Around the World In Eighty Days

Summary of Around the World in Eighty Days

   On Around the World in Eighty Days tells the story of Phileas Fogg, an Englishman living in the Victorian Era who bets £20,000 that he can circle the globe in exactly eighty days. Fogg is an extremely wealthy man with eccentric habits—he has no family or close relationships yet is extremely generous with strangers, and he abides by a strict, repetitive schedule that he keeps track of on an intricate clock in his mansion. He spends every day at the exclusive Reform Club social organization, where he dines extravagantly, reads newspapers, and bets on games of whist with his similarly wealthy acquaintances. Due to Fogg’s reclusive, solitary nature, no one knows much about him despite his public reputation of being knowledgeable, worldly, and gentlemanly.

 On October 2nd, 1872, Fogg hires a new servant named Jean Passepartout. Passepartout is a Parisian man who once led an adventurous life as a vagrant and performer, and now longs for the same calm, routinized life that Fogg leads. That evening, Fogg plays whist with his usual partners at the Reform Club: Andrew Stuart, Gauthier Ralph, John Sullivan, Samuel Fallentin, and Thomas Flanagan. The men get into a discussion about a recent robbery at the Bank of England by a “well-to-do” gentleman and theorize about whether or not he will be able to evade authorities by leaving the country.

This conversation eventually leads to Stuart betting £4,000 that it is impossible for a man to go around the world in eighty days. Fogg impulsively counters with a £20,000 wager that he himself can complete this challenge, which Stuart and the other men agree to. Fogg leaves immediately to pack and make the 8:45 P.M. train, taking a bemused Passepartout along with him. Fogg’s itinerary has him traveling from London to Paris, Suez, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York, and back to London. He must meet his friends back at the Reform Club precisely eighty days later on December 21st at 8:45 P.M. in order to win the wager.

Detective Fix, an inspector from the Scotland Yard, trails Fogg and Passepartout to Suez. Due to Fogg’s sizable fortune, strange habits, and hasty departure from England, Fix believes that he is the very bank robber that Fogg and his acquaintances were discussing at the Reform Club. He must wait for a warrant to arrive in order to legally arrest Fogg in British territory (England, India, Hong Kong, or Yokohama) and becomes acquainted with Passepartout in an effort to gain information about Fogg. Neither Fogg nor Passepartout are aware of his suspicions, instead remaining focused solely on the wager.

Throughout their journey, Fogg is calm and logical at all times, but meticulously tracks the time they lose and gain due to unforeseen obstacles. Passepartout falls into a similar obsession with time, cursing every delay they face and refusing to change his watch away from London time. One such obstacle occurs when they reach India—Fogg, Passepartout, and their newfound acquaintance Sir Francis Cromarty are forced to traverse the undeveloped jungle because their train is halted by an unfinished track. They resort to riding on an elephant led by a helpful guide and stop to save a young Indian woman named Aouda from a sacrificial religious ceremony along the way, a gesture that Fogg and his companions agree is well worth the delay.

In Hong Kong, Fix reunites with Fogg, Passepartout, and Aouda. He decides to get Passepartout intoxicated on alcohol and opium in order to make them miss the steamer to Yokohama (the last British territory they will visit before moving onto the United States) and to bide more time for the arrest warrant to arrive. Though they are temporarily separated and delayed, Fogg is able to pay a pilot-boat captain named John Bunsby to get him to his destination, and Passepartout manages to navigate Yokohama on his own. They are reunited by chance at an acrobatic show in Yokohama, and Fix does not receive his warrant in time to arrest Fogg.

From there, Fogg, Passepartout, Aouda, and Fix all travel to the United States, where they cross the country from San Francisco to New York by train. By this time, Fix has begun to warm up to Fogg’s generosity and endearingly stoic nature, though he is still motivated by a sense of duty to arrest him once they reach England. Passepartout and Aouda, too, have developed love and reverence for Fogg, and vow to stay loyal to him not matter what. The group faces myriad challenges and delays throughout the long journey—most notably, their train is attacked by a band of Sioux in Nebraska and Passepartout is taken captive. Luckily, Fogg (with the help of soldiers from Fort Kearny) is able to save his loyal servant.

In order to catch the train from Omaha to Chicago, Fogg, Passepartout, Aouda, and Fix must resort to riding on a sail-rigged sledge driven through the bitterly cold winter snow by an American named Mudge. They make the train on time and continue from Chicago onto New York, but realize that they missed the steamer to Liverpool, England once they arrive. On the Hudson River, Fogg pays Captain Andrew Speedy to bring him and his companions along on his trading vessel to Bordeaux. Once he is on board, Fogg bribes the crew to take Speedy hostage and commandeers the boat to sail to Liverpool. They nearly run out of coal, so he buys the boat from Speedy and burns it for fuel. They make it as far as Ireland and take a train to Liverpool, where Fix finally places Fogg under arrest.

