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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Journey to the Center of the Earth, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Discovery
Maturity and Independence
Intuition vs. Evidence
Nature vs. Civilization
Adventure
Summary
Analysis
In the morning, a ray of sunlight comes through the shaft and allows the men to view their surroundings. Lidenbrock exclaims that their night in the crater was quieter than any night in Hamburg, but Axel notes that “the very calm has something terrifying about it.” Lidenbrock scoffs that Axel shouldn’t be afraid, since the journey down the shaft only brought them to sea level. They check the barometer, and Axel worries that the increasing pressure as they descend will be painful. Lidenbrock assures him that their lungs will adjust to the dense air.
The absolute silence of the underground tunnel indicates its removal from civilization––and, more broadly, from life itself. The men have left behind all living things, and that absence carries “something terrifying” in its alienness. Lidenbrock, though, sees no rational reason to be afraid, so he chides Axel for his feelings, highlighting how he prioritizes logic over everything else (logically, there’s nothing to fear because there’s nothing underground).
Themes
The men eat breakfast, and Lidenbrock measures and records a series of observations about their location. When he finishes, Lidenbrock and Hans turn on their two electric lanterns. Axel looks up at the sky through the opening above, and his narration notes that he will never see the Icelandic sky again. The men begin walking, and Axel is amazed to see the lava in the passage has crystalized. As they walk on the temperature does not increase, leading Axel to grant some credence to his uncle’s theories about the earth’s core.
One of the pioneers in developing electric lamps was English chemist Humphrey Davy, whose theories regarding the center of the earth Lidenbrock references often. Over the next several decades, scientists continued to experiment with electricity, developing the induction coils that power the men’s lanterns in the story. Axel does not believe Lidenbrock’s theories about the center of the earth, but he acknowledges and respects the presence of evidence that supports that theory, suggesting that he will change his beliefs if confronted with enough proof.
Themes
After seven hours of walking, they stop in an underground cave. Axel points out that they have found no underground springs, wondering how they will replenish their water supply, but Lidenbrock assures him that they will encounter springs when the rocks are not composed of lava. When Axel expresses doubt about their path, Lidenbrock talks him through a series of calculations. He concludes that since they have reached 6,000 feet below the earth’s surface, the greatest depth anyone has ever travelled, the temperature should be 81 degrees Celsius. Instead, the temperature is only 15 degrees. Axel relents that this is “well worth thinking over.”
Axel continues to worry about the practicality of the journey, while Lidenbrock remains confident that the expedition will be easy enough. As usual, Lidenbrock supports his claims with evidence. He argues that since the mathematics extrapolated from the common theory of the center of the earth does not match the men’s current lived experience, that theory must be incorrect. This is not enough evidence to persuade Axel entirely, but he admits that this data is worthwhile.
Themes
