Class 10 English Footprints without Feet Chapter 5, Footprints without Feet (adapted from H.G. Wells’s classic 1897 novel The Invisible Man), follows brilliant but lawless scientist Griffin, who discovers how to make the human body transparent as a sheet of glass and uses his invisibility for revenge, theft and terror from London to the village of Iping.
What Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 5 Covers
Story Summary: Footprints without Feet (H.G. Wells) Griffin, an eccentric and lawless scientist, swallows certain rare drugs that make his body as transparent as a sheet of glass while remaining solid as glass. After his landlord dislikes him and tries to eject him, Griffin sets fire to the house in revenge and strips off his clothes to become a homeless invisible wanderer in the bitter mid-winter chill of London. Two boys are startled by fresh muddy footprints appearing out of nowhere down a London street; Griffin slips into a large London store for warmth, food and clothing (only to be chased the next morning by shop assistants until he strips naked again), then robs a theatrical company shop in Drury Lane of bandages, dark glasses, a false nose, bushy side-whiskers and a large hat. Taking a train to the village of Iping and booking two rooms at the local inn run by Mrs Hall, Griffin soon runs out of cash and invisibly robs the clergyman’s study at dawn. When Mr and Mrs Hall find his room empty yet his clothes and bandages lying on the bed—and the bedroom chair springs alive to hurl them out of the room—they suspect witchcraft and summon village constable Mr Jaffers. Griffin throws off his bandages and garments to become a headless, invisible man who knocks Jaffers unconscious and escapes.
Exercises in Chapter 5
- Read and Find Out & Think about It cover how the invisible man first became visible, why he was wandering the streets of London, why Mrs Hall found the scientist eccentric, the curious episode in the clergyman’s study, and why ‘Griffin was rather a lawless person’.
Read Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 5 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 4: A Question of Trust
- Next: Chapter 6: The Making of a Scientist
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FAQ
Why do we say that ‘Griffin was rather a lawless person’ despite being a brilliant scientist?
Instead of using his groundbreaking discovery of invisibility for the benefit of humanity and science, Griffin used it purely for selfish, vengeful and criminal acts: he set fire to his landlord’s house in revenge, stole clothes and food from a London department store, hit and robbed a shopkeeper in Drury Lane, stole housekeeping money from the clergyman in Iping, assaulted Mrs Hall with furniture, and knocked village constable Jaffers unconscious to resist arrest.
What was the ‘curious episode’ that occurred in the clergyman’s study at Iping?
Very early in the morning, the clergyman and his wife were awakened by noises in the study; creeping downstairs, they heard the chink of money being taken from the clergyman’s desk. When the clergyman flung open the door and shouted ‘Surrender!’, the room appeared to be completely empty—yet the desk had been opened and the housekeeping money was missing.