ro1176

Hero

The hero is Professor Pierre Annorax, a naturalist.

Plot Summary

The story is about a giant sea monster that attacks and sinks ships at sea that has captured the public's imagination. Pierre Annorax, the main character, joins an expedition in order to hunt and kill the monster. But something goes wrong, as the beast is not a beast at all, but a submarine. The ship sinks and Pierre Annorax, his counsellor and Ned Land (a whale hunter) are taken captives aboard the submarine Nautilus. There they meet captain Nemo a mysterious man who will lead them to many adventures below the waters of the deepest oceans.

Departure

The call to adventure comes for Pierre Aronnax when he receives a letter from the secretary to the United States Navy that they would like him to join in the expedition aboard the Abraham Lincoln, set to sail the Pacific Ocean. The goal of the expedition being the hunt and seize of a great sea-monster who has been sinking ships and terrorizing people everywhere.

Even though he has certain doubts and thinks about the fatigue a great trip like that would give him Pierre Aronnax accepts the invitation and informs as of his sudden realization that his main purpose in life is rid the world of the monster. As we can see quite plainly there is no refusal to the call, whatsoever.

There is also no supernatural aid.

He and his servant get aboard Abraham Lincoln where they meet Ned Land, a whale hunter. The ship eventually meets the famous “Beast” but during the battle between the crew and the monster Aronnax falls into the water followed by his servant who tries to save him from drowning. After hours of swimming in search of their ship the two protagonists find Ned Land. After falling from Abraham Lincoln Land landed upon the creature, which he found was made of steel. Land pulled Aronnax and Conseil aboard the creature. The creature, it seemed, was a submarine. Through the night the men clutched the top of the boat, attempting not to fall off. Ned Land stomped on the top of the boat upon daybreak. Eight men appeared and pulled Land, Aronnax and Conseil into the vessel. By falling from the ship and unexpectedly discover and get into the mysterious submarine (Nautilus) Pierre Aronnax crosses the First Threshold and finds himself at the start of a journey he and his partners will take by force.

The moment our hero truly finds himself in the belly of the whale (expression quite ironic since the submarine was considered a giant whale by some people) isn’t quite clear. It could be either when he meets captain Nemo in the library, when Nemo gives him a tour through the machinery and engines of Nautilus or (witch is the most acceptable for me) when he first sees the windows underwater that allow a very impressive view of the world under the see, the world in witch captain Nemo decided to spend his life. I think this is the very moment in witch Aronnax truly realizes where he is and decides to stay and take part in the underwater adventure.

Initiation

After finding himself in the belly of the whale Pierre Aronnax accepted to follow captain Nemo into adventure. Naturally an underwater adventure might hide many dangers and trials that Aronnax is unprepared for. A great example from the road of trials is the underwater hunt in a forest that was comprised of huge plantlike trees that Aronnax had never seen before. There they find a huge, monstrous sea spider (which Nemo and his companion kill) and some sharks but eventually manage to return safely to the submarine after a successful hunt. There is also the attack of cannibals when the vessel was on the surface renewing the air near a small island, there both Aronnax and Counseil grow extremely anxious because they find Nautilus very vulnerable to an invasion. Nemo seems unshaken. The next day while the hatches open Papuans tried to enter, some invisible force threw them back. Nemo also agrees with Ned Land and grant the trio the opportunity to hunt normally. That is also the only challenge in which Pierre Aronnax doesn’t have the help of the crew of captain Nemo. Other examples might be the pearl gathering with Nemo and the saving of a local diver from a shark.

Here, as there is absolutely no female character in the book, I am going to paraphrase the two stages: “Meeting with the Goddess” and “Woman as a Temptress” into “Motive to stay” and “Temptation to leave”. Now Pierre is a very educated man with a natural curiosity within him. Nautilus and his great trips underwater are something new to the world; an opportunity to discover what may be hiding under unexplored oceans. So naturally a great part of Aronnax wants to stay in the submarine, even as a prisoner, and complete this amazing adventure. His servant who shares his curiosity and admires everything that’s happening in and around Nautilus represents this part.

But there is also the temptation of freedom, represented by Ned Land who constantly suggests an escape when they sail close to Europe. Aronnax though is becoming a fanatic and seems rather unwilling to abandon Nautilus. He is forced to agree to attempt to leave because he doesn’t want to be selfish and deny freedom from his friends.

