Jules Verne is an icon of science fiction and adventure literature. Based on the world famous novels of the writer, they make films, performances and musicals. He is the author of seventy novels that he wrote in 77 years of his life.
A brief description of the life and work of the writer
Jules Verne was born in the city of Nantes (France). The father was a lawyer and therefore wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. The future writer in his youth was not eager to study the laws, and even once in secret from his family he signed up as a young man on a ship that sailed to India. But his dreams of the sea and wanderings were not destined to come true: the boy was sent home after a couple of hours, and the ship sailed to distant lands without him. He expressed his love of adventure and the sea many years later in books.
The writer studied law in Paris and successfully passed the qualification exam, which allowed him to work as a lawyer, but he did not want to devote his life to jurisprudence. Jules Verne began to write plays, some productions were successful in the Historical Theater. Later, the writer worked as a broker, secretary at the theater, wrote short stories, short stories and comedies.
The first book of Jules Verne was published in 1863 and was called Five Balloon Weeks. The novel was a dizzying success and was enthusiastically received by readers. The writer realized that he needed to work in the genre of a science fiction novel. Jules Verne diluted the adventure and romantic plot of the novels with scientific facts and fictional miracles that were born in his fantasies.
Jules Verne - the predictor
Jules Verne has become a true visionary in the world of technological progress. In his works, he anticipated the future creation of scuba gear, a space rocket, a submarine, and weapons of mass destruction. He predicted the historical development of world society: the emergence of fascism, the rise to power of Hitler and the desire of the German nation for exclusivity. He expressed these ideas in the novels Five Hundred Million Begumas and The Lord of the World.
The writer studied discoveries in mathematics, geography, chemistry and physics. He was immersed headlong into this work and left behind more than twenty thousand cards describing scientific achievements. Do not be surprised that Jules Verne could look into the future.
Pure science in the work of Jules Verne
Jules Verne's books convey to readers a passion and love for adventure, scientific discovery. He wanted to develop among his fans a desire to explore the seas and oceans, space and land.
The writer was an ardent opponent of the fact that scientific knowledge was used for wealthy people or for barbaric purposes. He believed that discoveries in science should belong to all people and serve for the good of all mankind. Especially Jules Verne was hated by scientists who wanted to use the rich scientific opportunities for domination of the world.
The story of the creation of the novel "Five Hundred Million Begumas"
The novel, which will be discussed in the article, has an interesting story. In 1877, a patriotic manuscript authored by Andre Laurie was sent to the publisher to Etzel. Etzel read the manuscript, but gave it to Jules Verne to edit, because it was not perfect.
Jules Verne read it and criticized the author of the novel for a boring plot and lack of intrigue. The publishing house signed an agreement under which Laurie transferred the rights to the plot and title of the work to Jules Verne. The writer re-worked on the plot and character images. The novel had several variations of the name, but in the end it was published under the name "Five Hundred Million Begumas."
Brief storyline
What is the novel about? First, let's look at a brief summary of “Five Hundred Million Begumas by Jules Verne, and then dwell on individual images and characters of the work.
Francois Sarazen, a doctor and scientist, suddenly becomes the owner of a huge fortune and the title of baronet. He learns this news at a congress in England, Mr. Sharp, a lawyer at Billows, Green, Sharp and Co., tells him. At first, Sarazen does not believe in the fact, but after reading the documents, she realizes that he became rich. His ancestor, Langevol, once in India, married a local begum (honorary noble title of a woman) and became the owner of her wealth. When Begum died, she did not have any heirs, and therefore her entire condition went to her husband’s only heir, François Sarazen.
Sarazen decided to invest in science. He puts forward before the scientific community the bold idea of creating a city where science, progress and equality will reign. Colleagues in the scientific workshop support his idea of creating a city of the future.
At this time, in the German city of Jena, which is famous for its education and universities, a distant relative, a professor of chemistry Schulze, learns from the newspaper about Sarazen's inheritance. A legal dispute arises between relatives, which ends with a settlement. Schulze and Sarazen divide half a billion in half. When Schulze receives the inheritance, he decides to build another city, where not science will reign, but iron and metal, fire and guns. Sarazen calls his city Franseville, and Schulze - Stalstadt.
Schulze envies his French relative and secretly builds a huge cannon that will wipe not only Francesville, but the whole world from the face of the earth. Marcel Brookman, a friend of the Sarazen family, takes an engineer at a factory city to discover the main secret of Schulze. With indescribable enthusiasm, Schulze shows Marcel a cannon, the shells of which are equipped with carbon dioxide. The professor set a date for the death of Francesville, but his calculations were erroneous, as a result, when the gun fired, it destroyed Schulze and the city of Stalstadt. After the death of the mad professor, Francois Sarazen turns Stahlstadt into an industrial and arsenal center, appointing Marcel as the head and giving his daughter Jeanne out for him.
