Day 9 阅读范围 (Part 1: Chapter 17 & Chapter 18)
问题
1. After a substantial period of exploration, why does Nemo indicate for the group to stop?
2. At one point, Arronax watches Nemo take out his gun. Why does Nemo take out his gun?
翻译
1. We, on the contrary, had no need to restrain ourselves; we could draw this air freely into our lungs, and it was the breeze, the breeze alone, that filled us with this keen enjoyment.
2. What a scene! The unhappy man, seized by the tentacle, and fixed to the suckers, was balanced in the air at the caprice of this enormous trunk.
要求:
1.尽量回答上面问题
2.思考:
Further reading to help you develop your understanding of these two chapters:
Part of Nemo’s harmonious existence with nature involves embracing the dangers of the natural world. While Nemo takes certain steps to keep himself (and his men) safe, he also exposes himself to dangers that are an inevitable part of exploring nature—it seems that he is ultimately more concerned with gaining knowledge than with preserving his own wellbeing.
Arronax’s strong emotional reaction to seeing land conveys the particular tragedy of his situation. Removed from almost everything he knows and loves, Arronax is forced to live in a strange limbo wherein he knows he is proximate to the life he once had, but is totally unable to access it. This is powerfully conveyed by the image of him standing at the bottom of the land mass, unable to climb it but wishing he could do so.
One of the questions the novel raises is whether Nemo is justified in his beliefs about the ocean, or whether he is projecting his idea of an ideal world onto it. After all, there is nothing to say that cities and communes underwater would be any less brutal and terrible than life on land. Indeed, it seems that what is appealing to Nemo about the ocean is that no humans live there.
