Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Invisible Man, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Freedom, Anonymity, and Immorality
The Future vs. the Past
Greed and Self-Interest
Skepticism vs. Belief
Humans, Science, and Nature
Summary
Analysis
Gibbins, an “amateur naturalist” who lives in Iping, hears a man coughing, sneezing, and swearing but sees nothing there. Gibbins has not yet heard about the burglary or fight, but is so disturbed by the sounds he hears that he gets up and hurries toward town straight away.
Throughout the novel, the narrator shifts focus between different characters to create a sense of confusion and suspense as pieces of information about the Invisible Man are slowly revealed.
Themes
