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Part 2, Chapter 9
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
The next morning, Arronax wakes late and spends the day observing marine life. He spots a “high wall” in the distance, and guesses it’s a mountainous island. The next day, he wakes at eight a.m., and is surprised to find that the ship is covered in darkness. A voice—Nemo’s—announces that they are underground, inside an extinct volcano. Nemo explains that he uses the cave as a place of refuge, where he sources the elements needed to produce the electricity that makes the Nautilus run. He will now spend a day loading up the reserve stock of sodium they keep down there.
At this point toward the end of the novel, the reader is given more practical information about how Nemo’s operation actually works. The provision of plausible information is also an important part of the science fiction genre, although some might argue that the details provided here are not particularly realistic and thus may not satisfy the reader’s questions.
Themes
Arronax, Conseil, and Ned explore the volcanic island. Ned finds a hive of bees, and pauses to gather honey. In the distance, the crew aboard the Nautilus are busy at work. The three men catch sight of a number of different birds, including “several fine fat bustards.” Ned enthusiastically sets to work catching one of the birds; although he doesn’t have his gun, he manages to successfully wound one. Less than an hour later, they return to the submarine, and find that the sodium loading is complete.
There is a sense in which Arronax, Conseil, and Ned are forced into a rather childlike position through their captivity. While Nemo makes all the decisions and does (or supervises) most of the practical work aboard the vessel, the three captives entertain themselves through exploration and missions.
Themes
