Staff Picks
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In Boo's Shoes, an eNotes Original To Kill A Mockingbird Comic
Our eNotes original comic "In Boo's Shoes" visually illustrates Maycomb through Boo's eyes. It draws direct quotes from one of the most important passages in To Kill A Mockingbird, in which Scout is finally able to take Atticus' advice and walk in Boo's shoes. From his perspective, we can see the passage of time in Maycomb. This comic provides students a window into the psyche of Boo Radley.
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The Great Gatsby eNotes Character Map Infographic
The Great Gatsby is widely considered one of the best novels of the Twentieth Century. Its vivid characters and memorable storyline have been captivating readers for decades. This character map delineates the major relationships in the novel and uses stunning images to portray the styles, fashions, and artistic sensibilities of the Roaring Twenties.
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The Official eNotes Guide to Grammar: Quotation Marks
Our Official eNotes Quotation Marks infographic guides students through the ins and outs of using quotation marks in a sentence. It covers tricky cases like when to put exclamation marks outside the quotes and citing material that already has quotation marks in it. It does all this with a single sentence and a truly adorable drawing of a snake.
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The Official eNotes Guide to Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement
Our Official eNotes Subject-Verb Agreement infographic is a fun and informative tool designed to help students understand what subject-verb agreement is and how to fix subject-verb disagreements in a sentence. It includes simple drawings that illustrate how incorrect subject-verb agreement can radically change the meaning of a sentence.
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A Doll's House Literary Devices Lesson Plan
Literary Devices: Drawing Themes from Motifs in A Doll’s House This lesson plan focuses on identifying themes in A Doll’s House by interpreting literary motifs in the drama. Students will identify and analyze examples of major motifs in the text, explain the ideas they communicate, and determine how the ideas inform themes in play. By studying Ibsen’s use of motif, students will be better able to identify and describe major themes in the drama.
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Civil Disobedience Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Rhetorical Devices: Claims and Themes Developed through Paradox This lesson plan focuses on Thoreau’s use of paradox in “Civil Disobedience.” Students will identify and analyze examples of paradox in passages from the text and explain the ideas they convey. By studying Thoreau’s use of paradox as a rhetorical device, students will be better able to identify and describe the major claims and themes in the essay.
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The Odyssey Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Vocabulary: Cultural Concepts in Ancient Greece Revealed Through Vocabulary in The Odyssey This lesson plan focuses on analyzing passages from Book IV of The Odyssey and interpreting how they reflect the culture of ancient Greece. Students will identify and explain examples of words and phrases that illustrate the concepts of oikos, xenia, and kleos. By analyzing Homer’s diction in relation to Greek culture, students will be better able to identify and expound upon themes in The Odyssey.
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Character Analysis: Huckleberry Finn’s Character Revealed through Conflict This lesson plan focuses on how Huckleberry Finn’s character is revealed through his relationship with Tom Sawyer and through the conflicts Huck experiences after he is kidnapped by his father. Students will identify Huck’s internal and external conflicts in several chapters and examine how he resolves them. They also will examine how Tom Sawyer serves as a foil for Huck’s character. By analyzing how Huck resolves the conflicts in his life and how his character differs from Tom Sawyer’s, students will be better able to describe Huck’s heroic character traits and explain how they contribute to the development of romantic themes in the novel.
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Elegy Written in a Church Courtyard Themes Lesson Plan
Themes Revealed through Comparison and Contrast in “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” This lesson plan focuses on Gray’s use of contrast in developing several major themes in the poem. Students will identify and examine how Gray describes the villagers before and after their deaths and how their simple lives contrast with those of the wealthy and powerful. Students will analyze the speaker’s perspective on death and memory by studying specific passages, namely descriptions of the headstones, perceptions of the villagers’ lives, and references to famous people from English history. By analyzing contrasting elements in the text, students will be better able to identify themes in the poem and explain how the text develops to further these themes.
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Rip Van Winkle Literary Devices Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Literary Devices: Theme Revealed Through Characterization and Symbolism in “Rip Van Winkle” This lesson focuses on Washington Irving’s use of characterization and symbolism in developing tyranny as a major theme in the story. Students will examine passages from the text to determine how the theme is developed through Rip Van Winkle’s relationship with his wife and through the symbolic significance of the pictures of King George III and George Washington. In studying the Van Winkles’ marriage and the pictures on the sign at the village inn, students will be better able to describe two types of tyranny, their consequences, and how they inform the theme.
