Discussion Topic
Phileas Fogg's Character Development in "Around the World in Eighty Days"
Summary:
In Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, Phileas Fogg is portrayed as an eccentric, wealthy English gentleman with a mysterious background. His character is defined by his strict moral code, honor, integrity, and adventurous spirit, exemplified by his daring global circumnavigation bet. While he remains methodical and reserved, his journey reveals a capacity for bravery, selflessness, and ultimately love, as he rescues Aouda and finds happiness with her. Despite being suspected of a bank robbery, Fogg remains committed and resilient, illustrating his complex character.
What kind of person is Phileas Fogg in Around the World in Eighty Days?
Phileas Fogg is a wonderful character. Being an English gentleman, he is quite proper and respectable most of the time. Along with being a true English gentleman comes honor and integrity. Fogg has those two traits in spades. Near the end of the novel, Fogg assumes that he has lost his bet. He could legitimately run away and never pay up, but that thought never crosses his mind. He is fully prepared to pay what he owes on the bet. Being a proper gentleman doesn't make Fogg weak or a pushover though. He is equally full of grit and determination as evidenced by him successfully circumnavigating the globe in 80 days. Fogg is also quite selfless in a lot of ways. He stands to lose quite a bit of money in his bet, so he could feel entitled to make his goal his singular focus. And it is in a...
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lot of respects, but Fogg also doesn't hesitate to help fellow travelers and other people along the way. For example, his rescue of Princess Aouda.
In Around the World in 80 Days, how does Phileas Fogg's character evolve?
Phileas Fogg does not actually change much during the course of the novel. He starts out as a precise, very methodical man, wedded to etiquette and proper manners, and ends the novel without changing his habits or his outlook on life. However, beyond his mannerisms and character, he does in fact undergo one major change: he discovers that he is not fully happy until he falls in love. Before the trip, his life was lived in a spartan manner, with little excitement. This was his own doing; he had few adventurous yearnings, or at least did not make them public. However, his life would have continued and stopped at his death in much the same way; the trip, and his chivalry towards Aouda, shows him that his own life is meant to be shared, not lived in isolation.
"...we might have made the tour of the world in only seventy-eight days."
"No doubt," returned Mr. Fogg, "by not crossing India. But if I had not crossed India, I should not have saved Aouda; she would not have been my wife, and--"
Mr. Fogg quietly shut the door.
[...]
...a charming woman, who, strange as it may appear, made him the happiest of men!
(Verne, Around the World in 80 Days, gutenberg.org)
This is the change of Fogg's purpose in life, his ultimate goal; instead of simply living one day at a time, he now has someone with whom to share his life. He can work towards a happy future together, instead of a stolid present, the same until death. In fact, it can be said that even this change is the height of Fogg's essential romanticism; what trip around the world would be complete without finding true love? However, since this was not his actual or immediate goal, and simply a side-effect of his general tendency to meddle and take action, it can be seen as a change in his character.
Is Phileas Fogg the bank robber in "Around the World in Eighty Days"?
A major bank robbery has rocked the nation. A gentleman thief has broken into the Bank of England and made off with a substantial sum of money. The daring heist is the talk of the Reform Club, where someone mentions how easy it would be for the thief to make himself scarce. Phileas Fogg, however, is not so sure. With developments in transport technology the world's a much smaller place than it used to be and so it wouldn't be that easy for the thief to remain hidden for long. Out of this brief exchange emerges the bet that will see Fogg attempt his daring circumnavigation of the globe in just eighty days.
Fogg himself is most certainly not the bank robber. But Inspector Fix of Scotland Yard is convinced that he is. In Fix's experience as a detective, all serious criminals are so-called gentlemen; he's not going to allow himself to get taken in by Fogg's wealth and respectability. So the intrepid Fix sets off around the world on his own journey, hot on the heels of Phileas Fogg, determined to bring him to justice for the Bank of England robbery.
What did Mr. Phileas Fogg take with him in Around the World in Eighty Days?
