Commentary on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea Essay

The novel, Twenty thousand leagues under the sea, describes the battles in the sea that many people experienced while operating vessels in the sea. These people had always reported cases of either meeting a naval wreck submerged, a giant whale ramming them, or going into an island floating in the sea. Many people had therefore met face to face with death from this unknown creature. Different people had viewed this creature, in different forms, and there was a need for its identification to reduce the number of people dying in it.

There are four main characters in this novel namely Captain Nemo, Aronnax the assistant professor, Ned Land, and Conseil. The professor tried to explain what the mysterious creature was, and arrived to a conclusion that it was a narwhal. At one point, the US government sent Abraham Lincoln, to kill the creature that had threatened many people in the sea. The professor, Ned land, and Conseil accompanied Lincoln. They were set into the sea and the hunting began. The search took a very long time and they at last ran into it at the Japan coast. They came to realize that it was a submarine called the Nautilus and in it, and it was Captain Nemo who was known to have designed it some years before.

They had mixed reactions about their findings, and were not sure of what would happen to them. This was because the captain was not willing to release them. The Captain introduced them to many things under water. They were taken to different parts under water and Ned felt imprisoned as compared to Aronnax who seemed to enjoy the adventure and found the Captain as a friendly person although a misanthrope who had sworn not to go back to the land where people lived. They headed to the South Pole where it ran into an iceberg and afterwards attacked by squid, which almost made it sink. The captain however overcame and was able to attack many other ships to either revenge those who had done him wrong or just satisfy his greed. They went back to the North Pole and they planned on how to escape from the submarine.

The main setting of this novel is in the Nautilus. Captain Nemo was known to be the designer of this submarine. It has a length ranging from two to three hundred feet. Its speed is slightly above that of a surface ship and dives deeply into the sea. There are a number of crewmembers, who work outside with the help of oxygen devices to collect items like gold and food found in the sea.

Focusing on the characters, Captain Nemo is an engineer, a biologist especially on marine life, and an inventor. From his past life experience, he has resorted to live underwater in order to gain his freedom from the oppressors. He has unique character traits. He is an enigma whose character traits are contradicting. At one point, he is seen to be a good person and vice versa at some other point. From his meeting with the three main characters, he according to the professor is friendly. This is also evident when he took them all round the under waters showing them the different things found there. He toured them to the underwater cemetery, he also showed them how they collect gold and other items in the sea, and even the way he referred to them as guests portrays this character trait.

Captain Nemo is also loyal, in case any of his crew dies, while attacking their enemies; he always joined the rest of his crewmembers in mourning. This is evident when some crewmembers perished in the squid attacks and in the baffling encounter, they had with a ship in the midnight. Although he hates the society around him in the land, he does not hate those people who are undergoing oppression; he identifies himself with them and uses the gold he gets to assist them. In addition, he is remorseful and fearful, before he left the submarine, professor Aronnax heard him say Almighty God, enough! Enough! As stated earlier that his character traits are in contrast with one another, he has no mercy on his enemies, he plans, and revenges to his enemies mercilessly. He is seen to feel a quiet range when he is attacking his enemies. Although he likes and enjoys every moment he is with his visitors and impressing them with his inventions underwater, he does not reveal his secrets to them.

Moreover, the presence of his guests does not prevent him from taking a revenge on those ships belonging to the colonialists. He is always determined to accomplish his plans regardless of any obstacle he may encounter. He is resolute and at one point, he mentions that, his being under water, is purely for protection, and even defends himself that he is not governed by any laws that apply on the surface world. He says "On the surface, they can still exercise their iniquitous laws, fight, devour each other, and indulge in all their earthly horrors. However, thirty feet below the (sea's) surface, their power ceases, their influence fades, and their dominion vanishes. Ah, monsieur, to live in the bosom of the sea! .... There I recognize no master! There I am free!"

Captain Nemo is courageous. He manages to free his submarine from the iceberg and he fought the squids when they attacked him in Bahamas. He has a stamina, which is superhuman; he is able to carry out any activity including continuously working for eight hours with no break. His stamina helped him free his submarine from the ice although he was using little oxygen.

From this novel, it is learnt that self-freedom is the most important element in a persons life, Nemo is happy with his underwater life because he is free from oppression. On the other hand, Ned first learns of their denied freedom in the submarine and always tried to escape. Finally, it also came to Aronnax and Conseils minds that they needed freedom to be at peace and they escaped to gain this.