CHAPTER SUMMARIES AND NOTES

CHAPTER 33

Summary

After one day of being on the ‘Henrietta’, Fogg takes over as the Captain of the ship after having bribed the entire crew and after locking Andrew Speedy in a cabin. Fogg wished to take the ship to Liverpool. Everything went well for the first few days and then the ship got caught in a gale. The ship has to fight the wind and they lose time as a result. Also since the ship had been traveling on full steam the vessel runs out of coal, as fuel. Fogg nevertheless asks the engineer to run the ship on full steam. He then summons Speedy and pays him enough money to be allowed to burn parts of the ship, in order to use them as fuel. Speedy appreciates the large sum of money and lets Fogg do whatever he wants with the ship. The ship manages to reach Queenstown Harbor and Fogg plans to go to Liverpool from here. They reach Liverpool, and now have only six hours in which to reach England. At this moment, Fix arrests Fogg.

Notes

In this chapter we learn why Fogg had agreed to board the ship to Bordeaux. He did not plan to go there and he takes over the ship and proceeds towards Liverpool instead. As we can all see, beneath the calm exterior is the fiery warmth of passion. Fogg bribes the entire crew and locks Andrew Speedy in his cabin. Fogg is definitely a courageous man who knows how to achieve his goal. When it is required that he be civilized, he is but when he sees that Speedy is going to be difficult, he changes his tactics too.

Fogg takes over the ship and when he does, it is not that he does not know how to control it. We learn that Fogg must have been a sailor once upon a time as he handles the ship with courage and expertise.

Throughout the chapter, Fogg is the dynamic force; he is the creator of action while all others are spectators. Passepartout admires Fogg’s bold decision Aouda is worried for Fogg, while Fix does not know what to think, as he is so astounded.

Fogg guides the ship through a hurricane and when they run out of fuel the ship’s wood is used to provide power. Fogg’s dynamism and ‘never say die’ attitude sees him through every situation. Andrew Speedy pays him a compliment, when he says that Fogg has some of the Yankee in him. That would mean that Fogg is strong, brave and adventurous and has the unflagging spirit.

They manage to reach Queenstown Harbor with a lot of difficulty and after Fogg gives a lot of money to Speedy. Now they have only a few hours left and they move rapidly towards London. But, when they are in Liverpool, Fix finally does what he had been planning to do since such a long time. He arrests Fogg.

We see in this chapter that things do not move too smoothly for Fogg. But he faces the obstacles with spirit and manages to reach quite close to England. The arrest of course is the most difficult hurdle to cross. We wonder why Passepartout had not informed Fogg about Fix. It would have saved the hero of the story a lot of trouble.

CHAPTER 34

Summary

Fogg is in the prison. He is confined in the Custom House lock up. Aouda is shocked by Fogg’s arrest whereas, Passepartout feels guilty. While Fogg sits in prison, Passepartout calmly watches the hands of a watch move ahead. The thought of trying to escape the prison does cross his mind but there is no way out. While everything seems against him, suddenly Fix and Passepartout come inside his cell. Fix apologizes to Fogg, saying that the real robber was found three days ago and that Fogg is free to go. Fogg gives Fix a punch that knocks the latter down. Passepartout, Fogg and Aouda then go to Liverpool Station. Since the Express train to London had already left, Fogg hires a special train and gives the driver an incentive to reach England as fast as possible. But, the train faces all kinds of insurmountable delays and when Fogg reaches England he thinks he has reached five minutes late. He thinks he has lost his wager.

Notes

Fogg is in prison and in serious trouble. Fix must have taken immense pleasure in finally arresting the man, who he had chased all over the world. Fogg shows no emotion when he is arrested. If at all he looks more grave and watches the hands of the clock move in a fixed manner. Aouda is very sad. She respects Fogg, a great deal and is completely shaken and angry at the fact that others think that he may be a robber.

But Passepartout’s plight must have been the worse. He realizes that he should have warned Fogg about Fix and now knows that all the delays in the journey are because of Fix. Passepartout’s anguish is palpable and we as readers, feel that it is well deserved. He should have told his master about Fix but didn’t. Now he is largely to blame for Fogg’s arrest.

Verne manages to build the tension very well. We are all aware of the time constraints involved for Fogg, to win the bet.

Just when we think that all is lost and that Fogg will never be able to reach London, Fix comes in and apologizes to him. It had been a mistake and the real robber has already been arrested. We see that while Fogg may be calm usually, he is capable of giving vent to his anger too. He strikes Fix down with a massive blow. The suspicion in the reader’s mind that Fogg may be a robber is cleared. Fogg is definitely not guilty.

The trio-Fogg, Aouda and Passepartout leave for the station. They want to take an Express train but it has already left. So they hire a special train which can take them to London. Even though the train driver is offered reward money in Fogg’s unmistakable style the train is not able to reach London in time. There are unavoidable delays and the group reaches London five minutes late. Fogg has lost the bet or so he thinks, after having traveled magnificently around the world.

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