Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: Part 2, Chapter 16 Summary & Analysis

The Nautilus is imprisoned in a cage of ice. Nemo calmly says that they will die in one of two ways—they will either be crushed, or suffocated. The oxygen reservoirs have about two days’ worth of air left. He says they will try to escape the ice trap by penetrating the walls. Arronax, Conseil, and Ned agree to participate in the effort to break the ice, and don their wet suits. They hack at the ice with pickaxes, going in rounds so as not to exhaust themselves. Back in the submarine, Arronax notices the intense presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and feels weak as a result. It soon becomes clear that, given the progress already made, it would take the men five days to successfully hack through the ice.

The situation is terrifying, but having worked so hard already, the men are all determined to go down fighting. They keep working, but when Arronax gets back to the ship he finds that he’s almost “chocked” by all the carbon dioxide. Although Nemo lets in more oxygen to the atmosphere, it doesn’t stop the feeling of “suffocation.” The next day Arronax keeps working, but begins to feel that there is no point to such arduous labor if they are going to die anyway. He discusses their options with Nemo, who reveals that the oxygen will run out the next day. Suddenly, Nemo suggests using boiling water to melt the icebergs. Arronax feels excited, thinking that this may just work.

They boil the water and inject into the surrounding ice. Progress is slow, with the outside thermometer changing very gradually. By the next day, they have melted six yards of ice, but the oxygen reservoirs are empty, and the effects can be strongly felt aboard the vessel. Conseil sticks close to Arronax, saying he wishes he could stop breathing to give more oxygen to his “master.” Eventually, the vessel breaks free. However, its journey toward the surface is slow enough that they still might not reach it before the oxygen supply runs out. Conseil and Ned discover a few last “drop[s]” of oxygen in a breathing tank and give it to Arronax. He tries to refuse, but they force him to breathe it in. Finally, they break through the water’s surface. The crew rips off the panels, and the vessel is flooded with oxygen.