days.

He was chased by another man who wanted to put him in Jail and was faced by
many obstacles during his journey. Jules Verne’s traveling experiences accompanied by his
interest in the technological advances at that time and his educational background in
geography Around the World in Eighty Days” is a historical fiction “written by Jules Verne to
deliver his own adventurous story about a man whose goal was to travel around the world in
eighty and geology inspired him to write “Around the World in 80 Days” in 1873. The novel
revolved around a number of important themes. The most prevailing of these themes was
persistence and determination. Such an important theme was skillfully exemplified by Mr.
Fogg, the risk-taking protagonist with limitless confidence, Detective Fix, the antagonist with
boundless perseverance to arrest Fogg and as a final point there was Passepartout, the loyal
valet. His loyalty made him completely determined to help Mr. Fogg in his attempt to pursue
his goal of traveling around the world in 80 days. For more explanation of this theme, let’s
consider each character apart from the other.

To talk about persistence, it is important to deal with it in relation to words like

perseverance, determination and calmness. They simply refer to someone who continues
doing something in a determined but in an unreasonable way. When Mr. Fogg, the
protagonist, decided to accept the bet and make a journey around the world in eighty days, he
continued on in spite of the several obstacles that stood in his way. He was always calm and
cool focusing on the details of the journey just to accomplish what he wanted. He even
believed that “Luck has nothing to do with it” and he was sure that he “could make the same
trip in the same time one way or another.” He was a quick thinker and a problem solver who
was able to find solutions to complicated problems, as he believed that “nothing was
impossible”. For example, when they reached Bombay and found no train to Calcutta, Fogg
resorted to an unreasonable solution when he bought an elephant, as he said, “I have been
challenged to get around the world in eighty days and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Moreover, when Passepartout was arrested for entering the temple with his shoes, Fogg
decided to pay the Bail as a way of saving time using money as a tool to solve a problem he
faced. In spite of using money as a common factor in removing the obstacles that hindered
him from achieving his objectives, he tried as much as he could to be resourceful while solving
those problems. This was clarified when Passepartout did not return after buying the tickets
on the Carnatic to Yokohama. Fogg was not upset and without any sign of hesitance, he tried
to find another boat going to shanghai and from there, he took the American Ship to
Yokohama in Japan.

The protagonist was not the only persistent character in the novel, but the antagonist,
Detective Fix, had the same level of persistence. He was all the time trying to get an arrest
warrant for Phileas Fogg believing that he was the bank robber. He was also resourceful in his
attempts desiring to get the reward and the fame. He followed Fogg everywhere and he tried
to “get more information out of Passepartout.” He encouraged the Indian priests to follow
Passepartout till Calcutta to arrest him for entering the temple with his shoes in a way that
would delay Fogg, until he got the arrest warrant. Even when he failed to gain Passepartout’s
trust, he put sleeping powder in his tea to prevent him from giving The Carnatic tickets to
Fogg. This was one of the “tricks up his sleeve”; it showed his resourcefulness, persistence and
determination. Fix continued following Fogg and his group on their travels. He was shameless
when he accepted Fogg’s offer to travel with them without contributing to the money that
Fogg paid for the tickets. All the time, fix was either following or placing obstacles in the way
of Fogg’s journey. His persistence to arrest Fogg made him too blind to think if Fogg waos
innocent or not.

Persistence can be also clarified through the character of Passepartout, the loyal valet of
Mr. Fogg. This interesting Frenchman was an integral part of Mr. Fogg’s persistence from the
very first chapter. Passepartout was a double-edged weapon. Although he was very loyal, he
served at certain moments to delay his master. He complicated the journey several times
when he got drugged by Fix in addition to not telling Fogg about the Carnatic schedule change,
and not telling Fogg about Fix. Yet, Passepartout felt guilty because of being a major source of
delay as well as financial loss to his master. That’s why; he was all the time trying to make up
for his errors by his cheerful nature as well as his loyalty and devotion. He tried to help his
master realize whatever goal he wanted to achieve. For instance, when Fogg was determined
to save Aouda as a human being from the suttee, it was Passepartout who persistently took
the most crucial step in the rescue of Aouda. It was he who managed to move her from the
sacrificial platform by pretending to be the ghost of her dead husband. Although Aouda’s
rescue was Fogg’s idea, it is Passepartout who made it possible. He was just as daring and
brave as his master. It was his idea to hire the elephant. He pointed to the man riding the
elephant to attract Fogg’s attention to the idea of using the elephant to take them through the
Indian jungle. He was determined to be extremely loyal to Fogg to the extent that when Fix
offered him part of the reward to turn in his master to the police for the robbery, he refused
to betray his master. Even when he went on the Carnatic, after restoring his conscience, he
was hoping, he was persistently looking for Fogg and Aouda hoping to find them on the ship.\

To conclude, Jules Verne, in his “Around the World in Eighty Days” managed to illustrate
a number of important themes including persistence. He managed to clarify the theme using a
skillful portrayal of three major characters in the novel; namely, Mr. Fogg, Detective Fix and
Passepartout.