Ch 24Footprints without Feet

Footprints without Feet

Author: H.G. Wells (1866–1946), the great English writer often called the "father of science fiction". This chapter is adapted from his famous 1897 novel The Invisible Man, and like much of his work it mixes thrilling fantasy with a serious warning about the misuse of science.

Introduction

"Footprints without Feet" tells the story of Griffin, a brilliant scientist who discovers how to make the human body invisible — and then uses his discovery not for the good of humanity but for theft, revenge and violence. The story follows the invisible man from the muddy streets of London to the quiet village of Iping, showing how a great scientific achievement, in the hands of a lawless man, becomes a curse for everyone, including the scientist himself.

Detailed Summary

The story opens with two boys in London staring in amazement at fresh muddy footprints appearing one after another on the steps of a house — footprints of bare feet, but with no feet or body to be seen. They follow the mysterious prints until the marks become fainter and finally disappear. The explanation is fantastic but simple: the footprints belong to Griffin, a brilliant but lawless scientist, who is invisible — his body has become transparent, but his bare feet still pick up mud, which betrays his path.

Griffin had carried out experiment after experiment to prove that the human body could become invisible, and at last he swallowed certain rare drugs and his body became as transparent as a sheet of glass — though it remained as solid as glass. But Griffin was a lawless person who cared nothing for others. When his landlord disliked him and tried to eject him, Griffin took revenge by setting fire to the house. To escape without being seen, he had to remove all his clothes, becoming invisible — but also a homeless wanderer: without clothes, without money, and, as it was mid-winter, bitterly cold.

Unable to bear the cold of the London streets, Griffin slipped into a big London department store for warmth. When the store closed, he happily dressed himself in warm clothes taken from the stock — shoes, an overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat — ate cold meat and coffee in the restaurant, followed by sweets and wine from the grocery store, and finally fell asleep on a pile of quilts. But he did not wake up in time: the shop assistants arrived in the morning and chased him. To escape, Griffin had to throw off all his newly found clothes one by one, becoming invisible again — and so found himself once more naked and shivering in the cold January air.

Next he tried a theatrical company's shop in Drury Lane, the centre of the theatre world, hoping to find clothes and something to hide the empty space above his shoulders. Wearing dark glasses, a false nose, big bushy side-whiskers, bandages around his forehead and a large hat, he became a fully "visible" but bizarre figure. To get money, he callously attacked the shopkeeper from behind and robbed him of all the money he could find.

Eager to escape crowded London, Griffin took a train to the quiet village of Iping, where he booked two rooms at the local inn. The arrival of a stranger of such uncommon appearance at an inn in winter was in itself an unusual event, and the villagers were full of curiosity. Griffin, who wanted only solitude, told Mrs Hall, the landlord's wife, that he had come to Iping for quiet and that he did not wish to be disturbed — an "accident", he said, had affected his face. He had stolen money, so he could pay in advance, which satisfied Mrs Hall.

But soon the stolen money ran out, and Griffin had to admit he had no more cash. Shortly afterwards a curious episode occurred: the clergyman and his wife were awakened very early one morning by noises in the study. Creeping downstairs, they heard the chink of money and found that housekeeping money had been stolen from the desk — yet when they threw open the study door, the room was empty. They looked under the desk, behind the curtains, even up the chimney: nobody. Yet the desk had been opened and the money was gone. "Extraordinary affair!" the clergyman kept saying.

That same morning, the landlord and his wife found the scientist's door wide open and, since he usually kept it shut and locked, they peeped in. The room was empty, but the bandages and hat and clothes he always wore were lying about. Suddenly Mrs Hall heard a sniff close to her ear; the hat leapt up and dashed itself into her face; the bedroom chair sprang into the air, pushed her and her husband out of the room and slammed the door. The terrified Mrs Hall was convinced that the room was haunted by spirits and that the eccentric stranger had put the spirits into her furniture.

Meanwhile, the news of the burglary at the clergyman's house spread, and suspicion fell on the strange scientist, especially when he suddenly produced ready cash though he had admitted having none shortly before. When Mrs Hall confronted him, Griffin lost his temper. He decided to show himself as he really was: in a moment he threw off his bandages, whiskers, spectacles and false nose — and the horrified villagers found themselves staring at a headless man. Then the village constable, Mr Jaffers, arrived to arrest him. But arresting an invisible man was easier said than done: Griffin threw off one garment after another, becoming more and more invisible, until at last he was a completely unseen force. Jaffers, struggling to hold someone he could not see, was knocked unconscious, and Griffin escaped. Nobody knew where to lay hands on him — the brilliant scientist had become an invisible fugitive, free but utterly alone.

Themes

• Misuse of science: a great discovery becomes dangerous when its maker has no moral sense; science divorced from responsibility harms society and the scientist alike.
• Lawlessness and its price: Griffin's genius wins him power, but his crimes turn him into a homeless, hunted, lonely fugitive — invisibility becomes his prison.
• Power without accountability: when a man believes he cannot be seen or caught, his worst instincts are set free — arson, theft and assault follow.
• Fear of the unknown: the villagers' reactions (spirits in the furniture, the "extraordinary affair") show how people explain what they cannot understand through superstition.

Character Sketches

Griffin

Griffin is a brilliant scientist — a genius who, after long experiments, discovers rare drugs that make the human body as transparent as glass. But his brilliance is matched by a complete lack of conscience: he is repeatedly described as "a lawless person". He burns down his landlord's house in revenge, steals from a department store, attacks and robs the Drury Lane shopkeeper, steals the clergyman's housekeeping money, strikes Mrs Hall's furniture at her, and batters Constable Jaffers unconscious. He is short-tempered, arrogant and solitary, wanting no company and exploding at the slightest interference. His invisibility, meant to be a triumph, becomes his curse: he must go naked in mid-winter to remain unseen, cannot enjoy money or comfort openly, and ends as a hunted wanderer. Griffin embodies Wells's warning that scientific power without moral responsibility destroys both society and the scientist.

Mrs Hall

Mrs Hall is the landlord's wife at the inn in Iping — talkative, curious and eager to be friendly with the strange guest who has paid in advance. She is tolerant of his rudeness because a winter guest with ready money is rare, and she excuses his odd appearance as the result of an "accident". But she is no coward: when the money runs out and suspicion grows, she confronts Griffin directly. Her superstitious side shows when the furniture "attacks" her and she concludes the room is haunted by spirits. She represents the ordinary village folk — practical about money, curious about strangers, and quick to reach for supernatural explanations.

Important Word Meanings