History Literature / TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea

During a visit to America, Professor Aronnax, a famous French marine biologist, is invited to join a [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks US Navy]] expedition in the hunt for a mysterious sea monster (believed to be a giant narwhal) that has attacked and damaged two ships. Once they find the narwhal, it attacks, causing Aronnax, his trusty manservant [[TheStoic Conseil]] and Ned Land, the ship's [[MooseAndMapleSyrup Canadian]] harpoonist, to fall overboard (well, Conseil ''jumped'', to rescue the Professor). They clamber onto the only dry spot in the sea, namely the narwhal's back, expecting to drown as soon as it dives. Then a hatch opens...

** Even BookDumb Ned is bilingual due to his [[CanadaEh nationality]].

* CanadaEh: Although the narration constantly reminds us that Ned Land is Canadian, he actually doesn't fit the modern stereotype in that he's loud, arrogant, and rather meatheaded (and whistles "''Yankee Doodle''"). It's entirely possible that he's a transplanted American who ended up living in Canada one way or another. Although for a Canadian harpoonist it fits, lumberjacks and fishermen aren't the shy ones even in Canada (even Yankee Doodle kind of make sense given how the culture between both countries were open even back then)

* ClosedCircle: Even when the ''Nautilus'' travels around the whole world, [[TheProfessor Professor Aronnax]],[[BattleButler Conseil]] and [[IdiotHero Ned Land]] [[EnclosedSpace are confined to the submarine]]. They only talk with Captain Nemo (all the other crew talk a secret language).

* IdiotHero: Verne's writing constantly informs us (and Conseil and Aronnax repeatedly lampshade) that Ned Land is a HotBlooded, GreatWhiteHunter, BigEater RealMenEatMeat BookDumb badass [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking who is from ]] [[CanadaEh Canada]]. [[spoiler: Ned Land's personality also makes him the OnlySaneMan capable of resisting Captain Nemo's charisma]].

During a visit to America, Professor Aronnax, a famous French marine biologist, is invited to join a [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks US Navy]] expedition in the hunt for a mysterious sea monster (believed to be a giant narwhal) that has attacked and damaged two ships. Once they find the narwhal, it attacks, causing Aronnax, his trusty manservant [[TheStoic Conseil]] and Ned Land, the ship's [[CanadaEh Canadian]] harpoonist, to fall overboard (well, Conseil ''jumped'', to rescue the Professor). They clamber onto the only dry spot in the sea, namely the narwhal's back, expecting to drown as soon as it dives. Then a hatch opens...

* {{Mooks}}: The crew of the ''Nautilus'' speak a language no one else can understand and are seldom mentioned in the text, let alone described. Their only real purpose in the plot is to explain why the three protagonists can't just leave the submarine whenever they want.

The novel has a sequel, ''Literature/TheMysteriousIsland'', which tells Nemo's BackStory.

* AdaptedOut: This is often the fate of Conseil in adaptations after the 1954 Disney version. Even in that one, he isn't very much like his book counterpart. In more recent adaptations, Conseil is often replaced with an original character who may be a TokenMinority (often with PoliticallyCorrectHistory thrown in). Sometimes, the replacement character is Conseil InNameOnly. Whatever the case, this replacement character is typically not just a servant to Arronax, but rather his (or sometimes her) own person. This may have to do with ValuesDissonance. [[note]]To be fair to the original, Conseil is like a student apprentice to Arronax which justified his servitude. Modern day STEM graduate students may find a parallell [[/note]] or simply the fact that Conseil in the book was given little characterization other than his encyclopedic knowledge of zoology and his devotion to his master Arronax.

* CharacterFilibuster: Arronax tends to go off on long digressions about various species of marine life he's observed, interrupting the adventure story of which he's one of the main characters.

* ClaimingViaFlag: Captain Nemo, whose advanced submarine the ''Nautilus'' enables him to go places no one else can manage, arrives at the South Pole and sticks a gold-and-black flag in the ice. When Arronax asks him in which king's authority he's claiming the area, Nemo retorts that he's claiming it for himself.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Conseil and Arronax geek out over a seashell that twists left-handedly instead of to the right. When a lucky shot from one of the attacking natives shatters it, Conseil promptly picks up a gun and shoots the man.
* TheDividual: Arronax believes that Ned and Conseil together would have made a remarkable naturalist (the former can identify most of the sea creatures they see, the latter can [[ImprobableTaxonomySkills classify them in seconds]]).
* DrivenToSuicide: Discussed when Conseil is concerned Ned Land is going to try to kill himself after months of being isolated from civilization aboard the ''Nautilus''. This is also [[spoiler:an interpretation of Captain Nemo sailing for the Maelstrom right after his VillainousBreakdown after breaking Arronax's trust in him.]]

* DumbIsGood: Ned is the only non-intellectual among the heroes. Thus, unlike Conseil and Arronax, he can see through Nemo's games and tells his companions they must leave ''Nautilis'' as soon as possible.

* IronicEcho: When the Nautilus is stranded, Nemo refers to it as an incident, not an accident. When [[spoiler:trapped beneath the ice in the South Pole]], Arronax asks again, only to be told this time it's an accident.

