Footprints Without Feet — Class 10 English
Footprints Without Feet · Chapter 5
Visual story
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2- First Flight
- Footprints without Feet
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Chapter summary
The story in steps
- Griffin, a clever scientist, discovers how to make himself invisible but uses the idea for selfish and criminal acts.
- In London, he enters a big store for warmth and food, but escapes naked and invisible the next morning.
- He steals clothes from a theatrical shop and reaches Iping, where he stays mysteriously at an inn.
- His strange dress, secret experiments, and sudden temper make the villagers and Mrs Hall deeply suspicious.
- When his money is questioned, he robs the clergyman’s house and creates more fear in the village.
- Cornered by the police, Griffin removes his clothes, becomes invisible again, hits people, and escapes.
Key ideas & terms
- Griffin
- A brilliant scientist who makes himself invisible and lawless.
- Invisibility
- The scientific discovery Griffin misuses.
- Iping
- The village where Griffin takes lodging and rouses suspicion.
- Mrs Hall
- The innkeeper’s wife, curious about her strange guest.
- Science misused
- The theme of power without moral responsibility.
- The lawless scientist
- Griffin, who turns his gift into a means of crime.
शब्दार्थ · Word meanings
- transparent
- clear enough to see through
- lawless
- without respect for law
- eccentric
- strange in behaviour
- clergyman
- a Christian priest
- landlord
- owner who rents a building
- inn
- small hotel for travellers
- bandages
- strips of cloth for wounds
- chink
- small opening or crack
- constable
- a police officer
- magistrate
- judge of a lower court
Extra questions & answers
How did Griffin become invisible?
He was a brilliant scientist who experimented on himself, swallowing certain rare drugs that made his body transparent and invisible.
Why did Griffin go to the village of Iping?
Having stolen clothes and bandages, he sought a quiet place to continue his work and took rooms at an inn in Iping, away from the crowds of London.
How did the villagers become suspicious of Griffin?
His head was wrapped in bandages, he behaved strangely, kept to himself, and an inexplicable robbery at the clergyman’s house raised alarm.
What message does the story convey?
That scientific knowledge and power, when used by a person without morality or responsibility, become dangerous to society.
How did the two boys first notice the invisible man?
They saw fresh, muddy footprints forming on their own on a doorstep, with no one visible to make them, and followed them in wonder.
Why was Griffin homeless and desperate in London?
Invisible but without clothes or money in the bitter winter, he could not live comfortably and was driven to theft to survive.
How did Griffin make himself noticeable in Iping?
He took clothes and bandages from a shop and wrapped his head and face, which made him look strange and drew the villagers’ attention.
Why did Mrs Hall and the villagers grow suspicious of Griffin?
His bandaged face, secretive behaviour, reluctance to be seen and irregular payment, followed by a mysterious robbery, made them distrust him.
What happened when people tried to seize Griffin?
He flung off his clothes to become invisible again, attacked those who held him, and escaped in the resulting confusion.
What warning does the story give about science?
That great scientific power, when held by a person without morality or responsibility, makes him a menace to society.
READ AND FIND OUT
• How did the invisible man first become visible?
Griffin first became visible when he stepped in mud. Although his body remained invisible, the mud revealed the footprints of his bare feet as he walked.
• Why was he wandering the streets?
Griffin was wandering the streets because he had set fire to his landlord’s house and removed his clothes to escape unseen. This left him homeless, penniless, naked and invisible.
READ AND FIND OUT
• Why does Mrs Hall find the scientist eccentric?
Mrs Hall finds Griffin eccentric because of his unusual appearance, his desire for complete solitude, his refusal to talk and his irritable behaviour. She accepts these habits because he says that an accident has affected his face and pays for his rooms in advance.
• What curious episode occurs in the study?
The clergyman and his wife hear someone taking money from the desk in their study. When they enter, the room appears empty, although the desk has been opened and the housekeeping money has disappeared.
• What other extraordinary things happen at the inn?
Mrs Hall and her husband enter Griffin’s apparently empty room and find his clothes and bandages lying there. An unseen Griffin makes a hat strike Mrs Hall and causes a chair to charge at the couple, push them outside and apparently lock the door. Later, Griffin removes his disguise before the villagers, appears headless and finally becomes completely invisible while resisting arrest.
Think about it
1. “Griffin was rather a lawless person.” Comment.
Griffin repeatedly breaks the law and harms others for his own benefit. He burns his landlord’s house in revenge, steals clothes and food from a store, attacks and robs a shopkeeper, steals money from a clergyman and violently resists arrest. His actions show that he uses his invisibility without responsibility or respect for other people.
2. How would you assess Griffin as a scientist?
Griffin is an exceptionally intelligent and determined scientist because he succeeds in making the human body invisible after many experiments. However, he lacks wisdom, self-control and moral responsibility. Instead of using his discovery for a constructive purpose, he employs it for theft, revenge and violence. Therefore, he is brilliant in scientific ability but deeply irresponsible as a human being.
Talk about it
1. Would you like to become invisible? What advantages and disadvantages do you foresee, if you did?
I would not like to remain invisible permanently. Temporary invisibility might help someone observe wildlife without disturbing it, escape danger or carry out a rescue unnoticed. However, it would also create serious problems: people might fear or mistrust me, ordinary communication would become difficult, and the power could tempt a person to invade privacy or break rules. Invisibility would therefore require strict self-control and responsible use.
2. Are there forces around us that are invisible, for example, magnetism? Are there aspects of matter that are ‘invisible’ or not visible to the naked eye? What would the world be like if you could see such forces or such aspects of matter?
Yes, many forces and forms of matter cannot be seen directly. Magnetism, gravity, electric fields, air, microbes, atoms and many kinds of radiation are invisible to the naked eye, although their effects can be observed or measured. If we could see them, the world might appear filled with moving particles, waves and fields. This could improve scientific understanding, but the enormous amount of visible information might also make our surroundings confusing and overwhelming.
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!)
Glass and pure water are transparent because much of the visible light falling on them passes through instead of being absorbed or scattered. Their internal structure allows visible light to travel through them, although some light is reflected or refracted. Making an entire human being truly transparent would be extremely difficult because the body contains many tissues that absorb, reflect and scatter light differently. Science may develop advanced forms of camouflage or materials that guide light around an object, but the complete invisibility described in the story is not currently realistic.