Chapter 5 Footprints without Feet

Answer:

Griffin
was completely invisible until he happened
to step in some mud, which caused him to leave footprints as he
walked. His footprints were seen by two boys, who followed him as
long as the prints were visible. On getting rid of them, he went into
a big London store to put on some warm clothes. After the store was
shut, he got dressed by putting on shoes, an overcoat and a
wide-brimmed hat. This made him visible to the people who came to
work at the store the next day.

Answer:

Griffin
was a lawless person. His landlord disliked him and tried to get rid
of him. In revenge, he set fire to the house. He had to remove his
clothes to get away without being seen. This was why he had become a
homeless wanderer—without clothes and money.

Answer:

The
arrival of a stranger at an inn in winter
was in itself a strange occurrence. In addition, the stranger had an
uncommon appearance. In spite of Mrs Hall’s attempts to be
friendly, he would respond in a cold manner. He told her that he had
no desire to talk, and that all he wanted was solitude. He did not
wish to be disturbed in his work. For all these reasons she regarded
him as an eccentric scientist.

Answer:

A
clergyman and his wife were awakened very early in the morning by
noises coming from the study. They crept downstairs and heard the
chink of money being taken from the clergyman’s desk. With a
poker grasped firmly in his hand, the clergyman hoped to surprise the
thief. However, it was he who was surprised when he found the room to
be empty. He and his wife looked under the desk, behind the curtains,
and even up the chimney. There was nobody there. Yet the desk had
been opened and the housekeeping money was missing. It was a curious
episode, and the clergyman kept saying the words “extraordinary
affair” for the rest of the day.

Answer:

Apart
from the study room incident, many other extraordinary things
happened at the inn. When the landlord and his wife saw the
scientist’s door open, they entered
his room. They saw that the clothes and bandages that he always wore
were lying about the room. Suddenly, Mrs Hall heard a sniff close to
her ear. A moment later, the hat on the bedpost leapt up and dashed
itself into her face. Then, the bedroom chair became alive and
charged straight at her. As she and her husband turned away in
terror, the chair pushed them out of the room, and then appeared to
slam and lock the door after them. Mrs Hall, who almost fell down the
stairs in hysterics, was convinced that the room was haunted by
spirits, and that these spirits had something to do with the strange
scientist.

Griffin
was strongly suspected of having a hand in the burglary at the
clergyman’s home. When Mrs Hall questioned him on the strange
happenings in his room, he threw off his bandages, whiskers,
spectacles and false nose. The people were horrified to see a
headless man. When the police arrived, he threw off one garment after
another, thereby becoming invisible and running away.

Answer:

Griffin
was a lawless person. His landlord disliked him and tried to get rid
of him. In revenge, he set fire to the
house and ran away. He had no money. Therefore, he stole and robbed
people after becoming invisible. When he went into the London store,
he gave himself the pleasure of clothing. He fed himself without
regard to expense. Later, he went to Drury Lane, which was the centre
of the theatre world. He went to a suitable shop and came out wearing
bandages round his forehead, dark glasses, false nose, big bushy
side-whiskers, and a large hat. He was visible then. To escape
without being seen, he callously attacked the shopkeeper from behind,
and robbed him of all the money he could find. When he had exhausted
all the money he had stolen, he robbed a clergyman. He even attacked
the innkeeper and his wife when they tried to sneak into his room.
Later, when the police came to arrest him, he threw off his clothes,
thereby becoming invisible and running away.

Answer:

After
repeated experiments, Griffin had
discovered how to make the human body transparent. This was a big
achievement. However, he misused his discovery for personal gains and
for hurting others. Thus, though he can be termed as a brilliant
scientist, he was not a noble one.