Footprints without Feet Summary Class 10 English

Footprints without feet Summary: This story is from the novel ‘The Invisible Man’ by H G Wells. The story begins with footprints of an invisible man in the streets of London. Two boys saw them and were following in fascination. The footprints were of a brilliant but lawless scientist named Griffin. His landlord did not like him much and wanted to eject him. Griffin discovered a rare drug, the swallowing of which makes him invisible. After that he set fire to the landlord’s house and becomes a homeless wanderer. Then he faces the cold weather of London and feels the need of clothes and food. He slips inside a big London store for the want of warmth and food. As soon as the store was closed, he enjoyed a good meal and wore new clothes. Then he fell asleep and woke up late in the morning. The store attendants gave him a chase but he again became invisible by removing his clothes. Then he entered a theatrical company where he dressed up again and looted some money from its shopkeeper. Then he left London in order to keep himself away from the crowded city. He caught a train to Iping village and hired a room at the inn to live and carryon his experiments.

The money of the loot did not last long and he again had to rob a clergyman of his money. However, he made a clean escape from the clergyman’s house. At the same time the Innkeeper and his wife visited his room and they found nobody inside. But the chair and other things in the room became alive. First of all, the hat lying on the bedpost leapt up and dashed itself on the face of the landlady. Then the chair became animate and it threw the innkeeper and his wife out of the room. They heard the room locked from inside behind them. Mr and Mrs Hall, the owners, thought that it was a matter of witchcraft. But very popular became the news of robbery at the clergyman’s house. Everybody suspected the scientist. The suspicion grew even stronger when he produced some ready cash whereas he had accepted some time before that he had no money.

The village constable was sent for secretly. Mrs Hall, instead of waiting for the constable, went to the scientist who came out of the locked empty bedroom. The eccentric scientist lost his temper when he faced questions from Mrs Hall. He threw off the bandages and spectacles and false nose. This made his head invisible. All were frightened. When the constable, Mr Jaffers, reached there he saw that he had to arrest a man without a head. But he gave importance to his duty and tried to get hold of the headless person. But Griffin outsmarted him by throwing away his clothes again. He became invisible and knocked down the constable unconscious. The people who tried to help the constable had to face blows from nowhere. Griffin was able to escape.

Long Summary: Footprints without Feet

Two Boys See Footprints of an Invisible Man

Two boys on a street in London were surprised to see fresh muddy footprints of bare feet on the steps of a house without finding who was making them. Further on, the footprints disappeared. These footprints had been made by Griffin, an eccentric scientist who had discovered how to make his body transparent. He could only be seen with the clothes he was wearing.

Griffin: A Lawless Person

Griffin was a lawless person and did not hesitate in committing offences. He set fire to his landlord’s house to take revenge against him for trying to evict (throw out) him. To get away, he had to remove his clothes so that he became invisible. He was a homeless wanderer in London without clothes or money during winter.

Escape of Griffin

Griffin managed to escape from the two teen boys’ observation and entered unseen into a big store to get warm. After the store was closed at night, Griffin put on some new clothes, consumed meat and coffee from the restaurant in the store and went to sleep on a pile of quilts. He overslept and only woke up when the shop had opened and the assistants had arrived. On being seen and chased by them, he again took off his clothes so that they could not see him.

Griffin at a Theatrical Company

Griffin entered a theatrical company which gave items used in plays. There he wore bandages to outline his face, dark glasses, a false nose and bushy side whiskers. He robbed the shopkeeper of his money and escaped to a village away from London to avoid being caught.

Griffin takes train to Iping Village

Griffin looked two rooms at an inn belonging to Mrs. Hall in the village Iping. He explained to her that he had an accident and did not want to disturbed, as Mrs. Hall tried to be social with him. Soon his money was finished and so he robbed a clergyman’s house by using his invisibility.

Mrs Hall Enters Griffins Room

The same day when Mrs. Hall found Griffin’s room open, with his bandages and clothes lying around, she and her husband entered the room. Suddenly both of them were attacked by the furniture being flying at them, but they could not see who was doing this. Mrs. Hall felt that the furniture was haunted by spirits, as she could not see Griffin.

Griffin manages to escape from people at Iping

Suspicion was growing about Griffin. When the clergyman reported the burglary to the police, most people in the village felt that the strange scientist had a hand in it, because he paid his unpaid rent, whereas earlier he was not able to do so. So Mr. Jaffers, the village police constable, was called to arrest. Griffin on suspicion. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hall asked Griffin to explain all the unusual happenings. Griffin lost his temper and decided to tell everything. He started removing his clothes and even Jaffers was a duty-bound constable but how he could catch someone whom he could not see. He tried in vain was knocked down unconscious. Griffin threw the last clothing item i.e. his shirt and becoming totally invisible was able to escape from Iping.