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Fogg sets his life by the clock: He lives and breathes by watching the hours of the day. Every day, he follows a strict routine that finds him spending most of the day at the Reform Club, an upscale gentleman’s club in London, reading newspapers and playing his favorite game, whist. He has no wife, no children, and no relatives. Fogg is tall and handsome and exemplifies the token features of a modern British gentleman in Victorian England. His manner is reserved, he barely speaks, and his movements and speech are controlled. Fogg’s life exudes an air of mystery that draws the curiosity of people around him. 

Fogg’s routine changes abruptly when he announces his plans to go around the world in eighty days based on a bet he makes with his fellow Reform Club members that, due to modern developments in transportation, the world is smaller than people think. Fogg feels so sure of his claim, as well as his prowess at keeping to a schedule, that he bets his fortune on his success. Over his journey, the real Fogg begins to emerge: a resourceful, daring, and respectful man who is determined to reach his goal. He’s not so determined, however, to put ambition or money over friendship, a quality that emerges as his relationship with his loyal servant, Passepartout, develops. Fogg also realizes that he is not as stoic as he once viewed himself, an awareness that emerges as Aouda, the woman he saves from India, eventually opens his heart to love.

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