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Sonnets 29 and 30 Themes Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Theme Developed Through Internal Dynamics in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 and Sonnet 30 This lesson plan focuses on how Shakespeare employs internal dynamics in Sonnet 29 and Sonnet 30 in characterizing the speaker and developing similar themes in both works. Students will identify the structure in each sonnet, including the rhyme scheme and volta, and describe how the sonnet’s content and tone change within the structure. In studying the internal dynamics of both sonnets, students will be better able to describe how their themes are similar and how the similarities are developed in the texts.
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Hamlet Character Analysis Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Character Analysis: Gertrude and Ophelia as Shakespeare’s Innocents Destroyed This lesson plan focuses Gertrude’s and Ophelia’s roles as innocent, tragic victims in Hamlet who succumb to the demands of their society and the deadly forces in Claudius’s court. Students will contrast their positions in the court, describe their relationships with Hamlet, Claudius, and Polonius, and analyze examples of Gertrude’s and Ophelia’s actions that are determined by the gender roles society expects them to conform to in their relationships with men. In studying Gertrude’s and Ophelia’s characters, students will be better able to describe how gender roles affect these women, how political intrigue destroys them, and how their tragic lives underscore a major theme in the drama.
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Anthem for Doomed Youth Literary Devices Lesson Plan
Literary Devices: The Power of Imagery and Metaphor in “Anthem for Doomed Youth” This lesson plan focuses on Wilfred Owen's use of imagery and metaphor in “Anthem for Doomed Youth.” Students will review the definitions of imagery and metaphor and examine how Owen’s metaphors are created through imagery. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to analyze contrasting elements in the text and explain how they contribute to themes in the poem. In studying imagery and metaphor in the poem, students will gain an understanding of how Owen powerfully conveys the emotions and experiences of WWI soldiers while expressing outrage over the seeming futility of their deaths.
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Hamlet Literary Devices Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Literary Devices: Theme Revealed Through Motif This lesson plan focuses on Shakespeare’s use of motif in developing an important theme in Hamlet. Students will examine deception as a major motif in the play and interpret what Shakespeare suggests about adopting deceptive behavior to resolve conflicts. Students will focus on Hamlet and Claudius in analyzing and describing examples of deception and will determine the ultimate consequences of their choosing to deceive others. In studying deception as a motif, students will be better able to identify and describe a major theme in the play.
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Doctor Faustus eNotes Lesson Plan
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus tells the tale of the most famous deal with the devil in literature. Main character Doctor Faustus, a man with excessive ambition and a thirst for knowledge, sells his soul to the devil to gain insight into the universe and power over the world. For his pride and ambition, he is damned for all eternity. The story parallels the biblical Lucifer’s fall from grace and Adam and Eve’s quest for knowledge. In Marlowe’s play, which is based on a German version of the story, Faustus’s conflicts develop in the context of Marlowe’s 16th-century society when Renaissance thought challenged medieval philosophies and religious tenets. The legend of Faustus’s pact with Lucifer is so well known that the adjective "Faustian" has become a part of our common lexicon, referring to gaining something at the price of integrity and without regard for future cost or consequences In both Marlowe’s play and the German legend on which it is based, Faustus is a scholar who has achieved great academic success but sees this success as inadequate. Each academic field that he has studied—law, theology, medicine, and philosophy—only offers him temporal human power and recognition. He craves ultimate power and omniscient knowledge. Thus, Faustus strikes a deal with Lucifer. For 24 years, the devil Mephistophilis will be bound to Faustus and answer any questions or grant him any request. In exchange, upon Faustus’s death, Lucifer will collect Faustus’s soul. Faustus makes this pact with the devil at the beginning of the play. The remainder of the play fills the time between Faustus’s signing away his soul and his ultimate damnation. Drawing on its German source text, The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus, Marlowe’s play is primarily set in Wittenberg, Germany. While Marlowe takes the basic plot of this German fable and many characteristics of the primary and secondary characters, he leaves