(Page 26)
Question 1.
How did the invisible man first become visible?
Answer:
The
invisible man (Griffin) first became visible after he slipped into a big
London store for keeping warm and overslept there while wearing some clothes
taken from the store. The clothes made him visible to the shop assistants when
the shop opened in the morning. To escape from them, he had to shed all his
clothes to become invisible again.
Question 2.
Why was he wandering the streets?
Answer:
Though he
was a brilliant scientist, he was a lawless person. His landlord disliked him
and wanted to evict Griffin. In revenge, he set fire to the house. To escape,
he removed his clothes, becoming invisible. Thus he became homeless and was
wandering the streets of London.
Page 28
Question 1.
Why does Mrs Hall find the
scientist eccentric?
Answer:
Mrs Hall found the scientist
eccentric
because of his strange appearance and also, when she tried to
be friendly with him, he rebuffed her by saying that he hacLcome there for
solitude and did not wish to be disturbed in his work.
Question 2.
What curious episode occurs in the study?
Answer:
Very
early one morning, a clergyman and his wife were awakened by noises coming
from their study. Then they heard the sound of coins being taken from the desk
there. However, when they entered the study, they did not find anybody there,
which was curious.
Question 3.
What other extraordinary things happen at the inn?
Answer:
At
the inn, Mrs Hall and her husband went into the scientist’s room on finding
its door open. However, he was not seen in the room, but Mrs Hall heard a
sniff and the hat on the bedpost leapt up and dashed into her face. Then the
bedroom chair sprang into the air and pushed them both out of the room. This
made Mrs Hall think that her furniture was haunted.
Think About It
(Page 31)
Question 1.
“Griffin was rather a lawless person.” Comment.
Answer:
Griffin
was not bothered if he had harmed anybody in the fulfilment of what he wanted.
He set his landlord’s house on fire 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 encountered the landlady of the inn, he threw a
chair at her and her husband. Lawless persons like Griffin never think about
the safety and well-being of others. They are only concerned about themselves.
Question 2.
How would you assess Griffin as a scientist?
Answer:
Griffin
is a brilliant scientist, as he discovers how to make himself invisible. But
he seems to enjoy the feeling of power which he gets out of his invisibility.
The power to hurt anybody without getting noticed can give sadistic pleasure
to some people. A true scientist should make discoveries for the larger
benefit of society, not just for his own benefit.
Talk About It
(Page 31)
Question 1.
Would you like
to become invisible? What advantages and disadvantages do you foresee, if you
did?
Answer:
It can be an exciting idea for most people. Like two
facets of a coin, invisibility can have many advantages and disadvantages. For
a child, invisibility may mean a licence for all kinds of pranks without
getting caught. Like a Hindi movie, invisibility can help you beat all the
villains black and blue and get rid of them. Once you become invisible, nobody
would notice you. Within no time, the sadness of isolation will take over the
excitement of being invisible. You will have no friend. You will tend to
behave like the eccentric scientist in this story.
Question 2.
Are there forces around us that are invisible, for example,
magnetism? Are there aspects of matter that are ‘invisible1 or not visible to
the naked eye? What would the world be like if you could see such forces or
such aspects of matter? ‘
Answer:
Magnetic forces and electrostatic
forces are examples of invisible forces. The atoms and molecules in a matter
are so small that they are not visible to the naked eye. Similarly, heat
energy is invisible. Similarly, sound is invisible to us. While the idea of
seeing invisible things can be very exciting, their visibility would create
too many problems. For example, if we are able to see all the sound around us,
that would be too irritating for us.
Question 3.
What makes glass or water transparent (what is the scientific
explanation for this)? Do you think it would be scientifically possible for a
man to become invisible, or transparent? (Keep in mind that writers of science
fiction have often turned out to be prophetic in their imagination)
Answer:
The
fact that light can pass through glass or water makes them transparent. When
light falls on an object, the reflected light from that object makes it
visible to us. If some device can be made which can prevent reflection of
light from the human body then the human body can be made invisible.