A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

Essay by e-terroristJunior High, 9th grade January 2004

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A Journey to the Center of the Earth

A Journey to the Center of the Earth is a great science fiction book by Jules Verne. The narrator is Harry, the nephew of a professor. Harry tries to convince us that his uncle is insane because of his strange and in this case, very deadly ideas. The book begins with the professor, Professor Hardwig, by making an amazing discovery. He finds an old piece of paper, written by a 13th century fictional scientist, Arne Saknussemm. It is written in Icelandic, so it takes some time before Professor Hardwig and his nephew decipher what it means. It says about how Arne Saknussemm got to the center of the Earth through an Icelandic volcano. Harry deciphers the message, but he does not want to tell his uncle because he knows that if he tells him, his uncle will want to leave immediately.

Harry thinks that this idea is absurd. But after a day of not being allowed to eat, he finally tells his uncle what it means, and, as hypothesized, they leave as soon as they possibly can. When they arrive in Iceland, they are joined by an Icelandic guide to assist them in their journey. It takes them several days to actually get to the volcano of Mount Sneffels, which is where the crater is located. Then they wait until the shadow of another mountain falls on one of the passages inside the crater itself because that is what Saknussemm told them to do on the note. So they begin descending down, and Harry now gets more faith in the success of the journey, even though he still thinks too much about accidents such as eruptions and cave-ins. They walk for several days, until they arrive at a fork. The...