Oceanic Mysteries

Oceanic Mysteries
By Braedon Longfritz

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
By Jules Verne

There’s something in the oceans. No one knows what it is, but everyone knows it exists. Across the Earth, there have been sightings of some creature, some machine, some animal that no one has seen before. Now people are starting to make hunting expeditions, ships designed to move quickly and professionals trained to hunt beasts. A French intellectual, Monsieur Arronax, has proposed theories about what this thing roaming the globe could be and was invited to travel with a ship hunting it. On board this ship they spend weeks looking for the monster, and just as they decide to head home, find it. In an accident, Monsieur Arronax and two others are thrown overboard and are left behind by their ship in the confusion, until they are lifted up by the monster itself - to find it is a giant metal submarine. They are taken as prisoners by Captain Nemo, the captain of the ship, the Nautilus. Now they’ve figured out what the monster is, but in order to get home, they have to get out of the submarine that seems like it shouldn’t be able to exist, and past the mysterious man controlling it all.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea takes readers through a world away from humanity, where the main characters are making discoveries every moment during their journeys. I have read a little over half of the book so far, and overall I am enjoying it. Some chapters are excellent, the plot is engaging and I want to keep reading, but other chapters are more dull. These dull chapters are less plot-heavy and more about the marvels of the ocean or of the Nautilus, which could be enjoyable except they tend to just list a lot of items, such as this section: “The various schools of the earlier masters were represented by a Madonna of Raphael, a Virgin of Leonardo da Vinci, a nymph by Correggio, a woman by Titian, an Adoration of the Magi by Veronese, an Assumption by Murillo, a portrait by Holbein…” (92) and it continues. These lists frequently take up almost half a page, and I eventually learned to just skim over and not pay attention to them.

The characters all definitely have different personalities, and they are all developing as the novel progresses, but I don’t relate to any of them. Each of the four main characters have their mannerisms and interests, but I don’t feel like I personally connect to any of them. This connection isn’t necessary to enjoy the book, but it certainly would help. Finding out more about Captain Nemo is interesting, and Jules Verne does a good job building suspense around him, as I feel like something big is going to be revealed about him soon and want to know what it is: “Captain Nemo clenched his fists and several tears appeared in his eyes - eyes which I would have thought incapable of crying” (205). We also learn more about Monsieur Arronax as the plot progresses, but more from how he develops then from secrets being revealed. He needs to figure out what he wants and what his goals are, and the readers are exposed to his voice and thought process as he figures this out for himself: “ ‘Isn’t it about time to part company with Captain Nemo?’ ‘No, Ned’ “(219). He also loves science, which means we as the readers are exposed to it. He frequently breaks out into talk involving math and his calculations, or wonders about the physics of the Nautilus, or classifies the hundreds of fish he passes by. Anyone reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea should know this beforehand, either to brace themselves if they aren’t as interested in science or look forward to it if they are. This novel was actually a major inspiration for scientists around the world because even though it had a few impossibilities, many scientific concepts or ideas were way ahead of Verne’s time. For example, the Nautilus is powered by electricity, which at the time 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was written was completely unheard of.

I am interested in finishing the book, especially with the mysteries around Captain Nemo. The good parts in the book outweigh the dull, listing parts, and some people, like art critics, may even find those lists of items entertaining. Overall I would recommend 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to anyone who enjoys science fiction, science in general, adventure, and the sea.