Journey to the Center of the Earth · Chapter
The Enemy to Be Starved Into Submission explained
Axel discovers the key to the cryptogram left by Arne Saknussemm, reading a Latin sentence that reveals a mortal man has penetrated a dangerous secret.
What happens
Axel discovers the key to the cryptogram left by Arne Saknussemm, reading a Latin sentence that reveals a mortal man has penetrated a dangerous secret. Horrified, he resolves to destroy the document to prevent his uncle from forcing him on a perilous journey. However, before he can burn it, Professor Liedenbrock returns. The Professor, frustrated by his inability to decode the cipher, imposes a fast on the household until the secret is unraveled. Axel, left alone, struggles with his conscience and the tantalizing puzzle, while the household faces starvation.
Themes in this chapter
Scientific Curiosity and Ambition
The Professor's obsessive drive to decode the cryptogram, even at the cost of the household's well-being, exemplifies relentless scientific ambition.
The Limits of Human Knowledge
Axel's terror upon reading the decoded message underscores the dangerous boundaries of human exploration and the perils of forbidden knowledge.
Intergenerational Conflict and Growth
Axel's internal struggle against his uncle's authority and his decision to hide the secret highlight the tension between youthful caution and older ambition.
Characters to notice
- Axel Liedenbrock
Axel decodes the cryptogram and is terrified by its implications, deciding to hide the secret from his uncle.
- Professor Otto Liedenbrock
The Professor returns home and imposes a fast on the household until the cipher is solved, showing his tyrannical determination.
- Martha
Martha is distressed by the Professor's decree of no food, lamenting the prospect of starvation.
- Arne Saknussemm
Saknussemm's cryptogram is the central object of the chapter, containing the dangerous secret that Axel discovers.
- Gräuben
Axel considers confiding in Gräuben but is unable to leave the house.
Key passages
“I had discovered the key to the cipher. To read the document, it would not even be necessary to read it through the paper.”
Axel realizes he has found the method to decode the cryptogram and can read it directly.
This moment marks the breakthrough in solving the puzzle.
“What! That which I read had actually, really been done! A mortal man had had the audacity to penetrate!”
Axel is shocked to learn that the text describes a real journey that someone has already undertaken.
The revelation of Saknussemm's feat terrifies Axel.
“No! No! It shall not be, I declared energetically; and as it is in my power to prevent the knowledge of it coming into the mind of my tyrant, I will do it.”
Axel resolves to destroy the document to keep his uncle from learning the dangerous secret.
Axel's defiance against his uncle's authority is a key character moment.
“Uncle Liedenbrock is going to make us all fast until he has succeeded in deciphering an undecipherable scrawl.”
Axel tells Martha that the Professor will starve the household until he cracks the code.
The Professor's extreme measures highlight his single-mindedness.