The Invisible Man Community Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

He rarely went abroad by daylight, but at twilight he would go out muffled up enormously, whether the weather were cold or not, and he chose the loneliest paths and those most overshadowed by trees and banks. (4.3)

If you're not a vampire, you're probably known to leave the house during the day. So someone who only goes out at night is already going to be a little outside the community. On top of that, the Invisible Man also chooses "the loneliest paths." Why do you think he goes out at all?

Quote #5

Out of her hearing there was a view largely entertained that he was a criminal trying to escape from justice by wrapping himself up so as to conceal himself altogether from the eye of the police. […] Elaborated in the imagination of Mr. Gould, the probationary assistant in the National School, this theory took the form that the stranger was an Anarchist in disguise, preparing explosives. […] Another school of opinion followed Mr. Fearenside, and either accepted the piebald view or some modification of it. […] Yet another view explained the entire matter by regarding the stranger as a harmless lunatic. (4.5-6)

Because he doesn't belong to the community, the Invisible Man is a target for gossip and rumors. By contrast, people probably don't talk too much about Mr. Hall's drinking (though everyone probably knows it). So what is the Invisible Man? Well, in the community's eyes, he's a criminal, a political terrorist (people in the nineteenth century were really worried about anarchists), a freak, and a madman. The villagers can come up with these wild ideas because they have no idea what he's really like.

Quote #6

"They are—charity boots," said Mr. Thomas Marvel. (9.4)

Marvel is a homeless wanderer, so he seems like he might find himself outside of communities, just like Griffin. But even the tramp Marvel has a role to play: he's the guy who gets clothes from charity. It doesn't seem like much, but it's a relationship with the community – something the Invisible Man never has.