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| Title | L’île mystérieuse (The Mysterious Island) | |
| Author | Jules Verne | |
| Edition | Le Livre de Poche Jeunesse. Hachette Livre. | |
| Release | 2002 | |
| First Release | 1875 | |
| Web link | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mysterious_Island | |
| Keywords | human rights, book, engineering, freedom, mystery, work, person, redemption, robinsonade, novel, science, scientism, society, survival, invisibility | |
Introduction▲
Among my readings, one book stands out during my adolescence. It stands out because it is particularly… striking. During my middle school years, my French teacher in the 4ème class suggested reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne, a 19th century French writer, noting my attraction to science and science fiction, fantasy. I would love it. When I learned about the work, I discovered that it was part of the Voyages extraordinaires series (lit. Extraordinary Voyages or Amazing Journeys) and that it was linked by narrative elements to two other novels: In Search of the Castaways and The Mysterious Island, constituting a sort of trilogy within the series. So I naturally started reading The Mysterious Island, which was the logical continuation. And it was a wonder for the teenager that I was at the time.
1. A hook for the book▲
This French hook constitutes the fourth cover of the work of this edition.
Une île déserte, en plein océan Pacifique. Cinq naufragés américains organisent leur survie, accompagnés de leur chien Top. Bientôt, phénomènes inexplicables et coïncidences troublantes se multiplient, comme si quelqu’un ou quelque chose tentait de les aider à distance. Quel est donc le secret de l’île ?
My personal translation
A deserted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Five American castaways plan their survival, accompanied by their dog Top. Soon, inexplicable phenomena and disturbing coincidences multiply, as if someone or something were trying to help them from a distance. So what is the island’s secret?
2. An afterword, provided by the publisher at the end of the book▲
This French afterword is written in this present edition at the very end of the book (page 281).
L’île mystérieuse est ce qu’on appelle une “robinsonnade”, du nom du héros de Daniel Defoe. Ce type d’ouvrage est en général assez édifiant, moraliste, et celui-ci ne fait pas exception à la règle. Les cinq personnages – un ingénieur, un journaliste, un marin, un serviteur noir et un adolescent – échouent sur une île après s’être évadés de Richmond en ballon, durant la guerre de Sécession.
Pendant les quatre années que dure leur séjour sur l’île, de nombreux événements étranges se produisent. Ce n’est que peu avant la fin de l’histoire qu’ils découvriront l’identité de leur mystérieux bienfaiteur : le capitaine Nemo, principal protagoniste de Vingt mille lieues sous les mers. On retrouve aussi Ayrton, abandonné sur une île voisine pour purger sa peine, et l’un des personnages des Enfants du capitaine Grant.
L’île mystérieuse présente une communauté d’hommes très soudée, solidaire et généreuse. Ses héros ne se laissent pas gagner par le découragement, ni la paresse. Ils fabriquent du pain, cultivent du tabac, pratiquent l’élevage, construisent un four, une forge, plusieurs bateaux, etc.
L’auteur exalte à la fois le goût du savoir, l’intérêt pour la science et la technique, si populaires au XIXe siècle, et le travail manuel, qu’il soit agricole ou artisanal. Jules Verne recrée une société presque idéale, tellement agréable que ses personnages ne font guère d’efforts pour la quitter. Ils ne semblent pas pressés de rejoindre la civilisation et leur pays natal, l’Amérique. Ce roman scientifique rend un bel hommage à la ténacité des hommes.
My personal translation
The Mysterious Island is what is called a “Robinsonade”, named after Daniel Defoe’s hero. This type of work is generally quite edifying, moralistic, and this one is no exception to the rule. The five characters – an engineer, a journalist, a sailor, a black servant and a teenager – are stranded on an island after escaping from Richmond in a balloon, during the Civil War.
During the four years that they stay on the island, many strange events occur. It is only shortly before the end of the story that they discover the identity of their mysterious benefactor: Captain Nemo, the main protagonist of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. We also find Ayrton, abandoned on a neighboring island to serve his sentence, and one of the characters from In Search of the Castaways.
