The Hansbach Symbol Analysis

The Hansbach is the stream that Axel, Lidenbrock, and Hans encounter underground, and it represents the importance of practicality on an expedition as well as the importance of cooperating with nature. Axel is an academic who lives in scholarly circles––Gräuben, his fiancée, is also a scientist, and his uncle Lidenbrock is a renowned “savant.” Surviving the book’s titular journey shows Axel the importance of practicality: Hans, who accompanies Axel and Lidenbrock on the adventure, is not as educated or academically intelligent as the other men, yet he saves their lives on multiple occasions. The most dramatic is his discovery of the Hansbach, which is blocked by a rock wall. Axel and Lidenbrock yield to despair when they realize they cannot reach the water they so desperately need, but Hans simply cuts through the wall with a pickaxe until the water spurts out and forms a stream at the men’s feet. Lidenbrock is fixated on glory and likes to name the group’s discoveries after himself, but in this instance, the men unanimously decide to name the stream “the Hansbach” in Hans’s honor. The Hansbach thus comes to symbolize the pragmatism of its namesake, who cares more about protecting the travelers than the scientific discoveries they might make.

After this incident, the men follow the Hansbach as it flows down the tunnels, and Axel compares it to “a kindly genius, who [is] guiding [them] underground.” From Axel’s scholarly perspective, genius is the most important quality a person can possess, and he attributes it to the Hansbach itself. He respects the genius of the natural world, and nature repays that respect by guiding the men and providing them with water. Nature creates the threats the characters face throughout the story, but nature also grants “kindly” guides that can match humans in intelligence if they respect it and use it correctly.