Around the World in Eighty Days Summary

Around the World in Eighty Days tells the story of Phileas Fogg, an Englishman living in the Victorian Era who bets £20,000 that he can circle the globe in exactly eighty days. Fogg is an extremely wealthy man with eccentric habits—he has no family or close relationships yet is extremely generous with strangers, and he abides by a strict, repetitive schedule that he keeps track of on an intricate clock in his mansion. He spends every day at the exclusive Reform Club social organization, where he dines extravagantly, reads newspapers, and bets on games of whist with his similarly wealthy acquaintances. Due to Fogg’s reclusive, solitary nature, no one knows much about him despite his public reputation of being knowledgeable, worldly, and gentlemanly.

On October 2nd, 1872, Fogg hires a new servant named Jean Passepartout. Passepartout is a Parisian man who once led an adventurous life as a vagrant and performer, and now longs for the same calm, routinized life that Fogg leads. That evening, Fogg plays whist with his usual partners at the Reform Club: Andrew Stuart, Gauthier Ralph, John Sullivan, Samuel Fallentin, and Thomas Flanagan. The men get into a discussion about a recent robbery at the Bank of England by a “well-to-do” gentleman and theorize about whether or not he will be able to evade authorities by leaving the country.

This conversation eventually leads to Stuart betting £4,000 that it is impossible for a man to go around the world in eighty days. Fogg impulsively counters with a £20,000 wager that he himself can complete this challenge, which Stuart and the other men agree to. Fogg leaves immediately to pack and make the 8:45 P.M. train, taking a bemused Passepartout along with him. Fogg’s itinerary has him traveling from London to Paris, Suez, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York, and back to London. He must meet his friends back at the Reform Club precisely eighty days later on December 21st at 8:45 P.M. in order to win the wager.

Detective Fix, an inspector from the Scotland Yard, trails Fogg and Passepartout to Suez. Due to Fogg’s sizable fortune, strange habits, and hasty departure from England, Fix believes that he is the very bank robber that Fogg and his acquaintances were discussing at the Reform Club. He must wait for a warrant to arrive in order to legally arrest Fogg in British territory (England, India, Hong Kong, or Yokohama) and becomes acquainted with Passepartout in an effort to gain information about Fogg. Neither Fogg nor Passepartout are aware of his suspicions, instead remaining focused solely on the wager.

Throughout their journey, Fogg is calm and logical at all times, but meticulously tracks the time they lose and gain due to unforeseen obstacles. Passepartout falls into a similar obsession with time, cursing every delay they face and refusing to change his watch away from London time. One such obstacle occurs when they reach India—Fogg, Passepartout, and their newfound acquaintance Sir Francis Cromarty are forced to traverse the undeveloped jungle because their train is halted by an unfinished track. They resort to riding on an elephant led by a helpful guide and stop to save a young Indian woman named Aouda from a sacrificial religious ceremony along the way, a gesture that Fogg and his companions agree is well worth the delay.

In Hong Kong, Fix reunites with Fogg, Passepartout, and Aouda. He decides to get Passepartout intoxicated on alcohol and opium in order to make them miss the steamer to Yokohama (the last British territory they will visit before moving onto the United States) and to bide more time for the arrest warrant to arrive. Though they are temporarily separated and delayed, Fogg is able to pay a pilot-boat captain named John Bunsby to get him to his destination, and Passepartout manages to navigate Yokohama on his own. They are reunited by chance at an acrobatic show in Yokohama, and Fix does not receive his warrant in time to arrest Fogg.

From there, Fogg, Passepartout, Aouda, and Fix all travel to the United States, where they cross the country from San Francisco to New York by train. By this time, Fix has begun to warm up to Fogg’s generosity and endearingly stoic nature, though he is still motivated by a sense of duty to arrest him once they reach England. Passepartout and Aouda, too, have developed love and reverence for Fogg, and vow to stay loyal to him not matter what. The group faces myriad challenges and delays throughout the long journey—most notably, their train is attacked by a band of Sioux in Nebraska and Passepartout is taken captive. Luckily, Fogg (with the help of soldiers from Fort Kearny) is able to save his loyal servant.

In order to catch the train from Omaha to Chicago, Fogg, Passepartout, Aouda, and Fix must resort to riding on a sail-rigged sledge driven through the bitterly cold winter snow by an American named Mudge. They make the train on time and continue from Chicago onto New York, but realize that they missed the steamer to Liverpool, England once they arrive. On the Hudson River, Fogg pays Captain Andrew Speedy to bring him and his companions along on his trading vessel to Bordeaux. Once he is on board, Fogg bribes the crew to take Speedy hostage and commandeers the boat to sail to Liverpool. They nearly run out of coal, so he buys the boat from Speedy and burns it for fuel. They make it as far as Ireland and take a train to Liverpool, where Fix finally places Fogg under arrest.

After a short stint imprisoned in the Custom House, Fix finds out that the real bank robber was apprehended three days prior; Fogg is released and orders a special train to London with Passepartout and Aouda. They arrive five minutes too late, however, and Fogg believes that he has lost the wager. Passepartout and Aouda go back with him to his house in Saville Row, and both blame themselves for Fogg losing the wager, and thus, his reputation and fortune. Aouda, saddened by Fogg’s lonely life in England, asks him to marry her. He accepts, professes his love for her, and sends Passepartout to notify the local reverend of their engagement.

Passepartout, however, finds that the reverend is not home, which causes him to realize that it is actually Saturday, December 21st and not Sunday, December 22nd as they had assumed. He and Fogg failed to factor in the day they gained by crossing the International Date Line. Passepartout rushes home to share the news, and Fogg makes it to the Reform Club three seconds before 8:45 P.M., winning the £20,000 wager. He and Aouda are married the following Monday, which makes Fogg “the happiest of men” and is ultimately what gives his journey around the world in eighty days a sense of meaning.