Aronnax waited in the library for Land’s signal, as planned. However, he noticed a sudden slowing of the ship, and felt it sit at the ocean’s bottom. The Nemo entered the library. Nemo asked Aronnax if he knew his Spanish history. When Aronnax responded that he was not that familiar with it, Nemo relayed a story that ended with a ship wreck in the Vigo Bay, the bay in which they were sitting. When Aronnax looked out into the water he saw divers collecting the wealth that was left by the wreck. Nemo told Aronnax that it was this shipwreck and the many others in the seas that made him a multimillionaire. Aronnax remarked that these riches could be better used if they were properly distributed. This statement incensed Nemo who said why Aronnax would think that he kept them for himself. Aronnax realized then that Nemo was still human, and that he was using his riches to help some poor and oppressed people. This dialogue between the mysterious captain Nemo and Aronnax is the Atonement with the Father. After this dialogue, that automatically cancels his plans of escaping, our hero realizes the human side of Nemo and grows even fonder of the situation he found himself in.

Apotheosis comes only a chapter later. Nemo invites Pierre to an underwater exploration. It’s the second time they leave the submarine alone. After a long walk, during which Aronnax saw many new and interesting things, the men arrived at a strange place. There was a volcano and fire. It was the lost city of Atlantis. Aronnax climbed up the volcano and saw the lost city in the magic light of the underwater fire. This is a moment that could truly change anyone, and the part of Pierre that wanted to leave dies for good in the sight of the underwater miracle. He is now closer to captain Nemo as a character and he understands his world much better. Now he is ready for the biggest adventure of them all, the trip to the South Pole.

The ultimate boon is the “conquest” of the pole by Nemo that comes with a very impressive scene of the captain putting up his personal black flag decorated with a golden “N”.

Return

We are now almost at the end of the novel when our protagonists finally decide to escape Nautilus. Aronnax is not eager to leave and abandon his studies and made the decision after a lot of consideration and hard thinking.  We realize that even though Aronnax saw himself becoming a fanatic, like Nemo, about life on the vessel and its scientific pursuit, it is not worth it for him to remain involved with the slaughter of innocent men that seems to be the every day routine in the vessel. (Minor Refusal Of Return)

Following his own senses and those of Land our trio abandons Nautilus and escapes on a small boat that later gets sucked into a whirlpool. The chapter closes as Aronnax fells off the boat and loses consciousness. (Magic Flight)

Aronnax does not know how, but the men escaped safely. They woke up in the hut of a fisherman on the Lofoten Islands. (Rescue from the Without)

The entire journey lasted ten months and covered 20,000 leagues. Aronnax is now waiting in Norway for a ship to take him home to France. While he waits, he is revising his manuscript of his adventures under the sea that he considers to publish. (The Crossing of the Return Threshold)

He has gained a lot of experience from his adventures underwater and has shared the secretes of the deepest oceans with captain Nemo. (Master of Two Worlds)

Leaving this mysterious adventure behind him Aronnax can now continue his life quietly, sure he’ll never meet Captain Nemo again whose true identity remains to both him and the reader a complete mystery. (Freedom to Live)

Final Thoughts

And I’ve finally reached the end of my own journey. It’s been a difficult one but I’ve finally reached the end. I have to admit that even though I knew that somewhere inside this favorite novel of mine the Monomyth was practically waiting to be discovered I found it difficult to follow. There are many things that don’t quite match the “pattern.” Firstly Nemo, I have presented him as “the Father” because I think it’s evident that he is the character with the most knowledge of the new world Aronnax has found himself in. However what’s unusual here is that Nemo is defiantly a mysterious, if not completely negative (especially towards the end), personage.

Also the ultimate boon is not something our hero can take but mostly the whole underwater experience (that comes at its peak in Atlantis). Apart from those small details the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea follows quite closely the general idea of Joseph Campbell’s Hero Quest as do many other of Jules Verne’s novels (A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Michael Strogoff, etc). As I realized this pattern existed long ago and many authors used it subconsciously or not. There are of course many recent examples of stories that follow the Monomyth, for example Abarat by Clive Barker (my second choice for this project) and many (oh! SO many) Disney movies like Mulan, Hercules, etc.

Like Aronnax I’ve obtained the ultimate boon, which is nothing else but a great experience, knowledge and a chance to explore again the magnificent world of Captain Nemo.

Who can count the depth of the abyss?

There are only two people in this world who can now answer this question, Captain Nemo and me.