behind the straightforward moral message. In the source text, Faustus is explicitly damned for his immoral behavior after being tricked into making a pact with the devil. Marlowe complicates this moral by raising questions about the pursuit of knowledge and power and the importance of faith—issues that were of special significance to his contemporaries at the time he wrote Doctor Faustus. Marlowe's Doctor Faustus was written at a pivotal time in European history. The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation emerged as dominant schools of thought in England at the end of the 16th century, and both movements challenged traditional social, political, and religious structures that shaped the medieval world. During the Renaissance, literacy increased across the classes, promoting the rise of individualism and encouraging people to better themselves by pursuing knowledge. Humanism, a Renaissance cultural movement that contended one could achieve grace through the cultivation of art and knowledge, celebrated the goodness of human pursuits and rejected the idea that humankind must be ruled by the divine. The humanist worldview was shaped by ancient Greek and Roman philosophy and literature, rather than theological scholasticism, and humanists relied on rational thought and reason rather than prayer to solve problems. This movement complemented the ideas that characterized the Protestant Reformation, a 16th-century intellectual and religious upheaval that splintered the Catholic Church. Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII challenged the church’s authority and urged worshipers to create a personal connection to God by reading the Bible and praying. Calvinist Protestantism also introduced the idea of predestination, that God had marked all souls for damnation or salvation before they even got to earth, and therefore man had no control over his fate. Many of the allusions throughout the play, such as the allusions to biblical stories, figures and stories in Greek mythology, famous writers, poets, physicians, alchemists, magicians from antiquity, and Spanish rule, illuminate the transitional nature of the Renaissance—the blending of old beliefs with new ideas and knowledge. These new systems of belief shaped the critical debate over the moral of Marlowe’s play. What is the cause of Faustus’s damnation, and why does he never repent? When presented with these questions, scholars have argued on either side of the intellectual conversations of the time. One argument is that the play is a Protestant critique of Humanism and the Renaissance. Since humanists believed that one could achieve grace through art, the advancement of knowledge, and rational thought, religious philosophers criticized this movement as iconoclastic. They argued that much of the universe must be taken on faith, not reason, and that humans could damn themselves by trying to access forbidden knowledge of God’s works. In this reading, Faustus’s relentless pursuit of knowledge and repeated references to antiquity show that the pursuit of knowledge can be dangerous; there are things that humans are not meant to know or think. Another argument is that the play is a humanist or Renaissance critique of radical Protestant ideas, namely predestination. If Faustus believes that he is already damned and that there is nothing he can do to reverse his damnation, then his pact with the devil is a way to make the most of his time on earth. He merely uses magic to distract himself from the inevitable because he knows God will not hear his prayers. In both interpretations, Faustus is a Renaissance man living in the context of medieval thought, cast down for his intellectual values and pursuits by the religious structures that rule his life. The main conflict in the play is internal, not situational. The situational conflict is introduced and resolved within the first five scenes of the play. Faustus debates whether or not to sell his soul, sells his soul, and then he and the audience wait until the end of the play for Lucifer to collect his due. The drama comes from watching Faustus wrestle with and avoid thinking about the fate he seals for himself at the beginning of the play. His internal conflict over the choices he has made becomes the central conflict that drives the play to its dramatic conclusion. Marlowe also uses the structural tension between comedy and drama to underscore the thematic arc of the play. The high drama of the beginning, in which Faustus contemplates selling his soul for knowledge and power, changes rapidly to comic scenes in which low characters and Faustus himself use word play and practical jokes to fool other characters. This divide is maintained throughout the play until Faustus reaches the end of his life. In scene ten, Faustus’s comic trickery on the Horse-courser blends with dramatic monologues in which Faustus contemplates his mortality and damnation. As Faustus nears the end of his life, the strict line between comedy and drama is blurred because Faustus and the audience can no longer ignore the inevitable. The dramatic scenes can be interpreted as the main action of the play, and the comic scenes can be seen as