When Phileas Fogg makes the sudden decision to take on the challenge of traversing the world in eighty days, he has no time to lose. Therefore, he decides to take very little with him in the way of luggage. He tells Passepartout:
We'll have no trunks; only a carpet-bag, with two shirts and three pairs of stockings for me, and the same for you. We'll buy our clothes on the way.
Fogg also tells his valet to bring along his traveling cloak, walking ("stout") shoes, and mackintosh (what we would call a raincoat), though he is not planning to do much walking.
In addition to these items, Fogg brings a railway guide and money, described as follows:
Bradshaw's Continental Railway Steam Transit and General Guide, with its timetables showing the arrival and departure of steamers and railways. He took the carpet-bag, opened it, and slipped into it a goodly roll of Bank of England notes, which would pass wherever he might go.
All of this is quite startling to Passepartout. Not only had he relied on have a quiet, predictable life with Fogg, in those days a rich person would typically travel with many trunks of clothing. Further, when the valet finds out that the thick wad of bank notes is in the amount of 20,000 British pounds, he almost falls over. That represents a vast fortune in the late-nineteenth century.
Fogg, of course, is relying on his money to solve any problems they might encounter in their race around the globe.
From the start, Fogg shows he is generous with his money, giving a substantial sum to a beggar and buying first class train tickets. He also shows he is wise, determined, and clear-thinking in traveling light so that they don't get weighted down with inessential items.
What do you know about Mr. Phileas Fogg from Around the World in Eighty Days?
First, let me warn you that the answer will vary depending on where you are in your reading. We learn different things about Phileas Fogg, the main character of Around the World in Eighty Days, as his journey progresses. Depending on where you are in your reading, your teacher may have different expectations for an answer.
We learn very early on the general characteristics of Phileas Fogg as a person. The novel opens with a description of him as a very aristocratic, polished gentleman, but some one who seems to lead a reserved, almost secretive life:
He was one of the most noticeable members of the Reform Club, though he seemed always to avoid attracting attention; an enigmatical personage, about whom little was known, except that he was a polished man of the world.
We learn early on that he seems quite wealthy; that he lives a very quiet, repetitive life; that he is single, donates to charity, and has very precise expectations. One funny detail -- which indirectly plays a large part in the entire novel -- is that on the morning of the day the novel begins, Mr. Fogg had dismissed his valet "because that luckless youth had brought him shaving-water at eighty-four degrees Fahrenheit instead of eighty-six." Because of this error, the novel's second primary character, Passepartout, has the opportunity to come into Fogg's employ. We then learn other details about Fogg as Passepartout learns them throughout their travels.
As the novel progresses, we learn that Mr. Fogg has a sense of adventure in accepting the bet to travel around the world. It is noteworthy to understand that Jules Verne was writing in the late 19th century, at the time of the Industrial Revolution. In Around the World in 80 Days, Fogg's journey illustrates society's fascination at the time with the growth of industry and the power of machines. By accepting the bet, Fogg demonstrates this quality as well.
Moving on, a mystery begins to grow about just who Phileas Fogg is, as a robbery has occurred back in London, and people begin to suspect that perhaps Phileas Fogg arranged the bet and set out on his journey because he, himself, was the bank robber and is using the journey as a getaway.
In India, we see conflicting elements of Fogg's character. At one point, he somewhat heartlessly leaves Passepartout behind when Passepartout gets detained by local authorities for desecrating a shrine. But then later, Fogg jeopardizes his schedule in order to go out of the way to save a young girl who is about to be ritually sacrificed. In this episode, we see the most humanity in Fogg's character as at any other time in the journey.
So... that's just a start. You have a lot more to choose from throughout the entire novel. For a full review, check out the enotes.com summary at: http://www.enotes.com/topics/around-world
Analyze the character of Phileas Fogg in "Around the World in Eighty Days".
Phileas Fogg is a great character. He's not as awesome as Passepartout, but he's still a fun character to read. He is fun to read because of how unbelievably cool and calm he always is. Readers are told about this quality of Fogg's fairly early on in the story:
He was, in short, the least communicative of men.
