Despite the fact that Aronnax assures readers repeatedly that every word of what he has written in this account of his time aboard the Nautilus is true, there are still reasons to consider him an unreliable narrator. First, Aronnax seems unable to see or understand Captain Nemo’s emotional instability the way that Ned can. Moments when Aronnax claims that he, Ned, and Conseil all easily adapted to life on the ship (such as when he directly writes, “we thought no longer of the life we led on land”) are undermined by the fact that Ned is consistently scheming about how they can escape.
Aronnax also directly perpetuates imperialist ideologies, referring to indigenous people as “cannibals” and “savages.” These moments render his descriptions of such people suspect, as he is clearly perpetuating racist and misinformed beliefs about native peoples.
Finally, Aronnax concludes the novel with an outlandish statement that only he and Captain Nemo understand the true workings of the sea:
And to the question asked by Ecclesiastes 3,000 years ago, “That which is far off and exceeding deep, who can find it out?” two men alone of all now living have the right to give an answer—Captain Nemo and myself.
This assertion erases the experience of Ned, Conseil, and all of the sailors whom Nemo employs who were with them through every challenge and adventure. This passage also indicates that Aronnax has not yet understood that the true workings of the sea are beyond his human grasp.
