''The Maracot Deep'' is a short 1929 novel by

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

about the discovery of a sunken city of Atlantis by a team of explorers led by Professor Maracot. He is accompanied by Cyrus Headley, a young research zoologist and Bill Scanlan, an expert mechanic working with an iron works in Philadelphia who is in charge of the construction of the submersible which the team takes to the bottom of the Atlantic. The novel first appeared in 1928 as a serial in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

''. It also appeared as a serial in '' The Strand Magazine'' from October 1927 to February 1928. In 1929, it was followed by a sequel, ''The Lord of the Dark Face'', beginning with the April issue of ''The Strand''. The same year, the novel was published in ''The Maracot Deep and Other Stories'' from John Murray in London, and was released in the U.S. by Doubleday Books of New York.

Plot

The novel revolves around the legend of Atlantis, mentioned as an ancient city or continent which was drowned by the sea due to divine intervention. The novel is narrated by Headley, who first writes a letter to his friend Sir James Talbot. On his subsequent rescue, he completes his story, giving details on his escape and how they fought off possibly the greatest danger to humanity, the Devil himself. The novel begins with preparations for the dive, off the coast of Africa. Prof. Maracot claims to have located the deepest trench in the Atlantic and is vehement that he shall go down in the specially prepared submersible (actually a bathysphere) along with Headley and Scanlan. On reaching the edge of the trench, a description of the undersea world is presented. The team comes face to face with a giant crustacean who cuts off their line and hurls them down into the trench. Down in the trench, the team is rescued by the Atlanteans who are the last survivors of the land that was Atlantis. At this point, one device in particular is often made use of: a thought projector, which visualizes the thoughts of a person for others to see. This helps the team and the Atlanteans to communicate. Descriptions of work habits, culture and various sea creatures are provided. The Atlanteans forage for their food from the sea bed and their slaves, Greek descendants of Atlantis's original slaves, work in undersea mines. This is made possible thanks to an exceptionally strong and light transparent material Atlanteans fashion into helmets to enable people to work underwater. The team eventually uses the levity of these spheres to escape to the surface. Headley elopes with the daughter of Manda, leader of the Atlanteans. In the later part of the novel, Headley describes the encounter with the Lord of the Dark Face, a supernatural being who led the Atlanteans to their doom and was the cause of untold miseries to humanity ever since. This being is likened to the Phoenician god

Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...

, who was demonized by later religions and cultures. The being is defeated by Prof. Maracot who becomes possessed by the spirit of Warda, the man who managed to convince a handful of Atlanteans to prepare for the worst and thus built an Ark which saved them from the cataclysm which destroyed their land.

Features of the novel

Although a short novel, it provides interesting glimpses into the belief regarding the sea during the early 20th century, and particularly Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's own beliefs and outlooks. The dramatic end mentioned at the end of the novel, the fight between the ultimate Good and Evil, reveals the deep spiritual nature which Conan Doyle had developed in his later years. Whereas the adventures of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

show the keen analytical side of Sir Arthur, novels like ''The Maracot Deep'' show that he seriously took to spiritualism in his later years. It is not marked by any particular religion, though there are strong Christian and Hellenistic undertones.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maracot Deep, The 1929 British novels Novels by Arthur Conan Doyle 1929 fantasy novels 1929 science fiction novels British adventure novels British fantasy novels Scottish science fiction novels Novels set in Atlantis Underwater novels Underwater civilizations in fiction Novels set in the Atlantic Ocean John Murray (publishing house) books Baal Fiction about deities

Plot

Features of the novel

See also

References