distractions from Faustus’s ultimate damnation. Tension builds and the audience’s anticipation grows as Marlowe delays resolution of the main conflict. As the hour of Faustus’s death approaches, will he repent and seek God’s mercy to save his soul, or not? Accounts of the original performance of the drama emphasize the play’s ability to captivate its audience. Actor Edward Allyn brought life to Faustus’s imposing character when the play was performed by the Admiral’s Men for 16th-century audiences. Allyn was unusually tall for the Elizabethan era and reportedly had an overwhelmingly powerful stage presence. His casting perhaps contributed to the lore that surrounds the play. Doctor Faustus was performed at a time when the belief in devils was very real. There are many reports of supernatural events at performances: strange noises in the theater, shadows on the walls, or extra devils appearing on stage among the actors. At the time, watching the play was akin to encountering the devil personally and leaving the theater with a bit of the dangerous knowledge the play warns the audience to avoid. In addition to the play’s controversial subject matter and the lore associated with its performance is the intriguing history of the author himself. Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe and a contemporary of William Shakespeare, had aspirations of becoming a great English literato. Despite his high ambitions, Marlowe was one of the original “bad boys” of literature. Marlowe was notorious for his outrageous beliefs, hedonistic lifestyle, and cruel nature. Two years after his first play, Tamburlaine the Great, was published, Marlowe was jailed for his part in a fatal swordfight. His notoriety was further fueled by accusations of counterfeiting and his arrest in the Netherlands in 1592. His ability to evade conviction, which seemed almost miraculous, spurred suspicion that he was a spy for the British government. Richard Baines, who played a part in Marlowe’s counterfeiting woes, accused Marlowe of being a heretic. Thomas Beard, a Puritan theologian, abetted this charge by claiming Marlowe was an atheist who practiced impiety. In May of 1593, Marlowe’s former roommate, playwright Thomas Kyd, was arrested and tortured for treason. In his defense, he claimed that the “heretical” papers authorities found in his home belonged to Marlowe, and Marlowe was arrested. When released on bail, Marlowe was stabbed to death during a tavern brawl. Some believe his death was arranged by the British government; the men sitting with him were affiliated with the government, and Queen Elizabeth pardoned the man who stabbed him, Ingram Frizer, soon after Marlowe's death. But this theory has never been proven. Many have wondered whether Marlowe’s unabashedly amoral characters were hauntingly autobiographical. If nothing else, Marlowe’s controversial biography adds to the mystery and intrigue of the play. Filled with poignant insight into the human condition, digressions into comically absurd scenes, and numerous symbolic secondary characters, Doctor Faustus has puzzled and fascinated audiences for centuries. The insatiable mind of the protagonist, his painful deliberation, stubborn pride, and heart-breaking final moments prompt even the most cynical to question, “Faustus, must thou needs be damned?” Marlowe makes even the most pious sympathize with Dr. Faustus and the loss of his soul. A note regarding the text: Written between 1588 and 1592, Doctor Faustus was not printed until 1604. This printed text, referred to as the “A Text,” is regarded as the text closest to the original, even though sections and references are known to have been added to it. The second version of the text, published in 1616 and referred to as the “B Text,” is much longer and was altered significantly to comply with strict censorship laws established in 1604. This eNotes study guide was created using the “A Text,” which is posted on OwlEyes.org and featured in the ninth edition of the Norton Anthology to English Literature: The Sixteenth Century / Early Seventeenth Century Volume B.
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Romeo and Juliet Literary Devices Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Literary Devices: Constructing Love with Metaphors in Romeo and Juliet Act II, scene ii This lesson plan asks students to analyze the lovers’ first exchange in the famous balcony scene in order to determine how Juliet uses rhetoric to correct Romeo’s romantic discourse and ground his idealized love in reality. Students will closely examine Romeo and Juliet’s language in Act II, scene ii to notice the difference in the metaphors both characters use: Juliet creates more logical metaphors that advance her thought process and dialogue, whereas Romeo crafts metaphors that resemble unrealistic tropes of Petrarchan love poetry. Students will discuss their interpretations of these metaphors with their peers and determine to what extent Juliet converts Romeo’s unrealistic romantic love into real love. Upon completing this lesson plan, students will be able to analyze complex metaphors and use their analysis to evaluate the romantic relationship in Romeo and Juliet.
