The sea is the be all and end all

Captain Nemo's declaration "The sea is the be all and end all" is the most concentrated expression of his worldview, a statement that defines his relationship with the ocean not merely as a setting for adventure but as the very substance of his being. Uttered during his first extended conversation with Professor Aronnax, the phrase crystallizes a philosophy that governs every aspect of life on the Nautilus: the sea is not a resource to be exploited but a complete, self-sufficient realm that supplies all needs, offers absolute freedom, and stands as a moral alternative to the corrupt world of men.

The Sea as a Self-Sufficient World

Nemo's claim that the sea is "the be all and end all" is grounded in the Nautilus's total material independence from the land. He explains to Aronnax that the ocean provides everything: food from its nets and underwater forests, clothing woven from seashell filaments and dyed with marine extracts, perfume from sea plants, mattresses from eelgrass, quill pens from whalebone, and ink from cuttlefish. "Everything comes to me from the sea," he declares, "just as someday everything will return to it!" This self-sufficiency is not a convenience but a deliberate renunciation of terrestrial ties. The Nautilus's library of 12,000 volumes represents his "sole remaining ties with dry land," purchased on the day his submersible first submerged, after which he chose to believe that humanity "no longer thinks or writes." The sea, in this view, is a complete civilization unto itself, one that requires nothing from the continents and owes them nothing.

The Sea as a Realm of Freedom and Independence

For Nemo, the ocean is above all a space of liberation from human tyranny. In his most passionate speech, he tells Aronnax: "The sea doesn't belong to tyrants. On its surface they can still exercise their iniquitous claims, battle each other, devour each other, haul every earthly horror. But thirty feet below sea level, their dominion ceases, their influence fades, their power vanishes! Ah, sir, live! Live in the heart of the seas! Here alone lies independence! Here I recognize no superiors! Here I'm free!" This freedom is absolute and self-defined. Nemo has "severed all ties with society" and obeys "none of its regulations." He has placed himself beyond human laws, rendering himself "independent, out of all reach, free in the strictest sense of the word." The sea is the medium that makes this radical autonomy possible, a liquid sanctuary where no nation's navy can pursue him and no court can judge him.

The Sea as a Living Entity and a Source of Moral Authority

Nemo's relationship with the sea is not merely utilitarian or political; it is deeply spiritual and ecological. He speaks of the ocean as possessing a genuine circulation, a pulse, and arteries, siding with Commander Maury's view that it has "a circulation as real as the circulation of blood in animals." He describes the sea as "simply movement and love; it's living infinity." This living quality gives the ocean a moral authority that Nemo invokes to justify his most extreme actions. When he sinks a warship, he declares himself "the law" and "the tribunal," acting as an agent of vengeance against oppressors. The sea is both his weapon and his witness. Yet this same reverence for life leads him to forbid the wanton killing of whales, arguing that they "have quite enough natural enemies" without human interference. The sea, as the "be all and end all," provides the ethical framework for both his compassion and his ruthlessness.

The Sea as a Final Resting Place

Nemo's identification with the ocean extends to his vision of death. After a crewman dies, he buries him in the coral cemetery hundreds of feet beneath the waves, declaring: "There lies our peaceful cemetery, hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the waves!" When Aronnax remarks that the dead can sleep there "out of the reach of sharks," Nemo adds solemnly, "of sharks and men!" The sea is not only the source of life and freedom but also the ultimate refuge from humanity, a grave where his companions can rest undisturbed by the world they have rejected. This final integration of life and death into the oceanic realm completes the circle of Nemo's philosophy: the sea is truly the beginning and the end, the all-encompassing element that sustains, liberates, judges, and finally receives him.