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Chapter 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Journey to the Center of the Earth, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Discovery
Maturity and Independence
Intuition vs. Evidence
Nature vs. Civilization
Adventure
Summary
Analysis
During the summer months in polar regions, the sun never sets, so the night is not dark. It is cold, however, and the travelers take shelter in a hospitable peasant’s small hut. The peasant and his wife invite Axel, Lidenbrock, and Hans to dine with them and their 19 children, and they accept. The next morning they depart, after persuading the peasant to take some payment for his kindness. As the men continue on, the terrain becomes more treacherous and deserted. The only person they pass for miles is a lone leper, and not even plants or animals can be found. Axel grows melancholy and begins to miss Germany.
The men experience a moment of kindness and hospitality before they set out into the most desolate terrain they’ve experienced yet. The only person they pass is a leper, someone outcast from society due to a contagious skin disease. The leper is a figure who lives outside society, which is a space the men are entering. Leaving society, meanwhile, means entering nature—something that, at first, seems to exist in total opposition to civilization.
Themes
On June 20th, the men reach the village where Hans’s family lives. They spend only a night there, since they are nearing Snäffel. The men reach the base of the volcano, and Lidenbrock looks at it as if it is a giant he intends to conquer. After four hours of walking, the horses stop of their own accord in the village of Stapi, which stands by the volcano.
Lidenbrock’s apparent intent to conquer Snäffel invites several interpretations. The notion of a landmark as something to conquer carries imperialist undertones, as one of the motivations behind “conquering” a foreign land was the glory and prestige that accompanied that perceived accomplishment. However, the description of the volcano as a giant also calls to mind the story of David and Goliath, in which a simple shepherd defeats a giant. Through this lens, Lidenbrock and his companions are the stalwart Davids preparing to face a seemingly insurmountable Goliath.
Themes