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In Cold Blood eNotes Lesson Plan
Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, published in 1966, has been described by reviewer George Steiner as “more than a book; it is a happening.” Critic Frederick Dupree considers it “the best documentary account of American crime ever written.” Capote biographer Kenneth Reed asserts that the book is a “virtual triumph in creative reporting … supremely orchestrated in its progression and tone.” Capote placed In Cold Blood in a genre of his own inventing—that of the “nonfiction novel.” His experimentation with merging journalism and fiction writing proved to be both a critical and a commercial success. First serialized in four installments in The New Yorker magazine, In Cold Blood is an account of the murders of the Herbert Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, on November 15, 1959. After reading a brief account of the murders in the New York Times, Capote set out for Holcomb with his childhood friend, Harper Lee, in tow. They interviewed dozens of townspeople, friends of the Clutters, and members of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) in order to tell the tragic story of a robbery and multiple homicide perpetrated without provocation on a hardworking, well liked, and God-fearing family. Capote’s initial intention was to cover the effects of the murders on the residents of Holcomb, a small, close-knit farming community in an essentially peaceful pastoral setting. During his research in Holcomb, however, the killers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, were arrested, and Capote’s book evolved into a deeper examination of the murders. In addition to examining the lives of the Clutters and the effects of their murders in Holcomb, In Cold Blood follows Hickock and Smith from the planning and commission of the crime through their capture, murder trial, conviction, and eventual execution at the Kansas State Penitentiary, April 14, 1965. Writing In Cold Blood proved to be an arduous undertaking for Capote, who found that he related personally to one of the killers, Perry Smith. Smith had a nightmarish childhood filled with abuse, neglect, and stints at multiple institutions; Capote was neglected by his parents, bullied and berated by other children for being effeminate, and sent to private schools where he failed to thrive. The ongoing debate over “nature vs. nurture” is a prominent theme in In Cold Blood, as Capote examines whether Smith was innately damaged or became damaged by his environment. Capote had a gift for recalling dialogue, and while he did not use recording devices during his meetings with myriad individuals, he did take copious notes that he transcribed via typewriter after the interviews at the end of each day. The resulting book is a seamless synthesis of verisimilitude and literary mastery. Through his use of skillful narration, vivid description, official documents, and personal letters concerning the case, Capote takes readers on an unforgettable journey into the horror of multiple murders, the minds of the murderers, and the personal and professional lives of the detectives dedicated to apprehending them. He also chronicles the shock and disillusionment felt by the residents of Holcomb, the small Kansas town they once considered so safe they didn’t lock their doors.
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The Devil and Tom Walker Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Theme: Moral Decay Revealed through Motifs and Symbols This lesson plan focuses on Irving’s use of literary motifs and symbols in developing the story’s themes. Students will examine several motifs and symbols and interpret how they suggest moral decay in the characters and their society. In studying the motifs and symbols, students will be better able to describe “The Devil and Tom Walker” as an example of social criticism.
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The Book Thief eNotes Lesson Plan
Introductory Lecture Written by Markus Zusak, a young Australian author noted for his poetic style, The Book Thief was first published in Australia in 2005 and in the United States a year later. The novel is set in the fictional town of Molching, Germany, during World War II and is narrated by Death, who relates the events from his unique perspective and makes observations about specific characters and humanity in general. In personifying death, Zusak imbues his narrator with a distinct, engaging personality and remarkable insight into human behavior, behavior that Death often finds sad and baffling as the story unfolds. The novel’s protagonist is Liesel Meminger, a nine-year-old girl who is orphaned when the Nazis persecute her parents for being Communists, and she is placed in a foster home in Molching in 1939. Traumatized by the death of her six-year-old brother during the train trip to Molching, Liesel struggles to adjust to life with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. The Holocaust is underway, and evidence of the Nazis’ twisted ideology and acts of evil permeates daily life in the town. Hans, strong and kind, forges a relationship with Liesel by teaching her to read and remains a source of comfort and moral guidance for her as conditions continue to deteriorate in Molching. Rosa, in contrast, is stern, often hostile, and sometimes abusive, but she loves Liesel too. When the Hubermanns shelter a Jew to save him from the Nazis, Liesel recognizes that Rosa has many redeeming qualities. Through Hans, Liesel develops a love of reading, writing, and a passion for books. Recognizing the power of language, she begins to steal books, becoming “the book thief.” During Liesel’s years with the Hubermanns, she navigates her way through childhood, surrounded by the death and destruction of the war, and finds friendship and love with two acquaintances—Rudy Steiner, the boy who lives next door, and Max Vandenburg, the young man who hides from the Nazis in the Hubermanns’ basement. Liesel’s relationships with Rudy and Max play an instrumental role in Liesel’s becoming a strong, independent young woman guided by an unshakeable code of moral conduct. While Liesel’s journey to adulthood drives the novel’s plot, The Book Thief simultaneously examines and illustrates the malignant forces in German society and in human nature that led to the creation of Hitler’s Third Reich and the Holocaust, raising questions as to where ultimate responsibility for them lies. Human beings, Death observes, are often unspeakably cruel to one another; however, he acknowledges that human beings are also capable of great courage and compassion. Consequently, Death is perplexed and “haunted” by them, an irony not lost on readers. Despite the darkest elements in Zusak’s narrative, The Book Thief is essentially optimistic, as John Green writes in his 2006 book review published in The New York Times. The novel, Green notes, “offers us a believable, hard-won hope [that is] embodied in Liesel, who grows into a good and generous person despitethe suffering all around her, and finally becomes a human even Death can love.” In Liesel’s emerging unbroken from the horrors of Hitler’s Germany, the novel’s most profound theme is realized: the strength and resilience of the human spirit in confronting evil.
