Justin Brown - Invisible Man


 

Quote

Page Number

Journal

“He did not remove the serviette, but remained holding it, as she saw now, with a brown gloved hand, and regarding her with his inscrutable blue glasses.”

3

(Q) Why does the stranger feel the need to hide himself? Is he insecure about something? Has he been rejected by society?

“So that if I may go so bold to say it sir--’ ‘Will you go get me some matches?’ said the visitor, ‘My pipe is out.’

5

(E) In an attempt to reject the Halls’ intrusiveness, the stranger tries to abruptly change the path of the conversation. The way the stranger covers himself is clearly a very sensitive subject for him, and from this quote, we can see that he is unapologetically closed off from others.

“I do not wish to be disturbed in my work.”

7

(P) The stranger is acting quite shady when it comes to pretty much anything about him or his intentions. I predict that he is up to no good and that the innkeeper, Mrs. Hall, is going to get even more suspicious than she already is.

“Then he was struck violently in the chest, hurled back, and the door slammed in his face and locked. It was so rapid that it gave him no time to observe.”

10

(Q) It is very surprising that the stranger has turned violent when his privacy was invaded. What is he hiding in his room? Why can the others not know about it?

“The stranger did not go to church, and indeed made no difference between Sunday and the irreligious days, even in costume.”

14

(R) It’s interesting to see how much the times have changed by reading this book. In the 1890’s, if someone didn’t go to church, they were viewed as abnormal, while today, most would not bat an eye.

“Queer thing to see an empty sleeve come at you like that! And then--’ ‘Well?’ ‘Something--exactly like a finger and thumb it felt--nipped my nose.”

17

(CL) My prediction that the stranger was up to no good has now came true, since he now apparently has an invisible limb. I’m surprised he was comfortable showing off his invisibility to a resident of this gossip-ridden town. For someone who wants to be left alone, he sure is making it hard for people to do so.

“...the bedclothes gathered themselves together, leapt up suddenly into a sort of peak, and then jumped headlong over the bottom rail. It was exactly as if a hand had clutched them in the centre and flung them aside.”

21

(E) The stranger is making himself known to the reader as someone who likes to cause trouble for their own amusement, but hey, who wouldn’t if you were able to be invisible? He set it up for the Halls to invade the privacy of his room again, so he could get revenge, without them even knowing it was him.

“He took off his hat, and with a violent gesture tore at his whiskers and bandages. For a moment they resisted him. A flash of horrible anticipation passed through the bar. ‘Oh, my gard!’ said someone.”

25

(E) With his money down the drain and the townspeople knowing about the robbery, the stranger has no choice but to expose himself and give himself time to flee. In my opinion, this is very cowardly, but I guess if you study invisibility and are known as a stranger rather than your real name, you must be pretty good at running away from your responsibilities.

“Help me--and I will do great things for you. An invisible man is a man of power.”

33

(C) In this quote, the author is making the assertion that those without attention hold more power than others. It can be seen not only in the book, with the man literally becoming invisible to evade those who are in his way, but also in the real world, where celebrities are at a disadvantage since they are being watched by thousands of eyes, not allowed to mess up or else their career is over.

“See for yourself,’ said Mr. Cuss. ‘Some of it’s mathematical and some of it’s Russian or some such language.”

36

(P) Here, we see two townspeople going through the invisible man’s belongings after he has confessed time and time again that he wants to be left to himself. Of course, after making a scene with his invisibleness, he knew they would never leave him alone, so I predict that these notes are meaningless bait meant to throw off the men and their investigation.