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
That evening, the Nautilus passes the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, and Arronax gazes at its buildings. The next day, he is standing with Ned on the platform when Ned points out a “blurry mass” in the distance, which they soon realize is a “gigantic dugong.” Ned is dazzled, looking almost as if he wants to throw himself into the water with the animal. Nemo appears, and gives Ned permission to harpoon the dugong, but warns that he should be careful not to miss. Sailors appear with a harpoon; Ned, Conseil, and Arronax climb in a boat along with six oarsmen and a boatswain, but Nemo stays behind.
Again, Nemo appears invested in appeasing his captives and giving them opportunities to do what they want to do. Yet this might not necessarily come from an altruistic foundation. Perhaps Nemo is attempting to stifle any chance of rebellion among those aboard the ship by allowing them small windows of freedom.
Themes
The boat approaches the enormous animal, stopping at a distance of about six yards. Ned aims, but—though the harpoons strikes the dugong—the animal is only wounded, not killed. Ned continues his attack, but the dugong repeatedly evades him. After an hour of these attempts, the dugong turns around and attacks the boat. However, Ned is then finally able to strike the animal’s heart, and within moments it is dead. When they bring the dugong’s body to the submarine, they find that it weighs 10,000 pounds. Later, the Nautilus pass what appears to be a lighthouse; Nemo explains that it is “the floating light of Suez,” before politely requesting that Arronax leave the deck of the vessel in anticipation of their journey through the Arabian Tunnel.
This passage serves as one of the novel’s many reminders that life on the ocean is not all harmony and peace—it is also a terrifying and brutal place. Yet again, this brutality is portrayed in a distinctly different light than the injustices inflicted by humans onto one another. The novel indicates that there is something noble and even beautiful about being a harpooner, despite the inherent violence of the role.
Themes
Arronax accompanies Nemo into the pilot’s cage, where Nemo soon takes the helm. They approach the tunnel entrance, which to Arronax resembles “the mouth of hell.” The submarine is immediately caught in the torrent and zooms through the water. Within 20 minutes, they arrive in the Mediterranean.
This is one of the moments in which the novel combines mythic, fantastic imagery (“the mouth of hell”) with science fictional gestures, as the submarine racing through the tunnel resembles modern-day high-speed trains.
Themes
