Wednesday 16 August 2023

How to hunt an invisible man

As you might remember from one of last month's posts, I have rediscovered H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man, a classic of science-fiction. Something that struck me in the novel is how meticulous Wells is about showing what would happen if it was possible for a man to turn invisible. And, if he had decide to turn evil (as of course he does), what would he do, and finally what would need to be done protect people against him and to hunt him down. One of the novel's chapters is titled The Hunting of the Invisible Man and explains exactly how to, well, hunt the Invisible Man. Among the tricks, use dogs, as they can smell him and detect him, even though they cannot see him. Keep in mind that his digestive system will remain visible for a while after he consumes food and drinks. Hide weapons and anything that the invisible man could use as a weapon. And also, as he goes around naked, put powdered glass on the roads. Learning about the last one, one of the characters, a police officer, gives some protest: "It's unsportsmanlike." That made me laugh when I reread it. I thought it was the Englishest thing someone could say. You have an homicidal maniac running wild, and the police officer worries about being unfair to him. Anyway, thanks to Wells, we now know what to do if an invisible man goes on a rampage.

1 comment:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

An interesting dilemma!