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Chapters 5–8

Summary: Chapter 5: England Bets on Fogg

News spreads about Fogg’s bet, and the details are printed in all the newspapers. The English, who are described as a people who like to gamble, begin to place their own bets on the trip’s outcome. Special “Phileas Fogg bonds” are created for the public to formally place their wagers. Most people believe that Fogg will lose the bet and that he has been conned by his friends at the Reform Club. The public can’t believe that modern transportation would allow a man to cross the world in eighty days. Once a rumor begins, however, that the bank robber who robbed the Bank of England is Fogg, the value of the Fogg bonds begins to sharply plummet. People begin recalling Fogg’s “strange,” reclusive behaviors and surmising that Fogg is using the wager as an excuse to escape with the stolen money. A detective named Detective Fix is the person behind the rumors. He believes that Fogg is the robber and that the timing of Fogg’s trip around the world is more than coincidental. Fix is sent by the police department to follow Fogg until they can issue a formal warrant for Fogg’s arrest. Fix goes in pursuit of Fogg, setting sail for the city of Suez, Egypt, where Fogg is headed.

Summary: Chapter 6: Detective Fix Trails a “Bank Robber”

Detective Fix waits on the boat dock in Suez for Fogg’s ship to arrive. Fogg and Passepartout are traveling on the English steamer the Mongolia. The English consul with Fix asks Fix how he’ll be able to recognize the robber since all of the descriptions of the robber make him seem like an honest man. Fix replies that he’s arrested plenty of robbers and will not have trouble spotting this one. Fix says a robber would be foolish to travel to India, but the consul disagrees, explaining that the thief is probably going to India because it’s the least likely place the police would expect him to go. The ship arrives, and the passengers deboard. Passepartout, not realizing who Fix is, approaches Fix to ask him where the consul’s office is. He’s looking for the consul to stamp his passport book with a visa to prove that he has stopped at Suez. Fix opens the passport book and realizes it fits the description of the London bank robber, a gentleman. Fix asks whose book it is, and Passepartout replies that it’s his master’s. Fix, looking to trap Fogg, tells Passepartout that his master must appear in person to get his passport stamped.

Summary: Chapter 7: A Visit to Suez

Detective Fix runs ahead to tell the consul not to stamp Fogg’s passport. Fix wants to detain Fogg until the arrest warrant arrives from London. The consul, doubtful that Fogg is the thief, replies that a robber doesn’t just “let people know where he is” and says he can’t really deny Fogg a visa. The consul says it’s under Fix’s jurisdiction to arrest Fogg, not his, and there’s nothing he can do. Just then, Fogg knocks at the door. After Fogg confirms his identity, he explains that he is going to Bombay, India. The consul explains that he doesn’t need a visa to go there. Fogg says that he’d like one anyway, to prove he was in Suez. The consul stamps the passport, and Fogg returns to the steamer with Passepartout. He records in his diary that it has taken him exactly six and a half days to travel to Suez by way of England, France, and Italy. He is happy to note that he is exactly on schedule. Fogg closes his date book and, rather than taking the time to explore Suez with the free time he now has, sits down to eat breakfast.

Summary: Chapter 8: Passepartout Talks Too Much to Fix

Detective Fix engages Passepartout in conversation outside the consul’s office. Passepartout says that he and Fogg are traveling so fast he can hardly remember where he is. Fix informs Passepartout that he’s currently in Suez, a city in Egypt. Passepartout, astounded, can’t believe he’s already on the continent of Africa. Passepartout says that he is in a hurry to buy clothes for himself and Fogg, since they left with only a small bag. Fix tells Passepartout he has plenty of time to make it to the clothing store, but Passepartout says it is only eight minutes to 10:00. Fix realizes Passepartout’s watch is slow, still on London time, which is two hours behind. Fix informs Passepartout that he needs to reset his watch when he travels to other countries or his watch “won’t agree with the sun.” Passepartout defiantly replies “too bad for the sun” and insists that he’ll never reset his watch. Fix probes him further, asking why Passepartout and Fogg left London in such a hurry, hoping to get more information out of him. Passepartout reveals that Fogg is attempting to win a bet that he can make it across the world in eighty days and they’re on their way to Bombay next. Fix observes that Fogg must be strange, and Passepartout agrees. Fix, pleased with how easy it is to get information out of Passepartout, rushes off to the consul to explain Fogg’s plan. He’s now even more convinced Fogg’s plan is a ruse, and the consul agrees, admiring Fogg’s cleverness. Fix sends a telegraph to the police station back in London to send the warrant to Bombay instead and boards the steamer the Mongolia in pursuit of Fogg.

Analysis: Chapters 5–8

Fogg’s bet is based on his extensive knowledge of current events. As an upper-class citizen, he has the leisure time to read the newspapers, which he does every day from 1:00 p.m. until dinnertime, to keep up with the world’s current events and advances in modern technology. For this reason, in the spur of the moment, Fogg can call up information on just how long it will take to cross the world and through which specific modes of transportation. Fogg may be disengaged from the world socially, but he’s very keyed into what’s going on in society at large.

The Suez Canal played a significant role in the era of British imperialist expansion in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as it provided a shortcut between England and Egypt and India, allowing Britain to colonize Africa and Asia more easily. At the time in which the story takes place, Asia and Africa were largely under the control of the British East India Company, which had set up hundreds of trading outposts across both continents. It only takes Fogg and Passepartout one relatively short trip to travel all the way from London to the African continent. Already, readers can see that Fogg might be right: Modern transportation has made it possible to cross the world at a rapid pace.

Detective Fix makes his appearance in this section as the story’s antagonist and villain. Fix’s motivations are complex. He is doing what is “right” as a member of the British police force by chasing after Fogg, but his motivations are based on a superficial judgment about Fogg. His deduction that Fogg must be the bank robber since he is a gentleman and is about to travel across the world is logically weak since there could be many men who fit that description. The deduction seems to be based more on the sensationalism conjured by Fogg’s quiet and mysterious air and the curious nature of his bet.

Furthermore, Fix’s stubborn insistence on Fogg’s guilt blinds him to common sense. When Fix finds out Fogg is headed to the consul to get his passport stamped and to get a visa, he runs ahead to elicit the consul’s help in delaying Fogg until he can get the arrest warrant. The consul makes an important logical point: If Fogg were a thief, why would he go through such lengths to make his whereabouts known? Fix ignores this insight and goes ahead with his pursuit anyway. Again, social judgment plays a significant role in the story, for better or worse. This incident shows how powerful a forced social judgment can be compared to logic.

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