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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) (edit title/settings)

by Jules Verne (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

When a huge, and glowing sea monster attacks and wrecks several ships, French professor Professor Arronax joins an US mission to hunt for the mysterious beast. The professor soon finds himself aboard the submarine beast Nautilus and a "guest" of Captain Nemo who is intent on exploring the... read more

Summary edit see section history

As the story begins in 1866, a mysterious sea monster, theorized by some to be a giant narwhal, is sighted by ships of several nations; an ocean liner is also damaged by the creature. The United States government finally assembles an expedition in New York City to track down and destroy the... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

As the story begins in 1866, a mysterious sea monster, theorized by some to be a giant narwhal, is sighted by ships of several nations; an ocean liner is also damaged by the creature. The United States government finally assembles an expedition in New York City to track down and destroy the menace. Professor Pierre Aronnax, a noted French marine biologist and narrator of the story, who happens to be in New York at the time and is a recognized expert in his field, is issued a last-minute invitation to join the expedition, and he accepts. Canadian master harpoonist Ned Land and Aronnax's faithful assistant Conseil are also brought on board.


Title page (1871)
The expedition sets sail from Brooklyn aboard a naval ship called the Abraham Lincoln, which travels down around the tip of South America and into the Pacific Ocean. After much fruitless searching, the monster is found, and the ship charges into battle. During the fight, the ship's steering is damaged, and the three protagonists are thrown overboard. They find themselves stranded on the "hide" of the creature, only to discover to their surprise that it is a large metal construct. They are quickly captured and brought inside the vessel, where they meet its enigmatic creator and commander, Captain Nemo.
The rest of the story follows the adventures of the protagonists aboard the submarine, the Nautilus, which was built in secrecy and now roams the seas free of any land-based government. (As further discussed below, the story was written decades before submarines of such size and utility became a reality.) Captain Nemo's motivation is implied to be both a scientific thirst for knowledge and a desire for revenge on (and self-imposed exile from) civilization. Captain Nemo explains that the submarine is electrically powered, and equipped to carry out cutting-edge marine biology research; he also tells his new passengers that while he appreciates having an expert such as Aronnax with whom to converse, they can never leave because he is afraid they will betray his existence to the world. Aronnax is enthralled by the undersea vistas he is seeing, but Land constantly plots to escape.
Their travels take them to numerous points in the world's oceans, some of which were known to Jules Verne from real travelers' descriptions and guesses, while others are completely fictional. Thus, the travelers witness the real corals of the Red Sea, the wrecks of the battle of Vigo Bay, the Antarctic ice shelves, and the fictional submerged Atlantis. The travelers also don diving suits to go on undersea expeditions away from the ship, where they hunt sharks and other marine life with specially designed guns and have a funeral for a crew member who died when an accident occurred inside the Nautilus. When the Nautilus returns to the Atlantic Ocean, a "poulpe" (usually translated as a giant squid, although the French "poulpe" means "octopus") attacks the vessel and devours a crew member.
Throughout the story it is suggested that Captain Nemo exiled himself from the world after an encounter with his oppressive country somehow affected his family. Near the end of the book, the Nautilus is tracked and attacked by a mysterious ship from that nation. Nemo ignores Aronnax's pleas for amnesty for the boat and attacks. Nemo attacks the ship under the waterline, sending it to the bottom of the ocean with all crew aboard as Aronnax watches from the salon. Nemo bows before the pictures of his wife and children and is plunged into deep depression after this encounter, and "voluntarily or involuntarily" allows the submarine to wander into an encounter with the Moskenstraumen, more commonly known as the "Maelstrom", a whirlpool off the coast of Norway. This gives the three prisoners an opportunity to escape; they make it back to land alive, but the fate of Captain Nemo and his crew is not revealed.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Dumont: Add a description of this character.
  • Maury
  • Vigo
  • Pierre Aronnax: A noted French marine biologist and narrator of the story. He is brave and clever.
  • Captain Nemo: He is a scientific genius who roams the depths of the sea in his submarine, the Nautilus, which he helped build on a deserted island. He appears feelingless, but is actually very human.
  • Conseil: Aronnax's faithful assistant will do anything for him.
  • Ned Land: Canadian master harpoonist. He has a quick temper and is restless.
  • Milne
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “It was no longer illuminated water, but liquid light.”
    narrator

First Sentence edit see section history

The year 1866 was signalized by a remarkable incident,a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon,which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Part I

1. A Runaway Reef
2. The Pros and Cons
3. As Master Wishes
4. Ned Land
5. At Random!
6. At Full Steam
7. A Whale of Unknown Species
8. "Mobilis in Mobili"
9. The Tantrums of Ned Land
10. The Man of the Waters
11. The Nautilus
12. Everything through Electricity
13. Some Figures
14. The Black Current
15. An Invitation in Writing
16. Strolling the Plains
17. An Underwater Forest
18. Four Thousand Leagues Under the Pacific
19. Vanikoro
20. The Torres Strait
21. Some Days Ashore
22. Captain Nemo'sLightning Bolt
23. "Aegri Somnia"
24. The Coral world

Part II

1. The Indian Ocean
2. A New Proposition from Captain Nemo
3. A Pearl Worth Ten Million
4. The Red Sea
5. Arabian Tunnel
6. The Greek Islands
7. The Mediterranean in Forty-Eight Hours
8. The Bay of Vigo
9. A Lost Continent
10. The Underwater Coalfields
11. The Sargasso Sea
12. Sperm Whales and Baleen Whales
13. The Ice Bank
14. The South Pole
15. Accident or Incident?
16. Shortage of Air
17. From Cape Horn to the Amazon
18. The Devilfish
19. The Gulf Stream
20. In Latitude 47° 24' and Longitude 17° 28'
21. A Mass Execution
22. The Last Words of Captain Nemo
23. Conclusion

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Heritage Press. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Readers Digest Press. (edition-based publisher list)
This is book 37 of 100 in National Public Radio's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy. (authoritative list)

Preceded by The Time Machine, and followed by Flowers for Algernon.

This is book 746 of 986 in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Little Women, and followed by What Katy Did.

This book is in Books That Changed Man's Thinking (Heron). (edition-based publisher list)
This is book 6 of 53 in Voyages Extraordinaires. (universe)

Preceded by In Search of the Castaways, and followed by Round The Moon.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Jules Verne (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: French
Publisher: Pierre-Jules Hetzel
Country: France
Publication Date: 1870
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 463

Classification edit see section history

  • Copyright Status: Public Domain
  • Library of Congress: PQ2469.V4 E5
  • Dewey: 843.8

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

very promising and innovative.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Mysterious Island
  • A Journey to the Center of the Earth
  • In the Year 2889
  • The Blockade Runners

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history

   
  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910

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