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Pride and Prejudice Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Theme: Themes Related to Social Class Developed Through Characterization This lesson plan focuses on identifying themes related to social class as they are introduced through three major characters (Elizabeth, Mr. Bingley, and Mr. Darcy) in Pride and Prejudice. Students will determine the social class of the characters, describe their personal traits, and examine their behavior in several chapters from the beginning of the novel. From their study, students will identify major themes introduced in the novel, explain how they are developed through characterization, and support their interpretations with textual details. Upon completing this lesson plan, students will be better able to describe the influence of social class in Pride and Prejudice.
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Exercises & Activities, Teaching Guides
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Macbeth Literary Devices Owl Eyes Lesson Plan
Literary Devices: Character Revealed Through Literary Motifs This lesson plan focuses on Shakespeare’s use of literary motifs in developing the character of Lady Macbeth. Students will examine several motifs in the play and analyze what they reveal about her and how they contribute to symbolism and theme in the drama. In studying the motifs, students will be better able to describe the dynamic nature of Lady Macbeth’s character, her psychological and emotional disintegration at the play’s conclusion, and how her destruction contributes to themes in the play.
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The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance
A celebrated English author of fiction and nonfiction, H. G. Wells is best known for four novels he wrote at the end of the 19th century: The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). Publishing The Time Machine launched Wells’s literary career, establishing him as a popular, innovative voice in fiction writing, and the novel, followed in quick succession by the other three works, accounts for his subsequently being recognized as having created the science fiction genre in literature. In each of the four novels, science plays a central role, but Wells found his themes in how advancements in science and technology might affect individuals and society. As a distinguished man of letters whose interests included science, history, politics, economics, and sociology, Wells understood and appreciated the value of technological advancements. However, by the end of the 1800s he had witnessed several decades of the continuing Industrial Revolution in England and recognized that progress does not come without peril in regard to the changes it effects in society. He also recognized that separating the pursuit of knowledge in science and technology from a respect for humanity and moral principles leads to disaster. Thus the themes in Wells’s fiction, as in The Invisible Man, are often less concerned with scientific achievements and more concerned with moral corruption in the pursuit and application of scientific knowledge. The protagonist in The Invisible Man, identified only as Griffin, illustrates the disaster that ensues when a scientist operates beyond the bounds of human society. Young, ambitious, and obsessed with achieving a scientific breakthrough, Griffin isolates himself in his lab while he studies molecular physics and experiments with light refraction—eventually succeeding in making himself invisible. He is, however, unable to reverse the effects of his experiment. Trapped in his state of invisibility and beset by internal and external conflicts, he becomes a violent criminal, divorced from his own humanity and determined to dominate others through the power afforded him in being invisible. Ultimately, he succeeds in destroying himself. Griffin’s story, the focus of the novel, is one of discovery and destruction, stunning success and profound moral failure. Through Griffin’s moral degeneration and his interactions with the novel’s other characters, Wells examines the constitution of society, the roles people play in it, and the ways individual lives and society change when impacted by the application of scientific research and discovery. The Invisible Man is essentially a cautionary tale that raises questions about the ability of humans to preserve their humanity while unlocking the secrets of science in the pursuit of knowledge, power, and personal ambition. Also, the connotations of the novel’s title invite readers to consider issues relating to personal identity and social isolation in the world of the future, a world that will be even more technologically advanced. In its subjects and themes, The Invisible Man remains as relevant today as when the visionary H. G. Wells wrote it more than a century ago. The novel endures as well in capturing readers’ imaginations while guiding them through a plot filled with twists and turns, dramatic suspense, and occasional humor and social satire in its treatment of several secondary characters.