City of happy people
One of the heroes of the book is Francois Sarazen, a decent and honest man. In his image, Jules Verne embodied the idea of a real scientist. Having received the inheritance, Sarazen does not spend it on petty, selfish goals and does not invest in shares of large companies. He wants to realize his old dream, to build a city of happy people, where the latest achievements of science will act and put into practice.
As we see from the plot of “Five Hundred Million Begumas,” Dr. Sarasen managed to realize his goal, thanks to big money he built the city. Good always conquers evil, it is stronger, because it pursues noble goals, it does not seek its own happiness, but the good for humanity. Evil can only destroy and for this reason it will always lose.
Professor Schulze
The main negative character of the novel, Professor Schulze, is a relative of Francois Sarazen. The first appearance on the pages of the novel immediately provokes a negative attitude towards it. The doorman brings him mail earlier than usual, and the professor behaves very rudely with him and threatens with dismissal. Schulze's appearance also does not cause sympathy: a full physique, dull eyes do not express any feelings, and large teeth and thin lips even frighten and repel.
In the memory of Jules Verne, memories of the Franco-Prussian war were still fresh, and therefore the image of Schulze was drawn with a nationalist coloring characteristic of the Germans.
The writer showed a genuine carnivorous image of a German in a scene when a chemistry professor has breakfast in his office: a doorman brings him a plate with a lot of sausages and a glass of beer.
Schulze is a nationalist, the future prototype of the figures of the Third Reich. He extensively discusses on the pages of the novel the exclusive role of the Saxon race and writes a scientific work on the French, in which he tries to prove the degeneration of the French nation.
Schulze is a real racist. He believes that not only the Latin nations, but also all other peoples should be wiped off the face of the earth if they do not want to serve and submit to Germany.
City Stalstadt
With the money received, Schulze in Oregon (USA) is building the steel city of Stahlstadt. The writer paints a living picture where a terrible city is created: a huge red desert with sharp cliffs, protruding pipes and gray square buildings - a contrast between the joyful and happy city of Franceville. There are harmful couples everywhere, and people and workers must obey the military dictatorship.
Stahlstadt - the city where the cannons are built, a tool with which Schulze wants to destroy Francesville. This weapon should provide the Germans with dominance over the whole world. A huge cannon according to the hero’s thoughts must first destroy Francesville, and then subjugate all other countries. Describing a tool filled with carbon dioxide, the writer predicted the invention of chemical and nuclear weapons.
The novel warned the world about a possible disaster, but the books of Jules Verne were always perceived as fiction, fantasy. But why fiction cannot be true !?
Marseille and Octave
The characters of "Five Hundred Million Begumas" are very diverse. Octave Sarazen, the son of the creator of Franceville, and Marcel Brookman are close friends, but very opposite personalities.
Octav Sarazen - a student at the Central School, leads a boring lifestyle. He is a lazy person, he has no goals in life, he studies poorly, hesitantly, is prone to dreams and apathy. Octave entered Central School thanks to Marcel, who helped him with exams and forced him to gnaw at the granite of science.
Marcel Brookman - a very bright personality. He is a determined, sometimes domineering, emotional and persistent young man. He spent the summer holidays in the Sarazen family, thanks to which he became close to the head of the family, who loved Marcel very much, who in turn adored Sarazen as a man and scientist. In all matters, the young man strove to become the first, had a courageous appearance and good physical characteristics.
Marcel always covered Octave, and one of the goals in life was to bring up in a friend a noble man, such as his father Francois Sarazen.
A striking example of the difference in the characters of two friends is their participation in the Franco-Prussian war. When the Germans entered Alsace, Marseille enlisted in the army, was wounded more than once in numerous battles, while the Octave, who was behind him, returned from the war without a scratch.
When the war ended, France lost Alsace and Lorraine, which became part of Germany. The born Alsatian Marcel Brookman closed himself and became silent. He worked tirelessly and always said that by doing a lot, the youth of France will be able to correct the mistakes of the older generation.
Having received a letter from his father, which spoke of a large inheritance, Octave plunged into dreams, how he would be able to take part in the distribution of the money received and decided to drop out of school. Marcel regretted his friend, he realized that this money would destroy the young man and would not do him any good.
Satire on society
Jules Verne uses satire in the novel, with the help of which he exposes the hateful order in society, German militarism and nationalism. If at the beginning of the novel the joke is seasoned with a slight irony, then in the future it turns into a sharp satire.
When Francois Sarasen learns about the inheritance, he wants to hide this news from society. But the next day, when he comes to Congress, he finds out that everyone already knows about his wealth. If before this the chairman of the society and colleagues behaved arrogantly and even rudely with him, and many did not pay attention, now everything has changed. Some scientists began to smile unexpectedly at him, others wink and pay attention. Jules Verne exposes the scientific community in the words of Sarazen, reflecting that if they faced a criminal with a huge amount of money, they would express their sympathies to him with the same sense of appreciation and admiration.
The city of Stahlstadt and Schulze on each page of the novel are ruthlessly criticized and satire. The nationalism and racial intolerance of the professor, his views are ridiculed by the writer.