Journey to the Center of the Earth · Chapter
VIII: Serious Preparations for Vertical Descent explained
The chapter details the journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen, including train and steamer travel, and the Professor's relentless preparations.
What happens
The chapter details the journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen, including train and steamer travel, and the Professor's relentless preparations. In Copenhagen, they visit the Museum of Northern Antiquities, secure passage on the schooner Valkyria to Reykjavík, and the Professor forces Axel to climb the spire of Vor Frelsers Kirke repeatedly to cure his fear of heights.
Themes in this chapter
Human Endurance and Survival
Axel is forced to endure repeated climbs of the church spire to overcome his fear of heights, a physical and mental trial in preparation for the descent.
Scientific Curiosity and Ambition
Professor Liedenbrock's relentless drive to reach Iceland and his meticulous preparations, including securing introductions and booking passage, demonstrate his scientific ambition.
The Unknown and the Sublime
The view from the spire—the sea, the distant shores, the sky—evokes a sense of the sublime and the vast unknown that awaits the expedition.
Characters to notice
- Axel Liedenbrock
Reluctant traveler, suffers from dizziness and dreads the journey; forced by his uncle to climb the church spire as a lesson in abysses.
- Professor Otto Liedenbrock
Energetic and impatient, arranges passage on the Valkyria, secures introductions, and compels Axel to undergo vertigo training by climbing the spire repeatedly.
- M. Thomsen
Curator of the Museum of Northern Antiquities in Copenhagen; receives the Professor cordially and offers assistance.
- Captain of the Valkyria
Captain Bjarne of the schooner Valkyria; charges double fares due to the Professor's enthusiasm.
- Gräuben
Axel's beloved, mentioned wistfully as he imagines walking with her in Copenhagen; she is far away.
Key passages
“Very good! thought I, just the place we want to end our days in; and great as it is, that asylum is not big enough to contain all Professor Liedenbrock's madness!”
Axel sarcastically remarks that a lunatic asylum they pass is too small to hold his uncle's madness.
Reflects Axel's despair and his view of the Professor's obsession as irrational.
“My first lesson in dizziness lasted an hour. When I got permission to come down and feel the solid street pavements I was afflicted with severe lumbago.”
After an hour of forced exposure to heights, Axel suffers from back pain upon descending.
Highlights the physical toll of the Professor's training regimen.
“The worthy captain took advantage of his enthusiasm to charge double fares; but we did not trouble ourselves about mere trifles.”
Captain Bjarne overcharged them because of the Professor's eagerness, but they did not care about the cost.
Shows the Professor's single-minded focus on the expedition regardless of expense.