Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

by

Jules Verne

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea makes teaching easy.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: Part 2, Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
The next morning they prepare to leave “Nemo Land.” Before long, the Nautilus has descended back into the water and is underneath the Great Ice Barrier again. At three a.m. Arronax wakes up suddenly, feeling the submarine be tossed violently around. Everyone else aboard the vessel is awake, too, and shouts in confusion, although Nemo is nowhere to be seen. They sit in the saloon, hoping he might appear. Just at the point when the tension builds to an unbearable degree, Nemo appears and says there’s been a “very serious” accident. He explains that there’s nothing they could have done to prevent—a gigantic iceberg turned over, and in doing so knocked the Nautilus onto an ice bed.
This terrifying turn of events is perfectly timed to be a warning sign against hubris. Just after Nemo declares himself the owner of the South Pole, nature asserts its supreme power over the vessel. This serves as an important lesson that no human truly owns land, and that it is likewise impossible to ever have true control over the natural landscape.
Themes
Freedom vs. Constraint Theme Icon
Human Intelligence and its Limits Theme Icon
Exploration, Imperialism, and Conquest Theme Icon
Nature vs. Civilization Theme Icon
Nemo is attempting to drive the Nautilus back up to the surface of the ocean, but as it goes up, the ice bed goes with it. Eventually, they manage to get moving, and as they go Arronax, Ned, and Conseil gaze out the vessel’s window at the beauty of the ice. However, suddenly this ice turns blinding—the submarine is going at its highest speed, causing the ice to flash like “diamonds.” Around five a.m., the vessel starts going backward. Arronax feigns confidence, but is worried that this plan won’t work. He picks up a book and reads absently. Fifteen minutes later Conseil comments on the book Arronax is reading, which Arronax immediately realizes was the one he wrote. Furthermore, he’s holding it upside down.
The moment when the beauty of the ice turns blinding is an important metaphor for the way in which nature is simultaneously beautiful and dangerous. This has proven particularly true on the journey of the Nautilus. Again and again, Nemo has shown the captives spectacular sights—yet many if not most of these occasions resulted in the characters being placed in mortal danger by the very natural landscape they had just been admiring.
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
Literary Devices
Everyone sits together for the ensuing hours, worried. Finally, there is another jolt to the boat, and Arronax grabs Conseil’s hand in terror. Nemo enters, and says that they are walled in by ice on every side.
The submarine getting trapped in ice is clearly a metaphor for how this vessel of freedom ends up being a zone of constraint.
Themes
Freedom vs. Constraint Theme Icon