The Mysterious Island presents a very close-knit, supportive and generous community of men. Its heroes do not let themselves be overcome by discouragement or laziness. They make bread, grow tobacco, practice livestock breeding, build an oven, a forge, several boats, etc.
The author exalts both the taste for knowledge, the interest in science and technology, so popular in the 19th century, and manual work, whether agricultural or artisanal. Jules Verne recreates an almost ideal society, so pleasant that his characters make little effort to leave it. They do not seem in a hurry to return to civilization and their native country, America. This scientific novel pays a fine tribute to the tenacity of men.
3. My summary of the book▲
This extraordinary journey takes us to a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It tells the story of five characters: the engineer Cyrus Smith, his black servant Nab, the journalist Gédéon Spilett, the sailor Bonadventure Pencroff, and the teenager Harbert. They are accompanied by Cyrus Smith’s faithful dog, Top. Prisoners of the separatist troops during the American Civil War, they manage to escape from Richmond in a balloon.
Due to a terrible storm, they are stranded on an island that seems uninhabited. The castaways then organize their survival using the resources found on the island, their knowledge and their solidarity. Inexplicable phenomena occur: someone or something seems to want to rescue them, to help them from a distance.
Mysteries that end up disappearing because they meet their benefactor: Captain Nemo, a tormented man and commander of a submarine, the Nautilus, stuck in a cave below the island. In a state of extreme weakness, he shares his story and then dies. The group then pays him their last honors and locks him inside the Nautilus in accordance with his last wishes. The group of companions also meets another man, Tom Ayrton, a criminal abandoned on a neighboring island to pay the debt for his evil deeds.
After many adventures, a ship passing offshore finally comes to rescue the castaways and bring them back to civilization.
4. My take on this book▲
The themes covered in this book are powerful and formative; among them, I cite human rights with the abolition of slavery, survival, living together, solidarity, redemption, humanism.
4.1. The abolition of slavery▲
I specified the servant’s skin color. Sadly yes. Nab is indeed a slave freed by Cyrus Smith. Master, a person who considers that one can enslave, dominate another person? Dominus means master in Latin. Domestic, a person who has the right, the possibility to domesticate? I am devastated that a man is not free or does not have the same rights because of a different skin color. Brrr. I am cold writing these lines. Thus, we will remember that the skin color of a human being has had (still has?) an importance in the consideration of one’s rights and the construction of societies in the world. What a Shame in History! The castaways will name their host island… Lincoln, in honor of the American president, who ratified in 1865 the XIIIth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and thus abolished slavery. I like to reread Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in its original form from time to time:
By virtue of power vested in me, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves and henceforward and forever shall be free.
Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation Emancipation, September 22, 1862.
For France, we can thank the action of Victor Schœlcher, a 19th century French journalist and politician, who enabled the adoption of the decree abolishing slavery on April 27, 1848. Thanks to him! The Mysterious Island was first published in 1875. It was a very contemporary issue for Jules Verne.
4.2. The power of science▲
The castaways from the air find themselves stranded on a desert island in a hostile environment. An unenviable and terrifying situation. And yet. During the four years that their stay on the island lasts, the five companions share their knowledge and are thus able to exploit the resources of the island. They make bread, grow tobacco, practice livestock breeding, build an oven, a forge, several boats. Each one contributes to the community, with his means, his personal skills. Which makes the person oneself and not… nobody. Jules Verne therefore highlights the taste for knowledge, the interest in science and technology, so popular in the 19th century, and also manual work, whether agricultural or artisanal. The members of the group are very close-knit, supportive and generous. We feel that they are not in too much of a hurry to return to civilization and their native land, America.
4.3. Spotlight on two characters from the novel▲
I will now shine the spotlight on two characters in the novel: Tom Ayrton and Captain Nemo.
4.3.1. Tom Ayrton, the banished then the freed▲
In this work we find Tom Ayrton, one of the characters from the first novel in the trilogy, In Search of the Castaways, abandoned on a nearby island to serve his sentence. A lawless bandit. His story invites us to reflect on the notion of redemption, of a second chance. Ayrton will not be redeemed by solitude, punitive isolation, or ostracism, but by the friendly contact of a group of companions. On the importance of the connection. A human connection.
