Michel Verne

“In the year 1866 the whole maritime population of Europe and America was excited by a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon.” This is the first line of Jules Verne’s novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. I chose to read this novel because my grandfather spoke highly of it. He’d wanted me to read it for a while, so I downloaded the audiobook. I never got around to listening to it until I got this project. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to get it read. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea is a classic of sorts, and for good reason. For a book published in 1870, this involves very modern thinking. At the time, this book seemed completely fictional. Any reader in the late 1800’s would have found this absurd, and possibly even foolish, but this stuff, this is real. This stuff is no longer a work of fiction. This stuff is now. Allow me to explain. If you have not previously read 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, then you may require a little background information. A professor of the Paris Museum, Pierre Aronnax, was asked to join the expedition to hunt down a creature that had been attacking ships. Pierre’s ship is sank by the creature after a long search. PIerre, his servant Conseil, and a Canadian harpooner by the name of Ned Land climb aboard the deck of a ship they mistakenly think is theirs. The captain of this ship allows them to stay on his nuclear submarine, the Nautilus. Captain Nemo explains that they plan never to return to land. Our three heroes are stuck in this sub,…

In the novel 20 00 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, the main characters’ lives are turned upside down and are forced to live under the sea for a total of 20 000 leagues of traveling. Now being in a submarine can be very incredible. But after a couple months, the life of the past can seem to be missing, and being stuck under the sea for that long can start to be a bother. Jules Verne clearly shows the limit to how interesting something, to the day it becomes a pain to sanity. At the…

Disturbance, nuisance, annoyance: words that are often used to describe the catalyst to one of nature’s most sublime undertakings: the conception of a pearl. As implausible as it may seem, the process through which such magnificent phenomenon develops is triggered by a speck of sand that makes its way into an oyster. The oyster responds by coating the intruder in an attempt to mitigate the pain. This coating, however, serves to amplify the pain rather than alleviate it as was…

vessel which struck them as “prisoners.” The Nautilus, which is a submarine captained by a mysterious man named Nemo, is the “prison” that is referred to throughout the novel. Aronnax’s companion Ned Land sees the Nautilus as strictly a prison, to which he is confined and cannot readily escape. While Ned Land thinks of the submarine as a prison, Arronax himself sees the Nautilus as a sort of freedom, allowing him to explore the depths of the ocean and to observe “the complete series of marvels…

Albert Camus says, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” William Golding wrote the Lord of the Flies, a story that’s set during World War II. In the Lord of the Flies proper British boys get shot down in a plane and crash on a mysterious Island. The island is a symbol of Eden. When the young boys realize that there aren’t any grownups on the island, they cheer, but future anarchy and a struggle of power shift throughout the novel expressing a need for an…

Oppressed by Captain Nemo, Ned Land sought liberty. Although Nemo gave the illusion of freedom through mobility on the ship, he had the control. Unhappy living in the Nautilus, Ned Land was constantly fighting to be free. Throughout the entire novel, we see the only one making an honest effort to escape is Ned Land. Freedom is necessary to live a fulfilling life. During the initial capture, Ned Land was the most resistant. Both Aronnax and Conseil had showed little to no resistance.…

The Separation 1. Call to Adventure- Marlin is a clown fish with a son named Nemo. Marlin constantly warns Nemo not to venture into the open sea because it is very dangerous. On Nemo’s first day of school, he was dared to go out to the open sea and “touch the butt” of the ship that was in the distance and then swim back. Before he was able to swim back, Nemo was scooped up by a scuba driver that would then bring him to a dentist office and Nemo would be put into a fish tank. 2. Refusal of the…

Finding Nemo, an animated children’s movie from 2003, follows the odyssey of a young clownfish on his way back to his father. He is presented with a plethora of difficulties, all of which he overcomes with growing maturity. As Nemo progresses throughout the movie, he learns that genuine friendships and a home are fundamental to survival. Nemo lives in a vast ocean. It is portrayed as eerily soothing yet intimidating; in certain scenes the water is tranquil but empty. The utter lack of all…

Finding Nemo gives the audience a unique experience into what a society should seem like using different norms and values. Nemo did not think about how fortunate he was until his regular routine was taken away. This teaches multiple things about life and how to correctly act to get the best outcome. “Animating Youth: The Disneyfication of Children’s Culture” by Giroux shows that Disney has the ability to put a script to society and shape the childhood of millions of kids. Gamson wrote “Media…

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea One of the most important technology in the story was the Nautilus AKA the submarine used as the transportation for the crew in the story and harpoons to attack the monster and kill it. Captain Nemo is the one leading the crew and does not like war but still kills many monsters with the harpoon. Deep sea exploration was possible during the time period talked about in the story submarines were used for underwater exploration but there was no mythical creatures such…