The Lighthouse at the End of the World

Infobox Book
name = The Lighthouse at the End of the World
title_orig = Le Phare du Bout du Monde
translator =


image_caption = 2001 Fredonia Books (NL) paperback edition.
author = Jules Verne
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = France
language = French
series =
subject =
genre = Adventure novel
publisher = Jules Hetzel
release_date = 1905
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Lighthouse at the End of the World" ( _fr. Le Phare du bout du monde) is an adventure novel by French author Jules Verne. It was first published posthumously in 1905. The plot of the novel involves piracy in the South Atlantic during the mid-19th century, with a theme of survival in extreme circumstances, and events centering on an isolated lighthouse. Verne was inspired by the real lighthouse at the Isla de los Estados, near Tierra del Fuego.

Although not as well known as Verne's other novels, it is generally considered as good by Verne's fans and the literature critics. In 1971 the novel was adapted into a movie, "The Light at the Edge of the World".

Plot summary

Vasquez, Moriz, and Felipe are the three lighthouse keepers stationed at the Staten Island lighthouse.

Two of them are murdered by a band of newly arrived pirates lead by one Kongre. Vasquez is the only survivor, and spends the several months until the dispatch boat "Sante Fe" is due to return, surviving off the pirates' hidden stores of food in a cave. After an American ship from Mobile, Alabama, the "Century", crashes on the island due to the light being put out in the lighthouse by the pirates, he bands with the sole survivor of the wreck -- First Officer John Davis -- to stop the pirates from escaping into the South Pacific.

They manage to scavenge a cannon from the wreckage, and shoot the pirates' ship, the "Carcante", as it is about to leave the bay they are situated in. The shell only causes minor damage, however, and the pirates' carpenter is able to fix it in only a few days. The night before the ship is about to attempt to leave again, Vasquez swims to the "Carcante" at its mooring and plants a bomb in the rudder. This causes, yet again, only minor damage, and is fixed in only one day. The next day however, Carcante, the namesake of the pirate ship, spots the "Sante Fe" on the horizon. Fortunately for the pirates, it will not arrive till night, and the "Sante Fe" can't possibly get into the bay without light from the lighthouse. This will give them the perfect chance to slip out and sail around the southern side of the island, which they know quite well by now. Vasquez and Davis, however, kill the lighthouse guards and turn the light back on. The troop of pirates tries to regain the lighthouse and kill the two, but they find the bolted iron door to the staircase too reinforced to break down. Kongre, the band's leader, orders Carcante and the carpenter to climb the side of the lighthouse and murder Vasquez and Davis at the top, but they are shot as soon as their heads peek over the banister. Kongre and the remaining pirates realize its all over for them, and flee to the interior of the island. Most surrender afterward, a few starve, and Vasquez watches as Kongre commits suicide. Vasquez returns home with the "Sante Fe" after making sure the island is safe for the new lighthousemen.

References

* [http://home.netvigator.com/~wbutcher/books/lew.htm "Lighthouse at the End of the World"] , the Nebraska University Press translation of Jules Verne's original manuscript by William Butcher, with introduction, notes and appendices
*cite book | title=The Lighthouse at the End of the World | last=Verne | first=Jules | authorlink=Jules Verne | publisher=Jules Hetzel | location=France |date=1905
*cite web | title=The Complete Jules Verne Bibliography X. Apocrypha | last=Dehs | first=Volker (et al.) | work=The Complete Jules Verne Bibliography | url=http://jv.gilead.org.il/biblio/apocrypha.html | accessdate=2006-12-19