who discovers a way to make himself invisible. His inability to reverse the process leads to a radical disconnection from society—and eventually from his own sanity. Arriving in a town where no one knows him, disguised in bandages and dark glasses, the invisible man is driven to violent and criminal extremes before his secret is revealed. This prescient parable of the dark side of scientific progress demonstrates H. G. Wells’s signature gift for dramatizing humanity’s grandest possibilities and darkest fears.