Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Journey to the Center of the Earth, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Discovery
Maturity and Independence
Intuition vs. Evidence
Nature vs. Civilization
Adventure
Summary
Analysis
Lidenbrock sets to work trying to translate the runes. Axel transcribes while the professor dictates the German equivalent of each Icelandic character. The result is incoherent, and Lidenbrock proclaims the message must be encrypted. Axel believes this is nonsense, but he says nothing. Lidenbrock looks closer and, noticing a discrepancy in the handwriting, deduces that the loose parchment was written on by someone who owned the book at least 200 years after its publication. He finds some “half obliterated” runes on the first page that reveal the name of Arne Saknussemm, a 16th-century Icelandic alchemist.
Axel continues to demonstrate his lack of independence, as he assists Lidenbrock despite believing the professor is incorrect about the encryption. Meanwhile, Lidenbrock begins to demonstrate his proficiency in observing and interpreting data. He notices a discrepancy in the message’s handwriting, and he analyzes this evidence to assess the history of the book.
Themes
Lidenbrock resolves to decode the runes on the parchment. He figures out that the message must be written in coded Latin, and as he undertakes the mathematics of cracking the code, Axel gets distracted looking at a portrait of Gräuben, his uncle’s ward. Axel and Gräuben are in love and secretly betrothed, and he imagines the idyllic life he might lead with her. Gräuben is also a mineralogist, and the young couple enjoy discussing science together.
Lidenbrock is entirely dedicated to his academic pursuits. Axel, on the other hand, is easily distracted from those pursuits by romance. This indicates another way in which Axel is a more ordinary man than the brilliant Lidenbrock. However, the fact that both Gräuben and Axel are scientists like their guardian also emphasizes the constant presence of science in Axel’s life.
Themes
Lidenbrock calls Axel’s attention back to the cipher. Instead of transcribing his uncle’s words, however, Axel absentmindedly writes, “Je t’aime bien, ma petite Gräuben,” thus revealing his love for Gräuben to his uncle. Lidenbrock acknowledges this and then dismisses it, returning to the cipher. He reads out a series of letters, and Axel expects his uncle to translate them to Latin. Instead, Lidenbrock declares that the decryption makes no sense, and he runs out of the house.
Lidenbrock’s careless dismissal of Axel’s romance with Gräuben shows how his obsession with science occasionally comes at the cost of his interpersonal relationships. Lidenbrock is so focused on the cipher that he cannot care about anything else until he solves it. His frustration at being unable to solve the cipher also speaks to a desire to determine concrete answers to academic inquiries. The book later questions the validity and feasibility of fulfilling that desire.
Themes
