Jules Verne and the Redemption of Captain Nemo

Jules Verne was by far one of the greatest sci-fi writers of the nineteenth century. Verne wrote over 60 books. While it is debated as to whether or not Verne himself was Catholic, the Catholic Encyclopedia offers this entry:

[H]e brought science into the realm of fiction, and whatever may be the final verdict on the value of his work, he deserves the commendation that none of his books contains anything offensive to good taste or morals. Verne lived and died a Catholic.

There are many themes throughout Verne’s extensive works that contain Catholic themes. One such is that of Captain Nemo’s redemption. In one of his most popular works, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Verne tells the tale of a man seeking revenge for the death of his family. Nemo was originally from India. When there was a revolution against the British occupation of India, his family was killed by the British. In a moving scene in the book narrated by Professor Aronnax, the main protagonist of the book, Nemo had just destroyed a ship full of sailors and was watching them perish slowly before his eyes:

I turned to Captain Nemo. That terrible avenger, a perfect archangel of hatred, was still looking. When all was over, he turned to his room, opened the door, and entered. I followed him with my eyes. On the end wall beneath his heroes, I saw the portrait of a woman still young, and two little children. Captain Nemo looked at them for some moments, stretched his arms towards them, and kneeling down burst into deep sobs. (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, 696)

This scene illustrates Nemo’s anger and hatred for those who killed his family. Whenever something bad or sorrowful happens to us, there are two responses. One is to become angry and take that anger out on others. A second is to be transformed by such an event and grow closer to God. Nemo’s reaction is that of the first attitude, indeed this attitude is the more common one.

Nemo’s story seems to end with the Nautilus’ mysterious disappearance at the end of the book. Verne, however, wrote a sequel known as The Mysterious Island. In the story, a group of Americans during the Civil War had escaped a Confederate prison using a hot air balloon but were swept far into the Pacific Ocean to a deserted island. Throughout the book, they are continuously saved by some unknown person. Eventually, they discover that this person was Captain Nemo himself.

It is here that the reader learns that Nemo was once an Indian Prince, known as Prince Dakkar. The prince had spent his life fighting for the freedom of his people. When his family was killed, he built the Nautilus and destroyed any enemy vessels that crossed his path. After telling his life’s story to the survivors he asks “Now, sir, now that you know my history, your judgment!” (The Mysterious Island, 1172) In response, the leader of the party, Captain Cyrus Harding responds that “God alone can judge…” (MI, 1172) Nemo struggles with himself, trying to know if he was in the right or wrong for destroying his enemies, for destroying those who had killed his family. He raised his hands and quietly asked God “Was I wrong, or was I right?” (MI, 1172) Once again, Captain Harding makes his reply: “All great actions return to God from whom they are derived. Captain Nemo, we, whom you have succored, shall ever mourn your loss.” (MI, 1172) Even though Nemo spent his life destroying life, here at the end of his own life, he tries to preserve it. It might be that through saving the lives of these Americans, that Nemo could attain Heaven.

Nemo’s actions in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea are those of revenge and hatred. In The Mysterious Island, however, he seeks to preserve the life of those in need. While Verne does not tell us whether Nemo should be considered a saint or a sinner, I believe in the end, he was a saint. Nemo was open to the possibility that he was wrong in what he did with the Nautilus and in a sense made contrition for his sins by saving the lives of the group of Americans who had washed ashore to his island. Nemo is the perfect example of having a “deathbed” conversion. He gives us hope for those in our lives who have turned away from God, that in the end, they might return to Him.