TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

By Jules Verne

First consider the year in which we begin our adventure, 1866. People use trains, horses, sailing ships, and steamships with paddlewheels to get around. Edison is still more than 10 years from inventing a practical light bulb. Ships' officers use their knowledge of currents, winds, seasons, and stars to navigate from one place to another. There is no radio, so ships in trouble at sea can't call for help. They use flags and lanterns to signal for help, which require that another ship or someone on shore be able to see them to get the message. There is no radar or sonar for ships to use to detect items around them, everything is done by sight. They do have spyglasses, however. A shipping company wouldn't know one of its ships had been lost until it was late showing up, so people could be dead for weeks before anyone had a clue. There is no telephone, television or radio, so it takes a long time for the news to spread across the world about the events in this chapter. There are telegraphs, and there is even a telegraph cable that was laid between Ireland and the U.S. in 1856. But if these things happened today, we would all know about it pretty quickly!

The most amazing thing about this wonderful book is that it was written in that same time period. It was published in 1870! Think about the extraordinary vision of the writer, who lived in a horse-and-buggy world, yet was able to construct an imaginary craft which does not seem improbable even to us today.

The narrator of the story is a French scientist named Monsieur Aronnax. As you read, you can gain some insight into mid-nineteenth century society. Pay attention to the way in which M. Arronax is treated compared to his companions. Notice the relationship of Arronax and Conseil, his assistant.

This book is not an easy one to read, but it is certainly worth the effort. To help you out, for each chapter I have provided a vocabulary list with definitions, and some comments where I feel it is needed. Please use the vocabulary list often as you read, and feel free to look up any other words that you have had difficulty with and add them to your list. You would probably find it helpful to read over the vocabulary list before reading each reading assignment, so you won't have to stop frequently in the middle of exciting passages to find out what in the world that strange word means!

Be sure to check out the pictures on every page to see if they are cool links to take you someplace new!

Parents and Teachers Please Read This First!