Fogg is tough to read, because he doesn't spout off his opinions about things unless he's asked, and he is in such command of his body that he's tough to read physically too. Despite what appears to be a fairly icy exterior, Fogg is a very loyal friend to have. If Fogg commits to you, he's got your back through thick and thin. He might express his displeasure with a person, but Fogg won't leave his friends hanging.
I believe that it has to be said that Fogg is also a risk taker. He has to be in order to bet his vast wealth on proving that he can circumnavigate the planet in eighty days. Fogg would probably say that it isn't much risk, because of his confidence in being able to do it; however, he still takes risks along the way that could have been huge disasters. For example, instead of just staying on schedule, Fogg decides to rescue Aouda.
Describe Phileas Fogg's journey to three places in the novel "Around the World in Eighty Days".
Hello! You asked for a description of Phileas Fogg's journey of any three places:
1) Bombay to Calcutta
Phileas Fogg, his valet, Passepartout, and Sir Francis take a train from Bombay to Calcutta. However, the train stops at the hamlet of Kholby as the railway is not finished, and there are fifty miles to Allahabad, where the train picks up again. Phileas Fogg purchases an elephant for two thousand pounds for the journey to Allahabad. After rescuing a woman, Aouda, from a suttee sacrifice, they are still able to reach the station at Allahabad in good time. From Allahabad, twenty four hours takes them to Calcutta, where they then board the steamer for Hong Kong.
2) From Singapore to Hong Kong.
After entering the strait of Malacca, the Rangoon reaches Singapore a day later. From Singapore, the Rangoon has a journey of approximately thirteen hundred miles to Hong Kong. Because of an unpropitious storm, the Rangoon would not reach Hong Kong until the 6th of November, which would mean the travelers would miss the November 5th steamer to Yokohama. However, the steamer to Yokohama (the Carnatic) had to stay back for the repair of her boilers, so it is looking like Fogg and Passepartout will manage to board the steamer from Hong Kong to Yokohama on time.
3) From Hong Kong to Yokohama, Japan.
In Hong Kong, Fix (convinced that Fogg robbed the Bank of England of fifty-five thousand pounds) tries to delay Fogg so that he can arrest him. He tries to engage the help of Passepartout, but the loyal servant will have none of it. Fix then gets Passepartout drunk and drugs him with opium so that the servant will not inform his master of the early departure of the Carnatic for Yokohama. The Carnatic actually completes its repairs early, and leaves twelve hours before the stated time. Fogg engages the master of the Tankadere, John Busby, to take him and Aouda to Shanghai.
Despite a storm, they reach Shanghai in one piece and are able to take the steamer to Yokohama. Meanwhile, Passepartout actually did board the Carnatic to Yokohama, but he discovers with despair that neither his master nor Aouda are on board. When he disembarks in Yokohama, he realizes that he is poor and very hungry, having not a shilling to his name. He finds work with the Honorable William Batulcar, who is a sort of Barnum, a director of a circus. Although it is not very dignified work, Passepartout has no choice. It is while performing that Passepartout sees Fogg and Aouda in the crowd; both Fogg and Aouda have been searching for Passepartout and are only at the theater by chance. The three are reunited and eventually board the General Grant for San Francisco.
Hope this helps.Thanks for the question.
What was Phileas Fogg's role in Around the World in Eighty Days?
Phileas Fogg is the protagonist of Around the World in Eighty Days, as his actions, thoughts, and fate have the most bearing on the story. He is an English gentleman of immense wealth and a keen sense of adventure. Though his days of travel are behind him by the time the novel starts, he bets his entire fortune that one can travel around the globe in eighty days. This sets off the plot of the book.
Fogg is a man of contrasting types. He is greatly rational in his scientific approach and the consummate English gentleman in his reserved manner, yet he is also a man of risk and adventure, impulsively risking his livelihood and his own survival time and again.