Invisible Man, The

Summary: "At last only the dead tips of the fingernails remained, pallid and white, and the brown stain of some acid upon my fingers. I was almost invisible..." In this horrific tale of man's toying with science and nature, an obscure scientist invents a formula that renders his flesh invisible. Now he can go anywhere, and do anything-except that can no longer render himself visible again-and he has gone murderously insane. When he enters the village pub on a wintery day, wrapped from head to foot, the invisible man at first presents a comic image. But as the villagers discover the truth, they turn on him in horror, as his malice and invisibilty prove a lethal combination. Only in death can he become visible-and harmless-once again. First published by in 1897, H. G. Wells's imaginative insights into human psychology enabled him to evoke in this novel perhaps the ultimate alienation that can befall a human being.