Kemp explains the situation to the police, informing them of Griffin’s intentions to cause general mayhem. They talk of using dogs to sniff him out and of putting powdered glass in the streets.
Notes - The narrator tells us that if he had used his time more wisely, Griffin may have been able to escape during the 24 hours it took the countryside to organized. He slept instead, however, and by the time he had awakened there was no escape possible.
By 2:00 in the afternoon, the entire countryside around Burdock has been mobilized. Men set out with guns, clubs and dogs, and the police warn the village people to lock their doors and stay inside. Griffin manages to evade his pursuers for a 24-hour period except for one encounter with a middle-aged man who had apparently cornered him. Griffin kills the man by beating him with an iron rod.
Notes - None necessary
Kemp receives a letter telling him that the Reign of Terror is beginning and that Kemp himself will be the first execution for the sake of an example. Kemp decides that he himself will be the bait and that Griffin will be caught because he will have gone too far. A knock at the door turns out to be Adye with news that Kemp’s housekeeper-who was carrying notes for the police-had been attacked and the notes taken from her.
Griffin makes his presence known by smashing windows in Kemp’s house. During the battle that follows, Adye is shot. Griffin gets inside the house and tries to tell the police to “stand away” as he is after only Kemp. He swings an ax at them, but one of them manages to strike him with an iron poker. By this time Kemp has followed his housekeeper through a window and is nowhere to be found.
Notes - The police express contempt for Kemp, believing he has run off and left them to face Griffin alone. The truth is, he has, because he knows Griffin will follow through on his threats. However, even though Kemp tries to escape, he does not forget his earlier idea of using himself as bait. It is ironic that he runs the same course he watched Marvel run just a couple days earlier. He, too, is white faced and terrified, but keeps his wits; whenever he finds a bit of uneven ground or a patch that is scattered with broken glass, he takes it, knowing it will slow down the invisible, barefooted Griffin.
Griffin chases Kemp through the town. People begin to join in the chase. When Kemp realizes that the people are chasing Griffin, he stops running, which allows the Invisible Man to catch him. Even though people cannot see him, they are able to grab hold of him and keep him down. The effort is not needed for long as Griffin has been fatally injured and seems to have lost a lot of blood. As the town people watch, the effect of invisibility is gradually reversed, and soon, Griffin, now dead, is visible.
Notes - When Griffin becomes visible, his albino condition is also revealed. It is interesting that the people are not horrified or even surprised. Nor is there any speculation about how this bizarre incident could have happened. The people watch as his broken, battered body slowly becomes visible from his extremities to the center of his being. It is only when his white face and hair and staring garnet eyes are revealed that someone calls for them to “cover that face” before the children in the town can see it.
Mr. Marvel, formerly the tramp, has become the landlord of the little inn near Port Stowe and the “owner” of all the information about Griffin. He has been able to keep all the money Griffin stole because lawyers could not identify the sources accurately. The books seem to have disappeared entirely; at least whenever anyone asks Marvel about them, he denies knowing anything. However, when the inn is closed and he is alone, he takes the books out of their hiding place and tries to study the “wonderful secrets.”
Notes - The epilogue implies that the people, represented by the tramp-turned-innkeeper, not only have learned very little from the experience of the invisible man, but that they would not be above trying the invisibility themselves if only they knew how to do it. Regardless of the horrors perpetrated by Griffin, it seems to be part of human nature to want to be able to cause chaos and commit obscenities with impunity. While Marvel says that he would not do the same things Griffin did, there is little doubt that anyone, given such advantage over others, would resist the temptation to dabble in behaviors that are unacceptable in normal civilized society.
Ruff, Dr. Karen. "TheBestNotes on The Invisible Man".
TheBestNotes.com.
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