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Chapter 19
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
The men start to ration the water. They walk in silence. Axel continues to notice geological proof that they are heading the wrong direction, but Lidenbrock ignores this evidence. Axel surmises that Lidenbrock expects to encounter either a vertical wall that will allow the men to resume their descent or an obstacle that will force them to turn around. They walk for another two days and encounter no obstacles.
Despite Lidenbrock’s genius, he is capable of making foolish mistakes. These mistakes arise when Lidenbrock ignores evidence, as he does after taking the wrong path. He hopes nature will allow him to move on from the mistake without admitting he was wrong, but when it doesn’t do so, Lidenbrock’s pride prevents him from turning the group around himself.
Themes
Axel reflects on the rock formations, and how they disprove aspects of Lidenbrock’s theories. At the end of the day, they reach a dead end. Lidenbrock declares that he now knows for certain that they were on the wrong path, so they should return to the fork. When Axel points out that their water supply will run out the following day, Lidenbrock gives him a stern look and instructs him not to lose his courage.
Axel has noticed and accepted that some geological evidence supports Lidenbrock’s theory, but he also recognizes that much of the evidence does not. This highlights that Axel is more than capable of forming his own opinions independent of Lidenbrock. It also demonstrates that while evidence is important, it is not always conclusive. Data does not shape itself to fit hypotheses, so some scientific questions may never be concretely answered.
Themes
