Like a little butterfly emerging from a cocoon, Bobby wakes up one day and looks in the mirror to find that he's… er… invisible. In Things Not Seen, people are changed overnight without their consent. Bobby and Sheila both go to bed one night and wake up to find that no one can see them. And Alicia goes to bed one night and wakes up blind; there's nothing she could have done to prepare herself for it. The interesting part is seeing how people react after their transformations, and how they manage to carry on their lives. Because carry on, they all do.
Questions About Transformation
- Why doesn't Sheila tell her parents that she became invisible?
- Why does Alicia get so angry whenever anyone brings up her blindness?
- Do you think that Bobby can get used to his new invisible state?
- Which do you think was harder—turning invisible, or turning back to a visible person? Why?
Chew on This
Bobby's first transformation is becoming invisible, but his real transformation is the fact that he becomes increasingly sure of himself and his own decisions as the novel progresses.
Over the course of the novel, Alicia transforms from someone who is bitter and filled with anger at the world, to someone who learns how to be a really solid, caring friend to one of her peers.