The Invisible Man

When Mrs. Hall brings a clock repairman into the stranger’s room, she finds him napping. For the first time, she sees him without a handkerchief covering the lower portion of his face. There is a large gaping hole where his mouth should be, but she assumes shadows are playing tricks on her. Now awake, the stranger expresses irritation at their arrival, but he allows the repairman, Mr. Henfrey, to fix the clock. The stranger inquires about his luggage, explaining to Mrs. Hall that he is a researcher and needs the equipment in his luggage to continue his experiments. He then says that his strange appearance resulted from a bungled experiment, and that his eyes are extremely sensitive, requiring his seclusion in a dark room for hours on end. Once the clock is working, he does not want to be disturbed again. After Mr. Henfrey leaves, annoyed by the stranger's insolence, he runs into Mr. Hall. He advises Mr. Hall that there is an uncanny tenant at the inn, and suggests he investigates the man’s background and intentions.

The next day, the stranger’s luggage arrives: trunks, crates of books, and mysterious glass bottles. He descends from his room to collect his belongings, which have attracted local attention. A villager’s dog dislikes the stranger and promptly bites him, and the stranger retreats to his room because his glove and pants were ripped. Mr. Hall follows him, and upon entering the dimly lit room he sees “what seemed a handless arm waving towards him” (18). The stranger assures Mr. Hall that the dog did not hurt him, and orders him to get all the luggage into his room and unpacked. He immediately begins work with his test tubes and bottles of liquid.

That evening, Mrs. Hall brings his dinner and admonishes him for making such a mess of the room. He rudely orders her to add a charge to his bill for the mess and to leave him alone. He remains locked in his room, working all afternoon. Mrs. Hall hears a noise only once: He is “raving” to himself about being unable to go on any longer (20). Later in the pub, Mr. Hall and some locals discuss the stranger. They notice that his nose is pink, but when the dog bit his leg, only blackness showed through the torn clothing. They assume he is “a piebald [...] black here, and white there—in patches. And he’s ashamed of it. He’s a kind of a half breed” (21).

Mr. and Mrs. Hall still tolerate the stranger’s ill manners and reclusiveness. He stays indoors during the day, emerging from his room only for an evening walk. When locals see him out walking in the twilight they are terrified by his “ghastly bandaged face” (22). They gossip about whether he is really an investigator as he claims, or if he is actually a fugitive. One villager makes a biblical allusion, comparing the stranger to the “the man with one talent” (a figure from a New Testament parable) (23). Though the villagers cannot agree on a theory of the stranger’s identity, they all dislike him for his “irritability” (24).

The local doctor, Mr. Cuss, is so curious that he asks the stranger directly about his condition. The stranger begins an anecdote: He was working on his experiments when an important piece of paper blew into the fire and up the chimney. As he mimes the motion of the airborne paper, it becomes clear that he has no arm. Cuss assumes he must be missing an arm, but when the stranger playfully uses his seemingly missing hand to pinch the doctor’s nose, Cuss feels what is unmistakably a hand attached to an arm. He is so unsettled by this experience that he runs from the room and wonders if the supernatural is afoot.

Mrs. Bunting, the vicar’s wife, awakens at dawn “with the strong impression that the door of their bedroom had opened and closed” (27). She and the vicar tiptoe toward his office, where they hear someone riffling through his desk followed by a sneeze—yet they see no one. They hear the jingle of coins and realize the thief has found their stash of gold. Mr. Bunting rushes in holding a fire poker, yet still he sees no one. They search the office to no avail, but then hear another sneeze in the hallway, followed by the back door inexplicably opening and closing. They have no idea that an invisible stranger just robbed them.

At the same time of the robbery, Mr. Hall notices the stranger’s door is ajar. He enters and finds strewn clothing and bandages. As the Halls wonder aloud where the stranger could be without his clothes, they hear the front door open and close, followed by a sneeze. Mrs. Hall is investigating his room when his clothes suddenly appear to gather themselves up. Then, a chair upends itself and pushes her out of the room, and the door locks behind her. Mrs. Hall is hysterical, believing she was just visited by a ghost or demons. When she shares her story with some of the townsfolk, they suggest that Mr. Hall break down the stranger’s door and demand an explanation. Before they can finish discussing this, the stranger opens the door himself, fully clothed and bandaged. Mr. Hall approaches him for conversation, but the stranger slams the door in his face and shouts, “go to the devil!” (32).