The group’s patience will allow him to be tamed in the style of “The Little Prince and the Fox” and will give him back his human qualities. From being wild, he becomes a human being again. I do not write man because I want to highlight the notion of being. He was a wild being. He eventually becomes a human being again in the eyes of society, at least in those of a social group. The same if the character had been a woman. Man, woman are reductive qualifiers to designate a person, because the emphasis is placed on a biological characteristic that is often off topic when the word is used. In what cases do we absolutely need to know, to specify, to say the sex of a person? But here’s the thing: could a woman have committed such crimes in this specific socio-cultural context? An open question. And therefore, a person behave like a social human being and not like a “non-being”, an “asocial being”!
I then wonder about the role and usefulness of prisons to condemn criminals and people on the run. Can we fill ourselves with humanity again in prison? Is its role just dissuasive and that the place is consciously a real hell to atone for faults and pay one’s debt to society? To find humanity again in this way?! Isn’t it inhuman? Are repentance, redemption really possible for a criminal person? How can we (re)build a person? To be able to experience, discover ways of living and rebuilding oneself for a social justice that protects and respects all its members. We can see that our society has not yet found a solution to this questioning.
4.3.2. Captain Nemo, the mysterious man revealed▲
Now I turn the spotlight on another key character in the novel. Our heroes of the book discover the identity of their mysterious benefactor in their adventures: Captain Nemo. He is the main protagonist of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
Captain Nemo hides his true identity behind an allusion to the Odyssey. Ulysses, to escape the Cyclops, gives him a false name, Oûtis, which translates to “Nobody” in ancient Greek, just like Nemo in Latin with the meaning “not a man”, “no man”, that is to say nobody. Captain Nobody. He chose an alienating name for himself.
Captain Nemo is in fact Prince Dakkar, son of an Indian raja and nephew of Tipû Sâhib. So he is someone. A person. A mischievous smile. This illustrious stranger is passionate about science and Western culture. A tragedy comes to upset him. The enslavement of India by the British. The Sepoy Mutiny. The murder of his wife and children. His people who become slaves again. He is seized by an immense disgust for everything that bears the name of man. (His words). Understand “human being”. Sic. Hatred. Horror. Flee the civilized world forever. He then becomes nobody. A human being who has broken with humanity. Dakkar then decides to build, on a desert island and in the greatest secret, a naval vessel, called the Nautilus, a revolutionary submarine, which was originally intended to be a simple exploration vessel. He becomes its captain. He gathers twenty of his most faithful companions. Captain Nemo has just been born. He then begins to scour the seas with a cosmopolitan and devoted crew. Fleeing all social rules, all humanity, all civilization. No more communication with anything that was linked to the land. Seeking independence. To live differently or to survive?
Over time, all of Captain Nemo’s companions die and the captain finds himself alone. He brings the Nautilus back to a secret port, which served as a parking area, located in an underwater cave on Lincoln Island. Unfortunately, under the action of volcanic forces, the basalt of the island has risen, obstructing the entrance to the cave: the Nautilus is blocked and cannot get out. Feeling his death near, Captain Nemo contacts the castaways of the island and makes a request. After his death, he asks them to have the Nautilus be his coffin.
… je désire ne pas avoir d’autre tombeau que le Nautilus. C’est mon cercueil, à moi ! Tous mes amis reposent au fond des mers, j’y veux reposer aussi.
Captain Nemo, The Mysterious Island, Jules Verne, 1875.A personal translation
…I wish to have no other tomb than the Nautilus. It is my coffin! All my friends rest at the bottom of the sea, I want to rest there too.
Captain Nemo, once dead, and in accordance with his last wishes, is hermetically sealed in the Nautilus, which is buried under rocky rubble due to an underground volcanic eruption, also causing the destruction of Lincoln Island.
The character of Captain Nemo is charismatic. His story is terrible and questions humanism. What does it mean to be human, to be a person in order to not be a nobody. What does living a human life involve? What structures, what rules, what links, what resources? Building, sharing, cooperating, fighting, confronting? This character created by Jules Verne who became a bitter misanthrope carries this issue very well. Captain Nemo is thus in my heart a luminous archetype of the question of humanism.
