Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Scientific Discovery and Technological Innovation
Freedom vs. Constraint
Human Intelligence and its Limits
Exploration, Imperialism, and Conquest
Nature vs. Civilization
Summary
Analysis
The ‘Florida,’ Sunderland shipwreck is one of many that the Nautilus encounters on its journey. On December 11 the vessel comes close to the Paumotou Islands. Arronax shares his theory that in the future, a fifth continent will connect New Zealand to the French territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean. Nemo replies, “The earth does not need new continents, it needs new men.” Arronax observes walls of polypi, reflecting on the different scientific theories about how these walls are formed.
Captain Nemo’s anti-humanism could be read as rather advanced, a prefiguring of strains of thought that are becoming increasingly common in reaction to the modern issue of climate change. Like certain ecological thinkers and activists today, Nemo seems to believe that the earth would be better off without humanity (or at least this destructive version of humanity).
Themes
On Christmas Day the Nautilus reaches the New Hebrides, which were “discovered” by Pedro Fernández de Queirós. Ned seems sad about there being no Christmas celebration on the ship. Arronax thinks it would be silly to mention this to Nemo, whom he hasn’t seen in a week. However, shortly after, Nemo comes into the saloon and announces that they have reached Vanikoro, a cluster of islands that are part of the Solomon Islands. Excited, Arronax runs up to the viewing platform. Arronax sees a group of “naked savages” on the island, who look shocked at the sight of the Nautilus.
The descriptions of indigenous people in the novel are, by and large, aligned with the highly offensive, inaccurate, and propagandistic ideas common at the time the novel was written. The word “savages” indicates the extent to which indigenous people were dehumanized by the accounts of colonizers.
Themes
Literary Devices
Nemo asks Arronax to tell the story of La Pérouse, and Arronax proceeds to do so. La Pérouse was an esteemed French commander who drove a ship into Vanikoro, an area notorious for shipwrecks. The ship disappeared and La Pérouse’s fate was unknown, although he was presumed to be dead. Different people tried to find the wreck, without success. They questioned the indigenous people of the island, who claimed to have no knowledge of what happened to the ship. On further questioning, the indigenous people eventually revealed that, after being washed up on the island, La Pérouse and his men built a second boat in an attempt to sail off the island but disappeared again. Yet the details remained mysterious.
This is yet another example of the many mysteries that define life at sea. Because the ocean is so vast, unexplored, and full of mystery, it is a site onto which people project endless projections, speculations, fears, and fantasies. There is something both fascinating and terrifying about the ways in which the water swallows up stories and knowledge, a reminder of human frailty in comparison to the power of the ocean.
Themes
Arronax says that he himself believes that no one knows what really happened to La Pérouse. Nemo then proceeds to tell the full version of the story, which involves some of the shipwrecked sailors “going native,” while others attempted to sail off and drowned. Nemo comments that drowning is a “fine fit end for a sailor,” reflecting, “A coral tomb makes a quiet grave.”
“Going native” referred to a process wherein colonizers assimilate into the local indigenous culture, often spurning the norms and customs of their own society as a result. The concept usually has strong racist undertones, as it implies that Western colonizers are civilized until integrating into an indigenous culture, wherein they become savages.
Themes
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