Journey to The Center of The Earth
Home | Reviews | Study Questions | Works Cited | Character Analysis | Biography | Lit Link | Historical Background
Literary Link

Conflict
Man vs. Man
At the beginning of the story when Axel is trying to hide from his uncle the secret of the parchment. When Axel tries to argue the voyage to the center of the earth with his uncle, but fails miserably.
Man vs. Nature
When the men are trying to sail across the underground sea; the winds shift during a storm and send them back to the beach from which they began. Professor Lidenbrock even says, "the elements are in league against me!"

Imagery
The description of the ichthyosaurus during the fight between it and the plesiosaurus paints a very vivid picture in my head. With phrases such as, "eye... as big as a man's head.", "has the whale's speed and size", "jaws... not less than 182 teeth".

Foreshadowing
Right when Axel discovers the secret of the parchment it is quite visible that something out of the ordinary is happening. This thought is confirmed when Axel swears that he won't show the secret to his uncle; however by this time his uncle has already re-entered the room.

Theme
The theme for this book is exploration, which is typical of a Jules Verne novel.  People could consider that another theme for this book is that humans triumph over nature.

 

Page by: Stephen Grantham, Tyler Cameron, Steevo Yang