In 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, there has been a rumor about a giant narwhal-like marine creature with incredible speed and light emitted from it. It also has a perfect triangular-shaped horn or head. Professor Pierre Arronax is invited to the ‘Abraham Lincoln’ ship in search of the creature along with his servant, Conseil, and a harpooner, Ned. One day, the creature overtops the ship, and the three men meet on the creature’s back! They discover that it is actually a high-tech submarine vessel, the ‘Nautilus’. They are captives in it for several days until welcomed by Captain Nemo, a genius who invented the ship. They go on multiple underwater adventures together. However, the three men are now afraid of Nemo, after seeing him destroy a ship because it took away his family. One day, the ‘Nautilus’ is caught in a giant maelstrom, and Arronax faints. The three men wake up in a fisherman's hut but do not know what happened next. The fate of Nemo and the ‘Nautilus’ remains unknown.
Freedom is one of the strongest desires of Ned, Conseil, and Arronax during their adventures on the Nautilus. While Captain Nemo makes it sound as if they are perfectly free on the Nautilus, he is very strict about their captivity on the vessel and nowhere else. When the three men are found on the Nautilus’ back, Nemo has forbidden them to go anywhere outside the vessel without his permission, but are allowed to wander anywhere they want in the Nautilus. However, the three men’s desire for freedom has triggered in different times and because of different situation. Ned was the quickest to react to Nemo’s actions. At the very start of the journey, he decided that he hated Nemo, the Nautilus, and everything inside it. He wanted to get away from the genius creep immediately and always kept trying to escape when in civilized waters or near land. Conseil followed after Ned, realizing that Nemo hated all human beings and civilization. Arronax was the last because like Nemo, desired information about the deep sea more than escaping. Finally, when Arronax saw Nemo attacking a whole ship and killing everyone in it because the ship took away his family, he discovered that Nemo was like a sea monster. Freedom, as always, as not only started and ended the great journey, but also let the three men retell their story on the Nautilus and reveal it to the world after escaping from the vessel and the maelstrom.
In the novel, it is shown that Captain Nemo prefers nature and the oceans a lot more than human civilizations, the area in which he grew up. The novel highlights how the three captives talk about Nemo’s hate for humans and their civilizations, and his love for the open oceans and wild nature. Nemo absolutely hates human beings (though he himself is one) because a human ship took away his family: his wife, and two children. And because of that, he chooses to live in an underwater exile from society and live the rest of his life exploring the deep seas. However, the novel also expresses sympathy for Nemo, because of his background and liking for nature over civilization. But it also highlights the fact that Nemo has used advanced scientific technology, with special information and materials found in human civilization to make himself able to live underwater comfortably forever until he dies. In other words, he uses things found in human civilizations to get away and escape from it permanently. At the near beginning and middle of the novel, Arronax also shows that he thinks that living in the Nautilus is a great opportunity for him to investigate the deep seas, and is hesitant in joining Ned and Conseil in escaping at first. The preference of nature over human civilization is found in Captain Nemo’s character and even a little bit in Arronax.
The novel presents a world full of amazingly high-teched scientific discoveries and innovations, especially in the Nautilus. These advanced technologies have provided a great opportunity for the passengers on the vessel to observe underwater miracles. The Nautilus provides a great and comfortable high-quality vessel and home for the crew aboard. The author writes about the technology in a positive view, showing the readers how it provides so much information about the deep sea and its unbelievable mysteries. The novel also shows how Arronax, a professor with great knowledge and experience of the deep depths of the oceans, is so fascinated by all the chances for experiments in the Nautilus, that he admits himself if Nemo gave permission to leave, he would rather stay and learn more. While Ned, a skilled harpooner, and Conseil, Arronax’s loyal and smart servant, both are desperate to leave, the advancement of technology in the Nautilus makes Arronax hesitant to escape at first when Ned offers him to join in escaping to land multiple times. The Nautilus provides such advanced technology and chances for observing and experimenting the deep seas that even Arronax has an urge to stay there.
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA narrates the great journey and adventures in the Nautilus with Captain Nemo after Arronax, Conseil, and Ned accidentally land on the large vessel’s back. After landing, the three men are allowed anywhere in the vessel, but are captives and cannot take a step out without Nemo’s permission. Because of this, all three have a desire for freedom and escaping by the end of the novel, all triggered at different times. Ned hated Nemo and the Nautilus from the very start; Conseil followed up after realizing Nemo was weird and a mad genius; Arronax the last after seeing Nemo killing everyone on a ship. Captain Nemo is also shown to hate all human beings and civilization because a human ship took away his family: his wife and two children. He chose to live in exile underwater away from human civilization, therefore preferring nature over civilization and human society. The advanced technology he used was the key to make him a comfortable life underwater and let him observe the deep seas and know more information about the depths of the oceans than anyone else.
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