Recently I listened to the book by H.G Wells, “The Invisible Man.” Imagine yourself in this fellow’s shoes. That’s obviously what we all instinctively do. And what is it that we think we would get up to as one who is invisible?
Perhaps we think ourselves better than he. For in the end he murdered and stole and terrorised. Sure he started well-intentioned, seeking progress for progress sake as it were. But at some point he gets derailed. We could say that it wasn’t his fault and instead look upon his circumstances and everyone that pushed him and broke him. But that’s not good enough, and I don’t think it would do this book justice.
When I think about this story, when I instinctively put myself in the shoes of the invisible man (not that he wore shoes!), of course I realise I’m not at all very different.
My first thought is how much mischief I would be able to cause if I were invisible. I daresay that would be your first thought too, or amongst your thoughts at any rate. I must confess I’m not naturally inclined to think of all the good things I might do – such as become some sort of military spy on espionage missions saving captives, or fighting crime on the streets like some sort of vigil auntie always watching from her window through the curtains.
This brings me to my point, and what I see is one of the points of Well’s book ‘The Invisible Man’ (even if it was unintentional). Given the right motive and opportunity we would all act as the invisible man acted in his circumstances. Our natures are such that we have an inbuilt propensity to wreak havoc. Whether we think we’re justified in our actions or not is beside the point.
Reading (or listening) to a book like this is just another reminder of this fact. But it reminds me to cast myself upon the mercy and grace of God again and again. There are lessons to be learnt even from such books which seem like mere thought experiments. None of us will be turning invisible any time soon. But all of us have that invisible side to us.
Bigvai and Shiphrah 