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Journey to the Center of the Earth

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For other uses, see Journey to the Center of the Earth (disambiguation)}}}.
Journey to the Center of the Earth is an 1864 science fiction novel by Jules Verne (published in the original French as Voyage au centre de la Terre). The story involves a professor who leads his nephew and hired guide down a volcano in Iceland to the "center of the Earth". They encounter many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy. From a scientific point of view, this story has not aged quite as well as other Verne stories, since most of his ideas about what the interior of the Earth is like have since been proven wrong. However, a redeeming point to the story is Verne's own belief, told within the novel from the viewpoint of a character, that the inside of the Earth does indeed differ from that which the characters encounter.

Compared to his previous works, Verne takes a radically different approach to storytelling by making the main character and narrator a 16 year old boy who relates the events as his own adventures. It is unknown whether this was done under the influence of his publisher Hetzel who wanted to distribute Verne's work as aimed towards growing teens, but the result is quite remarkable. While his previous novel and many of his later works are in fact fictionalized science, this is a gripping story of the adventures of an adolescent boy, the science taking a backdrop against his own experiences.

Contents

Plot summary

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The story is narrated by Axel Lidenbrock (called "Harry Hardwigg" in many English translations; see the notes), nephew of the eminent German geologist and naturalist, Professor Otto Lidenbrock. The story begins on Sunday 24 May 1863, in the Lidenbrock house in Hamburg, with Professor Lidenbrock rushing home to peruse his latest purchase, an original runic manuscript of an Icelandic saga written by Snorri Sturluson. While looking through the book, Lidenbrock and Axel find a coded note written in runic script. (A first indication of Verne's love for cryptology. Coded, cryptic or incomplete messages as a plot device will continue to appear in many of his works and in each case Verne goes a long way to explain not only the code used but also the mechanisms used to retrieve the original text.) Lidenbrock and Axel translate the runic characters into Latin letters, revealing a message written in a seemingly bizarre code.

Professor Lidenbrock decides to lock everyone in the house and force himself and the others in the house (Axel, and the maid, Martha) to go without food until he cracks the code. Axel accidentally discovers the code when fanning himself with the parchment, realising that the letters simply have to be read backwards to reveal sentences written in rough Latin. Axel decides to keep the secret hidden from Professor Lidenbrock, but after two days without food, he cannot stand the hunger and reveals the secret to his uncle. Lidenbrock translates the note, which is revealed to be a medieval note written by the Icelandic alchemist Arne Saknussemm, who claims to have discovered a passage to the centre of the Earth via Snæfell in Iceland. The message reads (when reflected in a mirror):

Journey to the Center of the Earth DVD - the 1959 film
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Journey to the Center of the Earth DVD - the 1959 film

"In Sneffels Joculis craterem quem delibat Umbra Scartaris Julii intra calendas descende, Audax viator, et terrestre centrum attinges. Quod feci, Arne Saknussemm"
which when translated into English reads:

"Descend, bold traveller, into the crater of the jokul of Sneffels, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July, and you will attain the centre of the earth; I have done this, Arne Saknussemm"
Professor Lidenbrock is a man of astonishing impatience, and departs for Iceland immediately, taking his reluctant nephew with him. Axel repeatedly tries to reason with him, explaining his fears of descending into a volcano and putting forward various scientific theories as to why the journey is impossible, but fails to make Professor Lidenbrock see his point of view. After a rapid journey via Lübeck and Copenhagen, they arrive in Reykjavík, where the two procure the services of Hans Bjelke (a Danish speaking eiderdown hunter) as their guide, and travel overland to the base of the volcano. They reach the volcano in late June only to find that is has not one but three craters. Rereading Saknussemm's message they conclude that the passage to the centre of the Earth is through the one crater the shadow of a nearby mountain peak touches at noon. However the text also states that this is only true for the last days of June and for the next days, with July rapidly approaching, the weather is too cloudy for any shadows. Axel silently rejoices, hoping this will force his uncle to give up the project and return home. On the last day, though, the sun comes out and the mountain peak shows the correct crater to take.

After descending into this crater, the three travellers set off into the bowels of the Earth, encountering many strange phenomena and great dangers, including a chamber filled with combustable gas, and steep-sided wells around the "path". After taking a wrong turning, the three run out of water and Axel almost dies, but Hans discovers a subterranean river (which Lidenbrock and Axel name the "Hansbach") and the three are saved. At another point, Axel becomes separated from the others and is lost several miles from them. Luckily, a strange acoustic phenomena allows him to communicate with them from some miles away, and is soon reunited. After descending many miles, following the course of the Hansbach, they reach an unimaginably vast cavern. This underground world is lit by electrically-charged gas at the ceiling, and is filled with a very deep subterranean ocean, surrounded by a rocky coastline covered in petrified trees and giant mushrooms. The three travellers build a raft out of trees and set sail on the ocean. Whilst on the water, they see several prehistoric creatures and are nearly eaten by ichthyosaur, which fights and kills a plesiosaur. During the battle between the monsters, the party comes across a huge geyser, which Lidenbrock names "Axel Island". A lightning storm again threatens to destroy the raft and its passengers, but instead throws them onto the coastline. This part of the coast, Axel discovers, is alive with prehistoric plant and animal lifeforms, including giant insects and a herd of mastodons. On a beach covered with bones, Axel discovers an oversized human skull. Axel and Lidenbrock venture some way into the prehistoric forest, where Professor Lidenbrock points out, in a shaky voice, a prehistoric human, more than twelve feet in height, leaning against a tree watching a herd of mastodons. Axel cannot be sure if he has really seen the man or not, and he and Professor Lidenbrock debate whether or not a proto-human civilisation actually exists so far underground.

The travellers continue to explore the coastline, and find a passageway marked by Saknussemm as the way ahead. However, it is blocked by what appears to be a recent cave-in and the three despair at being unable to hack their way through the granite wall. The adventurers proceed to blast the rock with gun cotton and paddle out to sea to escape the blast, but the explosion is larger than they expected and they are swept away as the sea rushes into the large open gap in the ground. After spending hours being swept along at lightning speeds by the water, the raft ends up inside a large chimney filling with water and magma. Terrified, the three are rushed upwards, through stifling heat, and are ejected onto the surface from a side-vent of a volcano. When they regain consciousness, they discover that they have been thrown out of Stromboli, at the southern tip of Italy. They return to Hamburg to great acclaim - Professor Lidenbrock is hailed as one of the great scientists of history, Axel marries his sweetheart Graüben, and Hans eventually returns to his peaceful life in Iceland.

At the very end of the book, Axel and Lidenbrock realise why their compass was behaving strangely after their journey on the raft. They realise that the needle was pointing the wrong way after being struck by lightning, and that they had indeed passed the very centre of the Earth.

Characters in \"Journey to the Center of the Earth\"

Spoilers end here.

Notes

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The novel has been made into several film versions:

Allusions/references from other works

A video game called Journey to the Center of the Earth was released in 2003. It was produced by Frogwares.

A concept album called Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Rick Wakeman, was released in 1974.

Another album is Journey to the Center of the Mind by The Amboy Dukes, released in 1968 whose main song (same title as the album) includes the lyrics: "But please realize, You'll probably be surprised, For it's the land unknown to man, Where fantasy is fact, So if you can, please understand, You might not come back."

Trivia

It is also featured in an attraction ride at the Tokyo DisneySea, Japan.

See also

External links

 

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