Significance of Captain Nemos Name - Essay Example

Significance of Captain Nemo’s Captain Nemo is one of the most enigmatic characters in the history of literature. He is one of the key characters of the book Twenty Thousand leagues under the sea which is written by Jules Verne. Jules Verne is widely regarded as the father of science fiction and the book Twenty thousand leagues under the sea aptly justifies this title to him. Verne brought out the marvels of imagination by bringing future into present. His protagonists travel in balloons, steam tanks, rocket ships, submarines etc. This book, published in 1869, is considered as a modern day classic. It still finds its place in hearts of many people. One of the most famous and iconic characters of this book is Captain Nemo. True to his name Nemo was an enigma to Aronax, the narrator and the professor in the story, Ned land, the Canadian harpooner and Conseil, loyal servant of Arronax. To really look into characteristics of Nemo, let’s briefly sum the concise idea about this classic. While idea of the story is being told we will analyze the character of Captain Nemo. The story is being narrated by Pierre Aronnax, who is a famous marine biologist. It all starts with a theory of narwhal being sighted in various places. Aronnax along with his servant and Ned Land follow the path of seas only to understand that narwhal is a submarine which is led by a certain captain called Captain Nemo. The story then revolves around the expedition of Nemo, Aronnax, Conseil and Ned wherein they travel under sea for sixty thousand kilometers or twenty thousand leagues. The book became a cult success and has achieved the tag of classic not only because the central idea of Verne but also the style, characterization and treatment given to the plot to make it more entertaining and astounding. Captain Nemo is the central character of the story. Nemo in Latin means no one or nobody and that name aptly suits him because of his mystical attitude and mystery behavior in the course of the book. Let’s take the book analysis in more detail to understand the iconic character of this great captain. The name has lot of significance to the character and the outcome of book and we shall unravel the mystery behind it now. The first meeting with Captain itself was the one to remember. When Ned, Conseil and Aronnax were being taken as captives in the submarine ‘Nautilus’, each of them explain their situation in different languages of English, French, German and Latin. Captain Nemo does not reply and walks away. Later when he confronts the group he was attacked by Ned and that was when Captain Nemo utters replies by saying that he can understand all languages. This was the first instance where we see the enigmatic personality of Captain Nemo. He was silent, calm and relaxed while replying to his captives. He endured his captives the spirit of anxiousness and curiosity by being reticent. Here we saw the unpredictable yet mystical nature of Nemo which suits his name as no one could understand the nature of captain at that moment. Later he shows his intellect and common sense when he replies captives of how he was right in captivating them. Also at this moment he shows his mystic ness by saying that he has severed ties the land and that those who reach nautilus cannot reach land. Narrator and professor Aronnax was clearly perplexed when Captain Nemo says “I am not a civilized man. I have severed all ties with civilized world on land. I don’t obey its rules. I follow my own.” This quote tells us that Captain Nemo was a man who believes in no one and is answerable to nobody. Hence his name Nemo fits his character trait of his attitude towards to people. Later when Nemo offers Aronnax to view his collection of treasures and he was puzzled and startled by the submarine of Nemo. It had the finest glassware in the dining hall which was worth of millions and yet the question of how the Captain acquired such treasures when he has cut his links to land remains a mystery to the professor and his friends. His treasure of library which has books of every language, his collection of art and paintings which was almost in a form of museum and his glass and music collection will perplex any human being who has never associated with nautilus. This is another instance which shows the mystery of his character which is as inherent as his name. Even the way the submarine is run by electricity was a shock to the professor. We can say that every thing which Nautilus holds is shock to the captives and makes them understand that Captain Nemo is a mystery character and thus his name aptly suits his attitude. Another thing why Captain Nemo’s name is significant is that Nemo believed that his creation of entire collection of items in submarine and essentially the whole concept of submarine which people of that time have never heard of should never be known to any one in the world. He wanted guard it a secret and that was one of the reasons why never intended to release Aronnax, Conseil and Ned because he knew that his secret of submarine is known to them and release would danger his idea. He wanted nobody to know about his greatest thing and that’s why the name Nemo was given to him due this secretive nature of his. Perplexing other people was one of the most common things when conversing with Nemo and this has happened umpteen times. One such occasion was when Captain invited all 3 men to join for hunting expedition. They were pleasantly shocked to hear hunting expedition under water and when Nemo shows the diving suits which would help breathe air, they were suspicious and mystic about his character and thought about his genius mind which produced some of the most marvelous items they have ever seen. One major instance which shows the mysterious nature of Captain Nemo was when sent back his captives to their room and locked them up. It also looked probable that Ned, Aronnax and his servant were also drugged. The next morning they see Nemo’s eyes red and his mood dejected. This was a real mystery to Aronnax. A captain who was brave, courageous and confident and who always kept his composure suddenly looked sullen and mutinous. This was a great mystery to them .Nemo true to his name showed mysterious character traits. His strange reaction to question posed by Aronnax while treating his injured sailor confirmed his mind that there was some mystery with Captain Nemo. Another facet of his character showed his deep rooted concern towards oppressed and down trodden. This was justified by the fact when he goes for hunting expedition near Ceylon and where fights with sharks, saves young Indian and then gives the bag of pearls which was collected from oysters shows his soft nature towards them. It is a mystery to see that he treats downtrodden nicely and at the same time keeps the three men as captives. Such was mystery of his character. One instance which shocks Aronnax is his contact with a diver in Mediterranean Sea wherein he waves a diver who was outside the submarine. He quotes “Don’t be surprised professor, that’s Nicholas, renowned Greek diver throughout the Greek islands. I know him well.” This completely contradicts to his earlier statement wherein he mentioned that he has severed ties with land and people living on the land. Then how did he know this diver? It implies that Captain is still in contact with land men and that his wealth has come from sunken ships which were found beneath the sea. This whole episode explains one of the many reasons why Captain Nemo is named like that. Another view point which can tell us why his name is quite significant is the fact that nobody is as intelligent and as sharp as him in the whole nautilus or even in the whole world. This can be attributed by two instances. One instance, being the whole creation of Nautilus and its collection of treasures and other instance, his cool intellect, which he uses while they try to reach South Pole through Iceberg Mountains. Here we also see another example of his significance wherein he sets afoot on South Pole. He quotes “the only reason I am setting foot dry land is because no other human being has set his foot before.” Here he wants to show his uniqueness by saying that no one should have done it before. Finally the biggest reason of significance of name of Captain Nemo is that Captain Nemo is a loner who has lost everything he ever possessed and loved. He lost his wife and children. He lost his father and mother. He has no one in this world and nobody to look after and nobody to be taken care of. This has made choose a name wherein he implies the meaning of a loner who wants to take revenge against all those who give maltreatment to the oppressed. Hence he has name Nemo which conveys his loneliness, his mystical mind, his secretive nature and his tender nature to those who has no one in this world and to those who are oppressed. Thus in this way we have discussed about the significance of Captain Nemo’s name with reference to the book of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the sea. References: 1. Jules Verne (1869) Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1994 reprint). London: Dhingra Publishers 2. Alan Frank (1983) The science fiction and fantasy film book. Leeds: Barnes& Noble. 3. Arthur Evans (1988) Jules Verne rediscovered. Geneva: Greenwood Read More