Freedom vs. Constraint Theme Analysis

One of the more abstract philosophical questions explored in the novel regards the meaning of freedom. By depicting a protagonist and two other central characters who are captured as “prisoners of war” and confined to an underwater submarine totally cut off from society, the novel interrogates the importance of freedom while postulating that in almost all situations, freedom necessarily has limits. One of the central ways in which the tension between freedom and constraint emerges is through the contrasting depictions of the vast openness of the sea and the claustrophobic containment of the Nautilus. Traveling on the vessel allows a person to journey across massive distances and explore far-away areas of the globe, yet being on a submarine is also a condition defined by intense confinement. In this sense, the paradoxical experience of being both free and confined on the Nautilus indicates that the idea of total, unimpeded freedom is perhaps an illusion.

The novel’s presentation of the inextricable interrelation of freedom and constraint is best summarized by the offer Nemo makes to his prisoners shortly after their capture. Nemo has already bestowed a kind of freedom on Arronax, Conseil, and Ned by rescuing them from death after the clash between their ship, the Abraham Lincoln, and the Nautilus. Yet this rescue also involves dramatic confinement: the men find themselves on board a submarine, inside what Arronax calls a “prison cell.” As the narrative progresses it emerges that they are not really inside a cell, but instead are being offered comfortable sleeping quarters inside a submarine. They have been gifted the freedom of continued life, yet find that this freedom has strictly-imposed limits, as they must now live on board the Nautilus.

The depiction of a heavily-restricted freedom continues when Nemo proposes a particular bargain. He offers Arronax, Conseil, and Ned “liberty” in exchange for agreeing to one condition: if he asks them to confine themselves to their cabins, they will do so. Already, this can be read as an immoral imposition of constraint over other people. Yet prompted by Arronax’s questioning, the constraint Nemo is imposing is revealed to be a lot more severe than he initially indicates. He is also planning to never let the three men leave the Nautilus, meaning that they will spend the rest of their lives on a submarine and will never see their family, friends, or the rest of human society again. The fact that Nemo calls this “liberty” seems somewhat laughable, as Arronax and Ned point out. Furthermore, the situation they are in means that they have no choice but to accept Nemo’s offer, as the only other option is death. This is another way in which freedom is inherently limited by constraint. A person might theoretically have the freedom to choose between two options, but if one of these options is death, then can it really be said to be a choice at all?

In a sense, Nemo’s decision to present an offer to the three men and solicit their permission indicates that he is committed to maintaining the illusion of freedom, but that this is indeed little more than a false façade. Putting aside his reasons for doing so, it is obvious that Nemo is not really offering the men freedom, but rather placing severe constraints on them. At the same time, the novel also indicates that—at least at the beginning of the narrative—Nemo truly believes that roaming the seas in a submarine is a better form of freedom than life on ground, governed as it is by laws and norms that he finds reprehensible. Arronax conveys this idea through his observation, “In the strictest sense of the word, [Nemo] was free, because he was outside the reach of the moral code.”

Ultimately, the novel shows that there is no such thing as freedom without constraints. While in the Nautilus the men may be physically constrained as well as constrained by being placed under Nemo’s rule, on land they would be constrained by a different set of physical and social laws. While this does not excuse Nemo’s act of capturing and confining the men, it also encourages the reader to consider which forms of freedom are more desirable: the freedom of shunning conventional life and human society in favor of exploring the open ocean, or the freedom to conduct a “normal” life without the direct imposition of another person’s whims.