The invisible man (t.i.m.) wakes with a "bright third eye" (231) of a man starring at him. Orderlies and hospital attendants talk above him; t.i.m.’s condition is not serious according to these attendants and he will be out in a couple of days. T.i.m. then finds himself on a cot with the bright eye still starring at him. As a voice asks his name, t.i.m. only responds with complaints about the burning eye and his head; t.i.m. is then taken to receive more x-rays. A machine, presumably the X-ray machine, begins to hum and t.i.m. hears the three short followed by one long rhythm of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The volume of the rhythm fluctuates, and t.i.m. tries to get up. However, he is held down by nurses and told to be quiet.

He is shocked back to life and hooked to an electrical machine. He becomes unconscious and remembers childhood rhymes. As he wakes up, he listens as a doctor with glasses as thick as coke bottles explains the machine t.i.m. is hooked up to. Furthermore, he overhears a discussion between the doctor and a surgeon about the pros and cons of electric shock therapy. They then flow more current through his brain causing t.i.m. to vibrate and bleed from the mouth; warm blood fills his mouth as it did at the Battle Royal. Although he feels "murderously angry" (237), he feels his body will not allow him to be angry, as if he has been disconnected from that emotion. He then "roll(s) with the agitated tide" (238) and floats into subconscious. T.i.m. sees himself as a specimen being examined and used by the doctors.

As t.i.m. wakes up, a man in black asks him personal information; however, he cannot answer most of the questions and begins to question who he is. T.i.m. begins to plot against the machine and thinks of ways to short circuit it. He does not act on any of these since distruction of the machine would also mean his own distruction. Shortly after, t.i.m. is disconnected to the machine and sent to the head doctor. The head doctor discharges t.i.m.

The chapter takes place after the accident in the factory. Although it is set in the factory hospital, the substance of the chapter takes place inside t.i.m.’s head.

* various nurses dressed in white

* the coke-bottle glasses doctor who believes electroshock therapy will help t.i.m.

* the voice of a surgeon who disagrees with the doctor

* man dressed in black

* head doctor

As t.i.m. rides a train, a platinum blonde is also there eating an apple, references to the temptation and expulsion from paradise.

* whiteness: The sterility of white is mentioned from the beginning of the passage- t.i.m. is on a "cold, white... chair" (231) and wearing "strange white" (231) overalls. Furthermore, the ceiling above t.i.m.’s cubicle is a vastness of white and the nurses attending him are dressed in white. As t.i.m is being questioned about who he is and his origins, he compares his memory to a "white mist" (241) where his name is out of his reach; moreover, one of the men questioning t.i.m. produces a "child’s slate and piece of chalk" (241) to write questions - white words on a black backdrop. Finally, the head doctor who releases him is wearing "a white coat" (245).

* machines: After t.i.m. regains consciousness, an x-ray is administered. At the same time, a machine begins to buzz the theme to Beethoven’s Fifth. Furthermore, t.i.m. is hooked to an electrical machine that pumps pain into his body. Later, t.i.m. wakes up and converses with the coke-bottle glasses doctor; his "little gadget" (235) provides t.i.m with electroshock through the brain instead of going through a lobotomy. The power of this machine is demonstrated when the doctor and the surgeon whom he is talking to run more current through t.i.m.’s brain. Later, t.i.m. plots ways to short circuit the machine (243) but realizes if he destroys the machine, he will also destroy himself.

* white women: Although he does not distinctly remember each one, all the nurses who aid t.i.m. are white. Also, at the end, t.i.m. shares a train compartment with a platinum blonde.

* lights: When t.i.m. first notices the machine he is attached to, he also notices a "circle of lights" (233) which doctors walk through. However, the lights dim, "like a tail-light racing down a dark country road" (233). While being questioned, t.i.m. claims the questions "set off a series of weak and distant lights" (240).

* childhood rhymes: While t.i.m. is unconscious, he remembers songs his grandmother sang to him as a boy and rhymes "black boys hidden snug in bushes called out" (235). As well as the who are you questions, t.i.m. is also asked "Who was Buckeye the Rabbit?" (241) and "Who was Brer Rabbit?" (242), references to childhood rhymes.

* dancing: The surgeon and coke-bottle glasses doctor think t.i.m. is "dancing" (237) when his body vibrates because of the electrical shock.

* blood: Blood is not mentioned until the conversation held between the coke-bottle glasses doctor and the surgeon. While they are arguing about the pros and cons of electroshock therapy, the coke bottle glasses doctor says it is a surgeon’s "love of blood" (237) which makes him inclined to believe "the bloody business of a brain operation" as preferable to electric shock. Furthermore, when the amount of current is increased, t.i.m.’s mouth fills with blood.

* rebirth/death: The purpose of the machine is to change the personality of t.i.m. (236); the electric shock is used instead of a lobotomy. The machine becomes a sergeant mother to t.i.m. When asked about his mother, the idea of a mother brings him back to the screaming machine (240). Furthermore, as the nurses and doctors pull t.i.m. from the glass box, this can also be interpreted as a birth. Moreover, the physicians "pull the cord which was attached to the stomach node" (243), or the umbilical cord to the machine mother. Not only is there a rebirth of personality, but the machine also gives birth to a new way of thinking. T.i.m. begins to feel isolation and invisibility.

* power: The experiment of the machine can be seen as a power trip of the coke-bottle glasses doctor. Furthermore, when he increases the current flow, he uses his power over t.i.m. The machine induces pain on t.i.m. and changes his way of thinking. The real power the machine has over t.i.m., however, is demonstrated later when t.i.m. realizes he cannot destroy the machine without destroying himself. Moreover, the nurses show the power they have in the hospital when they ask if t.i.m. should be drugged when he is strong.

* invisiblity: Although t.i.m. is lying in bed, the doctors and nurses talk over him as if he is not there.

by Jennifer Kalletta