The
Mysterious Island (1874)
By Jules Verne (1828 – 1905)
Jules Verne classic novel is about a group of castaways
on an unknown island in the Pacific Ocean. This book was published 4 years after “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” about
Captain Nemo and the Nautilus. It is a sequel to that book and takes place during the end of the American Civil War.
The book starts with five men and a dog in a balloon in the middle of a strong storm. The five men utilized the balloon to escape from a Confederate prison camp. The men are engineer Cyrus Smith and his servant Neb, Pencroft the sailor, Gideon Spillet the writer and the young Harbert Brown. Eventually, the storm led them to a deserted, but plush island. The group, while having nothing with them, immediately began the process of civilizing the island. The group undertook various projects, including capturing goats, building a corral, cultivating crops and building a home in the islands caves.
One day, a bottle washed up on shore with the coordinates of a nearby island that was inhabited by a castaway. The group built a small vessel, and journeyed to the other island where they found the inhabitant, Ayrton. Ayrton had previously been a pirate and was marooned on the island as punishment. He had atoned and after a period of time, became a valuable member of the group.
While the group was diligently enhancing life on the island, strange occurrences would mystify them. Their dog, Top was mysteriously saved from certain death at a confrontation with a sea creature. The note in a bottle was not sent to them by Ayrton. One day, crates washed up on shore. These creates contained many tools and gadgets that would prove useful for the inhabitants. None of these were ever explained.
A pirate ship appeared and the colonists were forced to battle them. After some small skirmishes, several of the pirates who had landed on the island were killed, but the main force of vagabonds was still on the ship. Cannons were fired on the colonists positions, and when all seemed lost, the pirate ship mysteriously exploded. The grateful colonists now know they had a benefactor, but did not know who it was. Also, the island still was now inhabited by several pirates that had landed from the ship. The colonists were forced to contend with them.
Young Herbert was shot by the pirates and was near death. A bottle of medicine mysteriously appeared to save the boy. Also, the remaining pirates were found dead by unknown causes. The colonists decided to undertake a detailed search of the island and find their benefactor. After a detailed search, and help from their unknown friend, they found him living underground in a water cave.
Their benefactor was none other than the infamous Captain Nemo. The Captain had lived the last few years on this island and kept a vigil on the castaways. He did much to help them, but did not wish to be made known to them. It was Nemo that destroyed the pirate vessel, saved Top, provided much needed supplies and medicine and saved Ayrton. Captain Nemo had one more service to provide the group. He informed them that the island was about to be destroyed by a large volcano and the settlers needed to evacuate soon. Captain Nemo would not join them as he was near death. His only request was to be buried in the cave.
The settlers eventually left the island and were picked up by a passing ship. They found that the American Civil War had ended and they all returned to the US. We are told of Captain Nemo’s true identity. He was royalty in India and became Captain Nemo after the death of his family during war time. He spent his final few years on the island, where he anonymously aided the castaways and subsequently died of old age.
This work was one of Jules Verne’s best. The book was made into several movies. The 1961 version starred Michael Craig as Captain Cyrus Harding. A 2004 made for TV version starred Patrick Stewart as Captain Nemo. There are also indications that the popular TV series “Lost” is inspired by this work.