Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Literary Elements

Science Fiction, also viewed as Children's Adventure

Aboard the submarine Nautilus, under the sea

The narrator is Aronnax, who tells the tale of what happens through his own viewpoint.

At times, the mood is adventurous, wondrous and out-of-this-worldly.

More often, it is threatening, with an undercurrent of violence.

Aronax, Land and Consell are the protagonists. Nemo is the antagonist, but his relationship with each man becomes antagonistic at different stages of their adventures together. He is antagonist to Ned Land almost from the first moments Land is aboard the submarine; his relationship with Aronnax becomes antagonistic far later when Nemo suddenly turns away from him for no reason.

There is a battle between the Nautilus and with a group of giant squid which attack the submarine. The result is the death of a crew member.

The three men escape from the submarine on a dinghy, but are unaware that they are now in the waters of the Maelstrom, and are consequently washed up on an island outside Norway. They are safe but there is no news of the submarine.

Nemo's sudden change in attitude towards Aronnax foreshadows a darkening of the moods of all of the men on the Nautilus and also foreshadows the escape of the three protagonists, because Aronnax withdraws into himself and leaves the Nautilus essentially without a captain.

Nemo is said to be depressed which would seem to be an understatement given that he is overwhelmed by the murders of his family, and even when he kills the representatives of the government that killed them does not feel the closure that he had believed he would feel.

Verne alludes to Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury in the book. Maury was a real-life oceanographer who explored the globe, charting all of its oceans, and measuring currents, wind direction and movement of the water.

Aronnax sees Nemo on his knees before pictures of his wife and child, which is an almost religious image, painting a picture of Nemo kneeling at an altar.

Aronnax is disturbed by Nemo and his behavior, especially his refusal to allow them to leave the Nautilus alive, yet he is also captivated by the adventures they are enjoying under the sea and finds a common bond with Nemo based on a shared desire to learn as much as they can

There is a parallel between the way in which Nemo views the pearl diver as an oppressed victim exploited by the colonials, and the way in which he sees himself as an oppressed victim of the same government.

The Nautilus is not just the name of a submarine; it is also used to represent the crew and passengers on board it.

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