SETTING : The story started on May 24th 1863, Konigstrasse, Hamburg.
CHARACTERS :
• Professor Oto Liddenbrök: 50 years old man, He is a good geologist. He likes to read old manuscript and observe historycal thing. He is a high temper man, selfish, but he is perfectly clever and cauragous.
• Axel: He is Oto’s nephew. He is in the same study program like his uncle. He is clever but he is not as brave as his uncle. His heart is full of doubt.
• Grauben: The daughter of professor Oto Liddenbrock. She is young and beautiful. She has an affair with Axel.
• Martha: She is an old servant. She is very loyal to her employer.
• Hans: He is an Icelandic. He is a silent person but strong and tough as his height.
Professor Oto Liddenbrök is a scientist. He is almost sink of his work because he is judged as an unproductive scientist. One day he found a manuscript in Latin alphabet. He is able to use Latin but he can not translate the manuscript. There is something wrong to that manuscript. He observes it every day but he still does not find the answer. His nephew, Axel, helps him to translate the manuscript. Axel is his personal assistance. Axel finds the answer that the alphabet must be read by the right side. However, he does not tell his uncle because the manuscript is actually the direction to the journey to the center of the earth. The writer, Arne Saknusem, is the scientist who have the very first journey to the center of the earth. Axel is more confused because if he tell his uncle, his uncle will force him to have the journey. Axel is little bit afraid. He had ever heard that Arne Saknussem never came back to the surface. Then he assure himself not to tell his uncle.
Professor Liddenbrök still confused of that manuscript. he tries hard to find the answer while Axel who already knows the answer promises himself to keep the secret. Professor is little bit angry of his weakness not to find the answer yet. His ego is raising up. He forbids whole people in his home to eat until he finds the answer. Martha, the servant, wants to buy some meal for them but professor get angry to her.
Axel is almost die of his hunger. Finally he decides to tell his uncle about his knowledge. As he thinks before, his uncle plans to have a journey as Arne Saknussem’s. Axel refuses it. He never thinks that he will end his life in that stupid journey. He asks Grauben about his journey, however Grauben agrees about this journey and says that Axel will receive the pride if they can finish the journey and Professor Liddenbrök’s reputation will be recovered.
With the very unpleasent feeling, Axel join the journey. The first destination is Reykjavik. They reach Reykjavik by Elleanor ship (through Copenhagen). Lidenbrok meets his friends, Profesor Thomson, and get the mail to get acomodation and information about the next step. There are two services of Hans Bjelke as their guide, and travel on the land to the base of the volcano.
In June (late) they reach the volcano. It has three craters. Based on Saknussemm's message, the rigth way to the center of the earth is the crater that is touched by the shadow of a mountain peak. It just happened at noon exactly. It is also said that it will be happen just in the late June.
The travel days, the weather is too dark seeing the shadow. Axel hopes this will make his uncle disapointed return home. However, the weather gone better and brighter everyday and on the last day mountain peak shows it’s shadow and gives the direction of the correct crater.
They go to the crater carefully. Deeper and deeper, they meet a giant cave with strange mushrooms. It is prehistoric mushroom. They go deeper again. Without consciousness, the are on bowels of the Earth. They meet many strange phenomena and dangers.
A chamber with dangerous gas is the first danger. They meet a cross road. They’re very confuse to take the right way. They choose one but unfortunately it’s the wrong turn. Axel almost dies because they do not have any water again. Hans goes into a river inside the chamber and saves Axel. Lidenbrock and Axel names the stream Hansbach and they continue the travel. Axel is separated from the others. He is lost. He does not know how many miles he separates from the group. He meets the group again by the leading of the strange acoustic sound that makes him able to communicate with the group from a very far distance.
The following travel take them to the vast cavern. It is full of electric gas on the ceiling. There is a very strange phenomena, they face an ocean. The plant there still the same, that is prehistoric mushroom which is very huge. They build a raft from the trees to sail the ocean. This sea is named as the Lidenbrock Sea. In the water, they meet a creature which is like fish but it’s wilder and able to jump. Finely they arrive to the coastline. This part of the coast, Axel is found, is alive with prehistoric plant and animal. Axel also see the human skull. They are in debate about the skull. According to Lidenbrock, if the skull is prehistoric human, it must be twelfe feet high. They explore the coastline and find the name of Saknussem. Their way is blocked with granit wall. They see that under the rock, there is no bottom. It is like bottomless, so deep.
After that they arrive at the open ground. They find the ship-like made from shell. They are on it and go to the magma. The temperature up-raising and rushed upwards, through the 180 degree celcius and are pulled off onto the surface from a side-vent of a volcano. They discover that they are out from the active volcano on Stromboli. They return to Hamburg with a great pleasure. Lidenbrock becomes a great scientist, Axel too. Then he marries Grauben. Hans goes back to Iceland.
Retold by
Tita
Dewa / Hastarita
