The Mysterious Island

“‘Are we rising?’ ‘No! Quite the reverse! We’re sinking!’ ‘Worse than that, Mr. Cyrus! We’re falling!’ ‘For the love of God! Drop some ballast!’”

The novel starts off in media res, jumping into the heart of the action from the very first page. While much of the book will not be as exciting—much of it is spent narrating steady and patient work undertaken by the men over the course of many months—these opening lines set the tone for an adventure story.

“‘We’re on an islet!’ said Pencroff. ‘We’ve just crossed it from one end to the other!’ The sailor’s observation was correct. The castaways had been tossed not onto a continent, nor even an island, but onto an islet no more than two miles in length, and clearly little wider.”

When the men first arrive on the island, they have no idea where they are. Once they determine that they have crashed on an “islet,” or small island, they must adjust their expectations about the possibility of rescue and the lengths they will need to go to in order to survive, introducing the theme of Man Versus the Natural World.

“Here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the presence of man was very likely more to be feared than desired.”

In the 19th century, crash-landing on a previously undocumented island might lead to encounters with inhabitants hostile to strangers. With plenty of stories of sailors and explorers being captured or killed on their journeys, the men are wary. However, their own commitment to The Importance of Friendship and Camaraderie will transform their island into a beacon of community and harmony.