FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET

 FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET

By HG Wells

This chapter is about a scientist who finds how to make himself invisible. As he feared being found in London, where he had committed some crimes, he flees to a distant village. However, he runs out of cash and falls back on theft, utilizing his advantages of invisibility.

CHARACTERS:

Griffin: Griffin is the eccentric scientist who makes himself invisible. He does not hesitate to resort to criminal activities to remain a mystery.

Mrs Hall: Mrs Hall is a resolute but superstitious owner of the inn of Iping where Griffin stays.

Mr Jaffers: Mr Jaffers is a dutiful policeman who fails to arrest the 'invisible' scientist.

HG Wells

SUMMERY

Two boys were shocked to see fresh muddy footprints of bare feet on the steps of a house on a street in London without finding who was making them. The footprints disappeared further on. Griffin, an eccentric scientist, who had discovered how to make his body transparent had made these footprints. He could only be with the clothes he was wearing.

Griffin was getting a criminal bent of mind and was a lawless person. He set fire to his landlord’s house to take revenge against him for attempting to evict him. To get away, he had to remove his clothing so that he became invisible. He was without clothing and money during the winter as a homeless wanderer in London.

Griffin managed to escape from the two keen boys’ observation and entered A large store to warm himself without being noticed. Griffin put on some new clothes, consumed meat and coffee from the restaurant in the store and slept in a quilt after the shop was shut at night. He overslept and woke up just when the shop had opened, and the assistants had arrived. When he was noticed and chased by them, he pulled off his clothes again so that they could not see him.

Griffin then entered a theatrical enterprise that gave items for plays. There he wore bandages to outline his face, dark glasses, a false nose and bushy side-whiskers. He robbed the shopkeeper of his money and fled from London to a village to avoid being caught.

In the village Iping, Griffin booked two rooms at Mrs Hall's inn. He told her that he had an accident and did not want to be disturbed, since Mrs Hall tried to be social with him. Soon his money was finished, and so he robbed the house of a clergyman by using his invisibility.

That same day, when Mrs hall found Griffin’s room open, with his bandages and clothes lying around, she and her husband entered the room. They were both attacked unexpectedly by the furniture, but they could not see who was doing this. Mrs Hall thought ghosts haunted the furniture, as she could not see Griffin.

When the clergyman told the police about the burglary, the majority of the people in the village thought that the strange scientist had a hand in it, because he paid his due rent, whereas earlier he was not able to do so. So Mr Jaffers, the village police constable, was called to arrest the suspect. Meanwhile, Mrs Hall asked Griffin to describe all the unusual happenings. Griffin lost his patience and decided to tell everything. He started removing his clothes and even Jaffers could not catch someone whom he could not see. He was knocked unconscious by the invisible man, who escaped.

READ  AND  FIND  OUT 

1.  How  did  the  invisible  man  first  become  visible?

Answer: The invisible man (Griffin) first became visible after he had slipped into a big London store for keeping warm and overslept there while wearing some clothes taken from the store. When the shop opened in the morning, the clothes made him visible to the shop assistants. He had to throw all his garments to be invisible again to escape from there.

2.  Why  was  he  wandering  the  streets?

Answer: Though he was a brilliant scientist, he was a lawless person. His landlord hated him and wanted Griffin to be evicted. He put fire on the house in retaliation. He took away his clothes to run and become invisible. Thus, he became homeless and was wandering the streets of London.

3. Why does Mrs Hall find the scientist eccentric?

Answer: Mrs Hall found the scientist eccentric because of his strange appearance. When she tried to be friendly with him, he rebuffed her by saying that he had come for solitude and did not want to be interrupted in his work.

4. What curious episode occurs in the study?

Answer: A clergyman and his wife were awakened very early one morning by noises coming from their study. Then they heard the sound of coins being taken from the desk there. However, they did not find anybody when they entered the study.

5. What other extraordinary things happen at the inn?

Answer: At the inn, Mrs Hall and her husband went into the room of the scientist on finding its door open. He was not seen in the room, but Mrs Hall heard a sniff and the hat on the bedpost jumped onto her face. Then the chair of the bedroom sprang into the air and pushed them both out of the room. This made Mrs Hall believe that her furniture had been haunted.

THINK ABOUT IT

1. “Griffin was rather a lawless person.” Comment.

Answer: Griffin was not concerned that he might have hurt someone in the fulfilment of what he desired. He set fire to his landlord’s house because the landlord tried to make him leave. Then his robberies at shops and later in the village indicate that he was a lawless person. When he met the landlady of the inn, he threw a chair at her and her husband. Lawless people like Griffin never care about the safety and well-being of others. They are only concerned about themselves.

2. How would you assess Griffin as a scientist?

Answer: Griffin is a genius scientist who discovers how to make himself invisible. Yet he seems to enjoy the feeling of power which he gets out of his invisibility. The ability to harm someone without getting noticed can give some people sadistic pleasure. A true scientist should make discoveries for the greater good of humanity, not just for his benefit.

 Additional Questions

Short Answer Questions.

1. Why was Mrs Hall angry with Griffin, the strange scientist?

Answer: Griffin had attacked Mr and Mrs Hall, and even threw the chair of her mother at her. In addition, Griffin had not paid the rent for a long time. That made Mrs Hall angry.

2. How did Griffin try to get rid of Mrs Hall’s accusations?

Answer: Griffin was upset at Mrs Hall’s allegation of stealing money and not paying her rent. He threw away his bandages, spectacles and became invisible. He hit everyone and fled from there.

3. Why did Griffin set the landlord’s house on fire?

Answer: Griffin was not liked by his landlord. He wanted to take revenge on him so he set fire to his house one day. Moreover, he did not want anyone to know about his secret discovery.

4. How did Griffin escape from the London store?

Answer: As two store attendants spotted Griffin, they chased him. Therefore, to protect himself, he threw away his clothes and became invisible and fled from the London store.

5. How did Griffin become invisible?

Answer: Griffin swallowed a concoction of unusual drugs that made his body transparent like glass, and also, solid as glass.