Ignorance In The Invisible Man

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Even after 82 years, the infamous mad menacing laugh of Claude Rains is still heard today. Based on the popular novel The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, the film, The Invisible Man (1933) directed by James Whale does an extraordinary job with special effects, sounds, and actors to capture the true essence and details of the novel. Following a young chemist, named Jack Griffin, played by Claude Rains, and his psychological unraveling and discoveries, the film and the meaning behind it is more than meets the eye. The Invisible Man is a story of how one man tries to fit into society but fails to due to society’s ignorance, along with the struggles of insanity and his search for identity. The film begins with Griffin stumbling into a quaint English…show more content…
None of the townspeople could understand how Griffin came to be invisible but they knew one thing, that he was bad news. Everyone began to chase him down and attempted to lock him up without him even giving a proper explanation for himself. There was even evidence of skepticism displayed by the head sheriff when the townspeople tried to report the whereabouts of an invisible man. I believe that if the people would have been more optimistic about his invisibility and accepted him, that Griffin might not have gone insane and gotten…show more content…
Being invisible, he can’t wear any clothes, and the winters are cold. “Bring a blanket with you, it's cold outside when you have to go about naked.” It was at this time that Griffin began to realize that he has made a mistake. “The more I thought it over, Kemp, the more I realized what a helpless absurdity an Invisible Man was,- in a cold and dirty climate and a crowded civilized city. Before I made this mad experiment I had dreamt of a thousand advantages. That afternoon it seemed all disappointment. I went over the heads of the things a man reckons desirable. No doubt invisibility made it possible to get them, but it made it impossible to enjoy them when they were got. Ambition- what is the good of pride of place when you cannot appear there?”
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