Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Chapter Summary & Analysis - Part 2 Chapter 23 Summary

Part 2 Chapter 23 Summary

Aronnax awakes in a fisherman's cottage with Conseil and Ned Land. They are in Norway and unable to return to France for a month. Aronnax insists his account is absolutely true. He has no idea what has happened to the Nautilus or Captain Nemo. He wonders if the captain's manuscript will ever be discovered. If Captain Nemo is still alive, Aronnax prays that his hatred has lessened. He finds the destiny of this man to be strange and sublime at the same time.

Part 2 Chapter 23 Analysis

The rescue of the three prisoners in a maelstrom is miraculous. Aronnax has slept through it so cannot describe it. The reader may be disappointed that Jules Verne solves the plot problem of getting them out of the Nautilus and into safe shores in this way. In the end Aronnax boasts that only he and Captain Nemo understand what is "exceedingly deep."