Nemo, the captain (Prince Dakkar), the explorer of the depths, the inventor and owner of the fantastic Nautilus submarine, which from time to time is shown on the surface of the seas, is perceived by everyone as a kind of supernatural and dangerous representative of cetaceans, becoming an object not only of curiosity but also of hunting. Specially set out to search for an unknown “animal,” the ship “Abraham Lincoln” suffers defeat in a fight with him. Miraculously surviving scientist-naturalist Pierre Aronax, his servant Consel and the whaler Ned Land are on board the Nautilus, become prisoners of N. and make a round-the-world trip with him, having traveled twenty thousand leagues under the water; these events constitute the plot of the eponymous novel. Symbolically the name of the hero (Latin Nemo – none). Covered the secret past of N. his conflict with society, which led to the final rupture, the real name. Flight from the world and the lack of clarity
of its motivation, spiritual loneliness, kinship with the mighty elements – all this gives the image of N. the features of the romantic hero. The narrative is conducted on behalf of Pierre Aronaks, who, realizing the uniqueness of the personality of N., tries to be objective. Constantly declared hatred of humanity, which in the mind of N. is identified with the idea of violence and injustice, and the periodic search for contact with people; passionate love of freedom and deliberate imprisonment of oneself in the limited space of the Nautilus; frightening at times severity, stressed restraint and moments of emotional emancipation, given to the game on the organ – so obvious contradictions can not escape the gaze of a close observer, which is Aronaks. However, the atmosphere of mystery is preserved almost to the end of the narrative. Only in the last chapters of the novel “The Mysterious Island” the author sheds light on the mystery of N. who turns out to be an omniscient and omnipresent patron of the island, on which the described events typical for Robinsonades unfold. N. saved the life of
the inhabitants of the island, who, not guessing, to whom they owe their life, relied on him as a providence. His “Nautilus” found the last refuge in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Sensing the approach of death, N. decides to find himself in front of people: the impulses of compassion, the desire to help them have melted the ice of hatred in him. Telling the story of his life, half of which was in voluntary seizure, N. appears as a spiritual brother of romantic heroes, the fate of which is always injustice and persecution. An Indian by birth, brilliantly gifted and educated in Europe, Prince Dakkar (this is the true name of N.) led a rebellion against the English rule in his homeland; the uprising ended in defeat. Death did not spare any of Dakkar’s friends and family members. Filled with hatred for everything that happens in the world, who does not know what freedom and independence are, he has found refuge from the evil created in the world under the water, in the depths of the seas.
