# The Hunter Hunted explained — The Invisible Man

> Chapter companion for The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

Dr. Kemp flees from the Invisible Man, seeking refuge from neighbor Mr. Heelas, who refuses him entry. Kemp races downhill toward the town, pursued by Griffin. A crowd of townspeople, including navvies and a tram conductor, joins the chase and eventually subdues Griffin in a violent struggle. As Griffin dies, his body slowly becomes visible, revealing a young, albino man. His corpse is carried into the Jolly Cricketers, ending his tragic and destructive life.

## Themes in this chapter

### Isolation and Alienation

Kemp feels the vast desolation of the hill-road and the remoteness of the town, highlighting his isolation despite being pursued.

### Madness and Descent

Griffin's final rampage and death represent the ultimate descent into madness and destruction.

### Fear of the Unknown

The townspeople's violent reaction to the invisible pursuer reflects deep fear of the unknown and the invisible.

## Character check-ins

### Dr. Kemp

Flees from his house and is chased by the Invisible Man; leads the crowd in subduing Griffin.

### Griffin

Pursues Kemp, is attacked by the crowd, and dies; his body becomes visible after death.

### Mr. Heelas

Kemp's neighbor who refuses to let Kemp into his house during the chase.

## Key lines

> Mr. Heelas, Mr. Kemp’s nearest neighbour among the villa holders, was asleep in his summer house when the siege of Kemp’s house began.

Kemp's neighbor Mr. Heelas was napping in his summer house when the attack on Kemp's home started.

_Introduces Mr. Heelas and sets the scene for the siege._

> He saw Kemp stand on the sill, spring from the window, and reappear almost instantaneously running along a path in the shrubbery and stooping as he ran, like a man who evades observation.

Kemp jumped from the window and quickly ran through the bushes, crouching to avoid being seen.

_Describes Kemp's escape from his house._

> And there it was, on a shabby bed in a tawdry, ill-lighted bedroom, surrounded by a crowd of ignorant and excited people, broken and wounded, betrayed and unpitied, that Griffin, the first of all men to make himself invisible, Griffin, the most gifted physicist the world has ever seen, ended in infinite disaster his strange and terrible career.

Griffin, the brilliant physicist who first achieved invisibility, died miserably on a cheap bed in a dim room, surrounded by a chaotic crowd, his life ending in catastrophe.

_Concludes Griffin's story with a poignant reflection on his tragic fate._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_invisible_man_se/chapters/xxviii-the-hunter-hunted
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_invisible_man_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_invisible_man_se/chapters
