Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Main Characters:
Professor Pierre Aronnax-Assistant Professor in Museum of Natural History in Paris; narrator of his adventures on the Nautilus; frenchman

Counseil- Monsieur Aronnax"'"s 30 year old servant, '"' a true, devoted Flemish boy'"' who accompanied Arronax in all his travels

Ned Land- Canadian harpooner about 40 years old who joined Aronnax and Counseil on the '"'Abraham Lincoln'"' in search of the mysterious marine monster threatening the seas

Captain Nemo- captain, builder and engineer of the Nautilus submarine

Secondary Characters:
Commander Farragut- U.S. commander of the frigate '"'Abraham Lincoln'"'  

Captain Nemo"'"s crew- speak an unknown language, able-bodied men that serve Captain Nemo on the Nautilus

Papuans- savages on the Island of Gilboa that attempt to attack and board the Nautilus

Dumont d"'"Urville- Arannax talks about this famous French explorer who was commander of the Astrolabe; Captain Nemo compares himself to this great sailor  

Part I
Chapter 1- A Shifting Reef:  
Merchants, sailors and captains from all over the world report seeing '"'an enormous thing, a long object, spindle shaped, occasionally phosphorescent, and infinitely larger and more rapid in its movements than a whale.'"'   Debates rage over whether this mysterious monster was an extraordinary, cetaceous (of or relating to dolphin or whales) creature or a supernatural phenomenon.   A couple of ships   (Moravian & Scotia) were struck by this '"'monster'"' piercing the ships"'" bottom.   As other shipwrecks occurred, the public blamed them all on the '"'monster'"' and demanded that the seas be rid of the menace.    

Chapter 2- Pro and Con
Many hypotheses were formed to explain what produced the triangular shaped hole in the Scotia"'"s bottom, but the two prevailing theories were that it was either a '"'monster of colossal strength or a submarine vessel of enormous motive power.'"'   Since all the major... [continues]

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