describe the arrival of strange man at inn in novel the invisible man
Answers
The Strange Man's ArrivalThe book starts with a stranger arriving in a snowstorm at the Coach and Horses, an inn/bar in Iping. (If you've read War of the Worlds, you know that Wells often likes to set his stories in real, or real-ish, places, so it's no surprise that Iping is a real town in England.)The stranger is totally covered, with only his shiny nose showing. He's also wearing spectacles with sidelights, which basically look like goggles. At least one person says he looks like he's wearing a diving helmet (the old-fashioned kind, of course.)The stranger looks, well, strange, but he's got money, so Mrs. Hall, the innkeeper, gives him a room.Still, Mrs. Hall is surprised by his appearance when she sees him in his room without his hat...
Luckily, he's covered the lower part of his face with a serviette (a napkin), so she doesn't have to deal with what's there.Mrs. Hall assumes that this guy was in an accident. She tries to get him to talk about what happened (nosy much?), but he doesn't want to talk about his "accident" with a gossipy innkeeper.Instead, he asks her about getting his luggage from the railroad station. Not quite as good for gossip. Sorry, Mrs. Hall.
Explanation:
The stranger was wrapped from head to toe and the large hat that he wore hid every inch of his face except the shiny tip of his nose. Mrs Hall gave him a room. When she went there, she noticed that his clothes were still on. He was also wearing big blue spectacles with sidelights and had a bush side-whisker over his coat-collar that completely hid his cheeks and face. The next time she went into the room, she saw that the stranger had taken off his overcoat and hat. He was holding a handkerchief to his mouth that hid the lower portion of his jaw and that made his voice muffled. But what was more startling was that his whole face, except his pink nose, was covered in bandages. His hair bent through the bandages and gave him the most grotesque appearance. It gave Mrs Hall the shock of her life.