After a short stint imprisoned in the Custom House, Fix finds out that the real bank robber was apprehended three days prior; Fogg is released and orders a special train to London with Passepartout and Aouda. They arrive five minutes too late, however, and Fogg believes that he has lost the wager. Passepartout and Aouda go back with him to his house in Saville Row, and both blame themselves for Fogg losing the wager, and thus, his reputation and fortune. Aouda, saddened by Fogg’s lonely life in England, asks him to marry her. He accepts, professes his love for her, and sends Passepartout to notify the local reverend of their engagement.

Passepartout, however, finds that the reverend is not home, which causes him to realize that it is actually Saturday, December 21st and not Sunday, December 22nd as they had assumed. He and Fogg failed to factor in the day they gained by crossing the International Date Line. Passepartout rushes home to share the news, and Fogg makes it to the Reform Club three seconds before 8:45 P.M., winning the £20,000 wager. He and Aouda are married the following Monday, which makes Fogg “the happiest of men” and is ultimately what gives his journey around the world in eighty days a sense of meaning.

CHARACTER

(i) Phileas Fogg is as cool as a cucumber whereas Passepartout is as crazy as a loon. Explain the statement by citing some references from the extract.

Ans:
Fogg’s personality is completely opposite to Passepartout’s. Fogg is serious, meticulous and capable of making decisions after carefully studying any situation, while Passepartout is comical and clumsy (
अनाड़ी), careless and carried away any situation without thinking. 

1] Mr. Fogg has to be arrested at Liverpool due to Passepartout hiding Fix’s true motives from Mr
Fogg.

2] Passepartout had kept the gas burner on for eighty days.

3] When Passepartout saw his master arrested, would have fallen upon (attack) Fix, lf he had not been held back by some policemen.

4] Fogg, who always remains calm in any circumstances. When Fogg is arrested at Liverpool. In spite of having his victory snatched
away from him at the last hour, Fogg does not display any anger or sorrow. He is calm and composed.

(ii) Detective Fix tried hard but could not fix the
charge of robbery on Fogg. Explain the statement from the point of view of Fix.

Ans: The antagonist of the novel. Detective Fix is an inspector who suspects Phileas Fogg of robbing the Bank of England. Fix believes that Fogg’s wager of traveling around the world in eighty days is a cover-up for his escape from
London, and decides to follow him. He can only legally arrest Fogg on British territory. Fix arrests him when they reach Liverpool, England on the last day of the wager, but he has to release Fogg when he learns that the real bank robber was arrested three days before and so he could not fix the charge of robbery on Fogg.

(iii) Describe the character sketch of Aouda from Fogg’s point of view.

Ans: Aouda is a young, beautiful Indian woman whom Phileas Fogg and Passepartout save from difficult calamity. Fogg decides to bring her back to England. At the end of the novel, she returns to London with Fogg and asks him to marry her despite the fact that they believe he has lost the wager, and thus, his entire fortune. He accepts, and tells her that he loves her, too. After Fogg does win the wager at the last moment, he and Aouda are married. Even though the trip around the world earns Fogg nothing, he considers himself to be the “happiest of men” because Aouda’s love has been his greatest reward. Thus, even though he wins the bet, his ultimate victory lies in attaining Aouda’s love.

(iv) Which one among the following is not a major character of the novel? Justify. (Select the correct one.)

(a)  Phileas Fogg     

(b)  Aouda  

(c)  James Strand     

(d)  Jean Passepartout

Ans: c. James Strand

James is only mentioned in the novel at the time of his arrest who had been arrested, on the 17th day of December, at Edinburgh, three days before Fogg’s mistaken arrest. He is the robber, who had robbed the Bank of England. Thus, he is not a major character.

PLOT

(i) Arrange  the  incidents  in  correct  sequence  as  per  their  occurrence  in  the extract.

(a)Aouda accepted Fogg's proposal of marriage.

(b)When set free, the first thing that Fogg did was he knocked Fix down.

(c)As a part of duty, Fix arrested Fogg.

(d)At the fifty-seventh second, Fogg entered the Reform Club Saloon.

Ans:

(c)As a part of duty, Fix arrested Fogg.

(b)When set free, the first thing that Fogg did was he knocked Fix down.

(a)Aouda accepted Fogg's proposal of marriage.

(d)At the fifty-seventh second, Fogg entered the Reform Club Saloon.

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