* LightningCanDoAnything: The Nautilus runs entirely on electrical power, as do Nemo's guns, to Arronax's amazement. [[ScienceMarchesOn Modern readers, on the other hand...]]
* LongList: Arronax goes into long descriptions of the sealife he encounters. Also the exact course of the ''Nautilus'', which precise geographical features it encounters and where in the ocean it is with precise latitude and longitude. Unless you have a map and a marine biology textbook to hand, you can be forgiven for glazing over some of these passages.

* MoralEventHorizon: InUniverse, the event that finally causes Arronax to agree that they need to bail is when they witness the Nautilus ramming an unidentified nation's ship. Nemo seems aware of it too, [[spoiler:seeing as he sets sail for the Maelstrom soon after]].

* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Subverted: Arronax used to practice medicine and is asked to treat a crewman with a massive head wound, but all he can do is confirm that he'll be dead in two hours.

--> "Oh damnation, yes!" Ned Land shot back. "It's superb! I'm furious that I have to admit it. Nobody has ever seen the like. [[Foreshadowing But this sight could cost us dearly]]. And in all honesty, ''I think we're looking at things God never intended for human eyes."''

The mysterious narwhal is in fact not a whale, but a high-tech electric submarine known as the ''Nautilus'', owned and designed by the mysterious and eccentric [[SomebodyNamedNobody Captain Nemo]]. While refusing to put our heroes ashore, he lets them live, and takes them on a fantastic journey under the seas of the world, showing them the many wonders of the world beneath the waves. Aronnax finds himself torn between his passionate interest in marine biology and his desire for freedom - should he try to escape with his comrades or stay and find out ''why'' Nemo sails around the world?

The book is now out of copyright, and the original French text can be obtained from Project Gutenberg [[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5097 here.]] [[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2488 This English translation,]] done by Verne scholar Frederick Paul Walter, is a modern, highly accurate translation of the book, free of the errors that many other editions of the book have. Alternatively, check out the most common edition [[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/164 here.]] This translation, done by the Reverend Lewis Page Mercier, is widely considered to be the worst translation of the book; it is riddled with errors and censorship, as well as incorrect numbers (for example, the density of steel is given as .7 to .8 times that of water, while Verne really wrote 7.8 times that of water, which is the correct value). Sadly, it is also the most common translation - check your bookshelves for this version!

* AboveGoodAndEvil:Captain Nemo claims to be outside of and done with society as a whole, and his submarine grants him unlimited power. [[spoiler:However, his compassionate nature prompts him to stick to numerous rules of society despite no longer applying to him anymore, making this a subversion]].

** The beard already appeared in the original illustrations of the book, since the artist used Colonel Charas as a model - fitting as Charas' life was somewhat similar to Nemo's, and he may also have been Verne's inspiration for the character.

** RealLifeWritesThePlot: Verne himself had been a supporter of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeune_%C3%89cole Jeune École]] - the political advocacy group which aimed to raise French naval power to global dominance by implementing newest inventions into smaller, cheaper vessels to leapfrog the need for untenable monetary investment into a fleet the size of [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships the Royal Navy]].

* {{Satire}}: Very Juvenalian, the novel satirizes [[TheEmpire Imperialism]]: The ''Nautilus'' itself is a parody of TheEmpire - an OddlySmallOrganization that manages to be an NGOSuperpower, their members [[FromMyOwnPersonalGarden only consume sea products]] and [[ConLang speak only their own language]], but we never know any of them; they are nothing more than nameless masses. The only one who matters is Captain Nemo (the Emperor), who [[{{Egopolis}} claims an entire continent in his name]] and constantly does horrible things [[AboveGoodAndEvil for no other reason than because he can.]]\\

* HumansAreBastards & EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks: Captain Nemo adheres to this belief:

** And himself demonstrates it multiple times in the novel.

* DysfunctionJunction: There are only four principal characters in the novel due to the ClosedCircle: [[BattleButler Conseil]] has so much UndyingLoyalty that he considers himself an extension of his employer. [[TheProfessor Professor Aronnax]] practically swims in StockholmSyndrome, Captain Nemo is having a slow VillainousBreakdown, and [[OnlySaneMan Ned Land]] slowly [[GoMadFromTheIsolation goes mad from the isolation]].

* TheButcher: Ned Land accuses Nemo of this when Nemo [[KickTheDog Kicks The Cachalots]] in a massacre.

--> ''[[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow I felt "involuntarily reassured" in his presence]], and this boded well for our interview.''

* AtlantisIsBoring: There is a discussion over whether this trope applies or not to this novel.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: It is speculated that Verne got its inspiration from the real life ''Nautilus'', a diving bell presented by American inventors Samuel Hallett and Henry Sears in 1858 in France. Its tests were covered by the ''Le Musée des Familles'' magazine, in which Verne worked at the time.

* ScienceIsBad: Subverted because the book shows us all the good things the ''Nautilus'' can accomplish. Only after TheReveal, Aronnax’s HeelRealization lets him know that those good things can’t justify the terrible violence.

* AboveGoodAndEvil: What Captain Nemo claims to be.[[spoiler: He really isn't]]. See {{Ubermensch}} below.

--> ''.."The ''Nautilus'' suffered a collision that cracked one of the engine levers, and it struck this man. My chief officer was standing beside him. This man leaped forward to intercept the blow. A brother lays down his life for his brother, a friend for his friend, what could be simpler? That's the law for everyone on board the ''Nautilus''."