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Chapter 36
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
The raft crashes into sharp rocks and Hans rescues Axel from the water, bringing him onto a shore. The rain is still falling, but the storm is reaching its end. The men sleep on the shore, and the next morning, the storm has cleared. Lidenbrock asks Axel how he slept, with a cheerfulness that frustrates the homesick Axel. Lidenbrock explains that he is happy to have crossed the sea.
Lidenbrock is an irritable man, and the obstacles the men have faced on their adventure have worsened his temper. When he believes they’ve made significant progress, however, he is cheerful. Axel, on the other hand, remains homesick even as he becomes a more confident adventurer.
Themes
Instead of joining the celebration, Axel asks how Lidenbrock plans to return to the surface. Lidenbrock responds that they will simply return the way they came. They check the rations and find that they have enough food to last four months. As they sit down for dinner, Lidenbrock measures their location, and discovers with horror that the storm brought them back to the shore they first embarked from.
Lidenbrock continues to treat the expedition as if it is a simple endeavor, remarking without irony that the men can return via the treacherous path they took downward. His discovery that the men have come back to the shore they left highlights that their journey is not simple. It isn’t always obvious which way is forward.
Themes
