Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

by

Jules Verne

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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: Part 1, Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Nemo announces that it is 11:45 a.m., and they will now travel up to the surface of the ocean. Once up there, Arronax climbs onto a platform and looks out over the horizon, before going back down into the saloon. Nemo invites Arronax to immerse himself in his scholarly work, saying he will leave him at peace. Finally alone, Arronax reflects on the extraordinary situation in which he has found himself. Just like on land, the sea has “rivers”; the river along which the Nautilus travels crosses the Pacific Ocean and is called the Black River.
Nemo obviously respects Arronax, and it appears that this respect is based on the two men’s shared love and appreciation of the ocean. Nemo is enthusiastic about supporting Arronax’s work seemingly because it is devoted to the part of existence that Nemo cares about the most: undersea life.
Themes
Scientific Discovery and Technological Innovation Theme Icon
Freedom vs. Constraint Theme Icon
Human Intelligence and its Limits Theme Icon
Nature vs. Civilization Theme Icon
Arronax meets with Conseil and Ned inside the ship’s museum. Ned is confused, and Arronax slowly provides information about the vessel, suggesting that they be “patient” and remain optimistic. Suddenly, everything goes dark. Then beams of light appear, illuminating the sea outside. The men gaze out of the vessel’s windows at the “unexplored abyss” around them. They are all entranced by the strange creatures swimming around; working together, they give them names and categories. At five p.m., Ned and Conseil go to their cabin, and Arronax goes to his. He eats a luxurious dinner, and spends the evening “happily, reading, writing, and dreaming.” 
As a naturalist, Arronax’s job involves naming and categorizing phenomena from the natural world. In the 19th century this was considered a highly important task—the sorting of nature into distinct (man-made) categories was one of the main pursuits of scientific research. In subsequent eras, there has been more criticism of the Western scientific tendency to impose categories onto phenomena which they might not actually fit.
Themes
Scientific Discovery and Technological Innovation Theme Icon
Freedom vs. Constraint Theme Icon
Human Intelligence and its Limits Theme Icon
Exploration, Imperialism, and Conquest Theme Icon
Nature vs. Civilization Theme Icon
Literary Devices