Time and Control

'Oh,' sighed Phileas Fogg, 'you’re four minutes slow! But never mind! Starting right now, at 11:29 on Wednesday, October 2, you are in my service.'

Fogg’s words reveal the important role time plays in Fogg’s life. In Chapter 1, Passepartout has just arrived and hopes to land the job as Fogg’s new servant. Fogg asks Passepartout for the time, and Passepartout tells him his watch says its 11:25. The fact that Passepartout owns a watch most likely comforts Fogg, and as such, he’s more willing to hire him. But learning that Passepartout’s watch is off by four minutes upsets Fogg. Nevertheless, Fogg is willing to let this error go as he’s in a desperate situation to keep his schedule and make it to the Reform Club in time. Hiring Passepartout turns out to be a fortunate decision in the end, as Fogg relaxing his standards opens the door to the development of a deep friendship with Passepartout.

He was always much more concerned with time than place.

Upon arriving in Suez, Egypt, in Chapter 7, Fogg feels pleased to learn that he is on time and on schedule. Here, the narrator reveals a bit about Fogg’s state of mind. So far, modern transportation is serving Fogg well and getting him to where he needs to go on time. Instead of seeing the sights and exploring the city, Fogg heads back to the steamer to have breakfast and write in his diary. Fogg is at the beginning of his journey and hasn’t yet learned to become more aware of his surroundings. He’s still deeply engrossed in his inner world and obsessively attentive to his own thoughts and desires. At this point of the story, Fogg’s absorption in time and staying on schedule dominates his life. The world is made up of both time and place, and choosing to live in only one of the two can come at a cost, as Fogg learns later in the novel.

Tomorrow is Sunday! We arrived home 24 hours ahead of time!

In a remarkable twist of fate, time in the end “serves” Fogg by enabling him to win his bet. It is Passepartout’s refusal to synchronize his watch as he crosses time zones that helps he and Fogg arrive back in London with one day to spare. Here at the end of the novel, Passepartout tells Fogg the incredible news he learned while visiting with Reverend Wilson. As Passepartout shared Fogg’s request that the reverend marry Fogg and Aouda the next day, Reverend Wilson pointed out that Passepartout misunderstood what day it was. Passepartout is astounded to learn it’s a day earlier than he thought, and he rushes home to share the amazing news with Fogg. Ironically, despite being obsessed with time, Fogg did not actually have the correct time for half the trip. While Fogg failed to control time, his being out of sync with the world allowed him to explore a side of himself he would have never been able to back home.

Respect as a Motivation

'I have 12 hours to spare,' cried out Phileas Fogg. 'Let us stop and save this woman!'

With these words, Fogg confirms time’s control over his every move and his absolute devotion to staying on schedule. In Chapter 12, Fogg, Sir Francis Cromarty, and Passepartout have just come upon a startling sight: a woman being led in procession by a group of chanting Brahmins toward a pagoda. Fogg and the others are traveling by elephant across the Indian forest toward Allahabad, where they’ll catch another train to Calcutta. The Parsee guide explains that the woman was married to a rajah who has just died and that she’ll be burned alive with him on his funeral pyre as a human sacrifice. Fogg is aghast and horrified at this foreign custom and finds it incredibly barbaric. Fogg is willing to save the woman, showing his valor and heroism. Notably, though, he saves her with the knowledge that he has the time to spare.

An Englishman has to defend his honor.

In Chapter 25, Fogg and Detective Fix visit a tailor to get their clothes repaired after finding themselves caught up in a political rally that devolved into a brawl. At the rally, an angry protester, Colonel Proctor, punched into the crowd, narrowly missed Fogg, and hit Fix instead. Even though Fix is the one who is struck, Fogg decides it’s his duty to avenge the attack and explains why here. Fogg tells Fix that he will one day return to America to settle the score with Colonel Proctor. Later in the story, however, Fogg is given that chance when Colonel Proctor insults Fogg and challenges him to duel. English codes of respectability and honor are on display here, and Fogg shows himself to be an exemplary model of both. Fogg’s words are a nod to the lack of respectability upheld in America, where political issues end up in violence and people swing wildly and aimlessly into crowds.

Do you expect me to let Passepartout die after he saved all of our lives?

In Chapter 30, Fogg, Passepartout, Aouda, and the others have all just suffered a Sioux attack on the train heading to New York, and three passengers have been taken hostage by the tribe. Passepartout risks his life to save the train from crashing by slipping under the cars and releasing the safety chains from the engine car, which is speeding ahead after the Sioux tampered with the steam valve. Fogg asks the commander of the nearby fort to send his men to save Passepartout, but the commander refuses. When Fogg announces that he’ll take on the risk himself, the commander warns him that he’ll never be able to take on the Sioux alone. Fogg responds with these words, proving his nobility once and for all, and as such he forges a lasting bond with Passepartout by saving him.

Risk and Luck

I have 20,000 pounds in the bank, and I’ll bet it all!

Fogg is an expert game player and knows what kinds of risks are worthwhile to take and which ones are not strategic. With these words in Chapter 3, he makes a bold wager that sets the story in motion: he puts his entire savings on the line to prove that a man can travel around the world in eighty days. Fogg is a fastidious man, but he’s also a risk-taker. He makes this wager based on his faith in modern progress, and in that way, he reflects many of the modern values and faith in technology that drove Britain’s expansion over Africa and Asia. Of course, life will prove more complicated and challenge this faith, but in the end, Fogg succeeds. Modern technology, so far, has also succeeded in gaining dominance over old modes of transportation and traditional practices and values, pushing society forward, for better or worse.

Phileas Fogg noted in his diary that the ship was a half day ahead of schedule.

Occasionally, Fogg gets lucky breaks during his journey. Fogg’s lucky breaks mostly come in the form of good weather or happenstances that turn wildly in his favor, like when Passepartout refuses to synchronize his watch across time zones, an action that gives them an extra day at the end of the trip. In this quote, the narrator reveals that Fogg received a bit of luck when his ship arrives into port in Singapore half a day ahead of schedule. Events such as this are not uncommon, as readers may note other times when Fogg gains time due to good weather. Fogg takes advantage of his luck in this case, however, by enjoying a leisurely carriage ride with Aouda throughout the city. Previously, he would have preferred staying on the ship and writing in his diary or rushing around trying to get a visa. Here, luck gives him extra time, which he wisely uses to spend more time with his companion, Aouda.

By holding onto the metal chains under the cars, Passepartout had managed to swing from the back end of the train to the front.

Fogg isn’t the only one who takes risks to get himself and his party across the world in eighty days. Passepartout takes his share of risks to get them there as well. Here, in Chapter 30, the narrator explains how Passepartout bravely saves the people riding the out-of-control train. Passepartout is a trained acrobat and has an athletic body, so in this scene he agilely swings from chain to chain to make it to the front of the train, but despite his strength and agility, this action is still a huge risk, and Passepartout could have easily gotten himself killed. His attempt to release the passenger cars from the speeding engine car is successful, but he’s captured by the Sioux as a prisoner shortly after. In the end, the risk Passepartout takes pays off: his noble act inspires Fogg to rescue him, and their bond is sealed.