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
None of the three captives know what happens next. When Arronax wakes up, he is on land, lying in the hut of a fisherman on the Lofoden Isles. He is lying next Ned and Conseil, and they all hug each other tightly. It takes a while for them to be able to travel back to France, but they eventually do so. Arronax assures the reader that everything he has recounted really happened, although he’s not sure if people will believe him. In 10 months, he travelled underwater for 20,000 leagues. He doesn’t know what ultimately happened to the Nautilus, Nemo, or his manuscript. He hopes that if Nemo is still alive, “the hatred in his savage heart” has subsided. Nonetheless, he will admit that he and Nemo are the only two people on Earth who truly understand the deep sea.
Arronax’s decision to call Nemo “savage” ends up confirming the alignment Nemo claimed to have with colonized peoples of the world. Indeed, this could be seen as evidence in support of the interpretation that Nemo is from India or another nation subject to colonial rule. In any case, by reducing Nemo’s anger and trauma to “savagery,” Arronax treats the power dynamics between the oppressed and oppressor in a dismissive manner. Ultimately, Arronax is left with a level of respect for Nemo and a sense of camaraderie with the captain, suggesting that for Arronax, their mutual appreciation of scientific exploration and knowledge at least somewhat negates Nemo’s tyrannical imprisonment of Arronax and his companions.
Themes
Literary Devices
