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Part 2, Chapter 19
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 storm ruins any chance of the men somehow escaping to the East Coast of North America. They pass Newfoundland, and around this point, Arronax spots an electric cable on the ocean floor which had originally been designed to send telegrams yet was abandoned after it stopped working. The Nautilus passes Ireland, then England, but does not enter the English channel. On June 1, Arronax is standing on the platform and sees a large steamer in the distance. He hears Nemo announce, “It is here.” Confused, he wonders if Nemo is talking about the steamer. The Nautilus descends into the ocean, and as it heads down, Arronax sees a shipwreck in the distance.
The electric cables lying at the bottom of the ocean floor are an important metaphor for the failures of technology, and human civilization more broadly. While technology can convey phenomenal power, this power will arguably always be trumped by nature. This idea is visually manifested by the electrical cable that is slowly being reabsorbed into the earth.
Themes
Literary Devices
While Arronax gazes at the shipwreck, Nemo explains that the ship was called the Marseillais, and was launched in 1762. He gives a detailed history of the ship, whose name was changed to the Avenger in 1794. Nemo comments that this is “the best name in the world.”
This is an important turning point. Previously, Nemo did not speak at length about revenge—instead, his reaction to the horrors of the world was simply self-imposed exile. However, now this has clearly shifted, as evidenced by Nemo’s reverence for the name Avenger.
Themes
