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Chapters 1–4

Summary: Chapter 1: Phileas Fogg Meets Passepartout

Phileas Fogg is an English gentleman who lives alone at No. 7 Saville Row in London, an upscale neighborhood. He has no wife, children, relatives, or close friends. People find him strange because he doesn’t hold a regular job and he never goes to social events. People know he’s rich but don’t know how he attained his wealth. Fogg’s life revolves around the clock. Fogg is never early and never late, and his activities follow the same exact pattern every day. He has just fired his previous servant for bringing shaving water that was two degrees too cold and is awaiting the arrival of a man applying for the position. The new servant arrives: a Frenchman named Jean Passepartout. Passepartout explains that he has jumped from job to job—singer, circus performer, gym teacher, fireman—and that’s how he earned the name “Passepartout.” He is hoping to settle down and have a quieter life with Fogg. When Fogg asks Passepartout for the time on his watch, Fogg feels exasperated to learn Passepartout’s watch is four minutes slow but hires him on the spot anyway. Fogg then rushes to the Reform Club, a gentleman’s social club where he spends most of his time, and doesn’t have a moment to spare.

Summary: Chapter 2: A New Life for a Frenchman

Passepartout likes what he sees in Fogg. He views Fogg as a man who is elegant, poised, and in perfect control of his words and actions. At his former job, Passepartout was fired for scolding his master for coming home drunk. He feels relieved to see that he shouldn’t expect any such behavior from Fogg. Fogg is about forty years old, tall, good-looking, with pale skin and beautiful teeth. Passepartout, on the other hand, has large lips, messy hair, and a more muscled physique from his time as a circus performer and gym teacher. The main difference between Passepartout and Fogg is their demeanor: Fogg is quiet and withdrawn, and Passepartout is lively and talkative. Passepartout looks around Fogg’s house and notices how neat and tidy everything is, even down to Fogg’s clothes and shoes, which are numbered by what time of year they are to be worn. The clock in Fogg’s room is synchronized to the second with the clock in Passepartout’s room. There is a list above the clock in Passepartout’s room that lists Fogg’s schedule, down to the minute. Passepartout realizes that he’ll have a lot of work to do at this job, but it’s a welcome change from his more erratic and tumultuous past.

Summary: Chapter 3: Phileas Fogg Makes a Famous Bet

Phileas is at the Reform Club, where he spends his days playing a card game called whist with his game partners—engineer Andrew Stuart; bankers John Sullivan and Samuel Fallentin; beer brewer Thomas Flanagan; and Gautier Ralph, who works as a director at the Bank of England. As the men begin to play, they hear news of a recent robbery. A thief dressed as an English gentleman has stolen 55,000 pounds from the Bank of England. A 2,000-pound reward is being offered for his capture. Stuart remarks that the robber will surely get away since the world is “big enough” to hide in. Fogg, normally quiet, replies that the world is no longer as big as they think. He adds that the world can now be traveled in eighty days due to all the recent advances in transportation and lists exactly how long each leg of the trip would take. Stuart scoffs at Fogg, insisting that while that may be so, Fogg’s claim doesn’t take into account unexpected events and delays. Fogg bets all his money in the bank, 20,000 pounds, that the trip can be done and even writes a check to place the bet. The day is October 2, 8:45 p.m., and the bet states that Fogg will return at the same time and in the same room on December 21.

Summary: Chapter 4: A Hurried Departure

Fogg rushes home to tell Passepartout that they’re going to travel around the world in eighty days and that they must leave immediately. He tells Passepartout they’re first headed to Calais, France; that Passepartout needs to pack one carpet bag for both of them with two shirts and three pairs of socks; and that there’s no time to pack suitcases. Flabbergasted, Passepartout quickly gathers the items into the bag, amazed at how quickly his dreams of having a quieter life are dashed. Fogg adds a large roll of money and a steamboat timetable to the bag, and the two men head out to catch a taxi to the railroad station to catch the train to France. At the train station, a woman holding a baby approaches Fogg and begs for money. Fogg hands her all the money in his pocket, the full amount of his winnings from the game of whist he just played at the club. Fogg buys himself and Passepartout first class tickets. In his haste, Passepartout realizes he forgot to shut off the gas burner in his room. Fogg replies that he’ll deduct the gas bill from Passepartout’s earnings when they return home, implying that he’s teaching him a lesson about paying attention.

Analysis: Chapters 1–4

Phileas Fogg, the protagonist of the novel, is an upper-class member of British society who lives in an upscale neighborhood of London. It is 1872, a time in which Queen Victoria reigns, and social propriety, attention to class hierarchy, and Victorian codes of morality and virtue are valued most. Fogg lives a model life for the time. He’s quiet and respectable and dresses well, but that doesn’t stop the public from having their suspicions about him. In fact, his reticence rouses their suspicion even more. This underlines the human tendency to judge, no matter how “proper” a person seems, and also underlines the sometimes-futile nature of trying to control society with dictates over behavior, dress, and ways of being, as was attempted in the Victorian era.

Fogg’s precise attention to detail and obsessive nature over scheduling his days reveal his need for control. His private need for control surpasses even that of tidy Victorian England and suggests that his need to order every aspect of his life might stem from a deeper emotional need. His friends at the Reform Club don’t even know much about him, even though he spends the lion’s share of his days there with them playing whist. Fogg believes it is his job to instill his virtues in others as well. When his prior servant serves him shaving water two degrees too cold, he punishes him by firing him, and later, he deducts Passepartout’s gas bill from his earnings to teach him a lesson about paying attention to detail. Fogg clearly believes in his prudent values and feels it is his responsibility to teach others these values as well.

Fogg’s beliefs contrast sharply with those of Passepartout, the Frenchman who has come to fill the role of Fogg’s servant. Passepartout is a wanderer who has left his home country for a quieter life in England. Passepartout is described as having an athletic, well-muscled body from his previous demanding jobs. This description contrasts sharply with Fogg’s tall, lean, elegant body and static position in society. Passepartout is clearly more socially versatile from the wide variety of jobs he’s had. He’s traveled up and down the different classes of society, unlike Fogg, who has remained mostly in the company of his fellow upper-class gentlemen of the Reform Club.

As Fogg and Passepartout set out on their journey, readers may note that their story will be a typical adventure story in which Fogg plays hero and Passepartout his faithful companion. Passepartout is reluctant to rush back out into the world after finding what he believed would be a quiet “nest” to land in, but he nevertheless agrees, foreshadowing his faithfulness to Fogg. Fogg may seem cold and emotionless, but he clearly cares about honoring his duties to others. Their contrasting natures and strengths and weaknesses will play off each other as they make their way across the world.

Next section Chapters 5–8

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