In this work, Jules Verne therefore presents two characters who have broken with humanity and who have become human again. Each in their own way. With their personality. With their choice of life. With their responsibilities.
This questioning is linked to my visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp the year before I first read this book. As a small citizen of the world, I want to understand what makes a human being become inhuman and how an inhuman being can become human again. Writing it like this, we feel that it is a question of processes, of a series of states. It seems very important to me to understand them. So as not to be condemned to wander. The violence, the crimes, the wars…
4.4. The invisibility of women▲
And finally, an open question about the content of the book, which is a severe criticism in fact, about the notable absence of a social representation in the book: where are the women? I change my tone, I add several sharps, thus going up several octaves: WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?
Where are the women? In the work, there is Captain Nemo and therefore also the woman Nobody.
Sonia Kanclerski, Pause-café chez Sonia, article The Mysterious Island, 2013.
(Observation and reflection following the reading of the book The Mysterious Island)
No characters, no names mentioned. Worse, I don’t remember any allusion, any thought, any emotion for a close or distant relative, or a lover. In the work, there is Captain Nemo and therefore also the woman Nobody. Invisible. Wiped off the face of the Earth. Maybe I’m wrong? Just having doubts is significant in itself. Am I human to be terrified and devastated just for that?! Talking about a particular writing style to justify or explain the absence of women in a book is insulting to human rights. La-men-ta-ble! I would have liked to listen to Jules Verne’s explanations in person on the issue. Abolishing slavery for equal rights between human beings is ok, but for women, other human beings, it is darkness, gloom. Hard and sad to see it.
5. The influence of the work on me▲
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Science is for me a protection, a shield, a sure value. A protective place where I can take refuge in case of distress. A refuge therefore. The symbolic image to evoke this aspect of my personality: the aegis of Athena. In case of major difficulties, when it is a question of my survival, it is often that I use more or less consciously the aegis of Athena. Athena is the goddess of Reason, Prudence and Wisdom. She is also considered in Greek mythology as the goddess of War, Thought, Weapons and the patron saint of artisans and techniques. The representation is certainly symbolic but it can be heard in my daily life.
So I build myself by taking care to develop my autonomy. Then, subsequently, my independence. Out of the question to be (too) dependent on a person or a lack of knowledge. Understand independence as not being in a state of too marked dependence, affecting one’s personal freedom as a human being. How? By taking an interest in several scientific and technical disciplines. Mathematics, physical and technical sciences, technologies… Understand the practice of science, the use of science in my daily life. Through gardening, sewing, DIY, maintaining my things like the bike, the car, domestic tasks, to domesticate therefore. No noble activity. Just a more or less intense interest. More or less in depth depending on the interest and motivation that I have for it. And very often more than less. The intensity of my interest does not depend on the reputation or the thankless nature of the activity in question, but on its usefulness in helping me in the construction of my autonomy.
It should also be noted that the work greatly contributes to developing a questioning and my relationship to human rights: the abolition of slavery, the invisibility and place of women in society, societal questions about living together and the personal development of one’s being, rehabilitation, redemption. For the moment, I make a bitter observation of failures, mainly because of multiple denials and the lack of consideration for the words of women, among others.
Conclusion▲
So, these different social issues that I have just addressed will continue to accompany me. The Mysterious Island will considerably influence my behavior and will contribute to shaping my personality, like an initiation rite for the teenager that I was when I first read it. The place of science in my life. The taste for adventure and travel. The choice of my profession: engineer. The construction of my autonomy and the affirmation of my independence. A very beautiful scientific novel. For all sciences: formal sciences, physical sciences, life and earth sciences, and human and social sciences. I will find it again later in my story to deal with the question of scientism.
Unsurprisingly, I have these three works (in French) from the Extraordinary Voyages: In Search of the Castaways, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, and The Mysterious Island, in my library and they are in a good place on the shelves and in my heart. Note that The Mysterious Island was adapted for television in the form of a mini-series of six episodes of more than 50 minutes each. The role of Captain Nemo is notably played by the Egyptian actor Omar Sharif. A movie, made from these episodes, was released on DVD and is also part of my media library.
Thank you Jules Verne. I also thank my French teacher who recommended it to me. ☺️