Character Clues
Character Analysis
Social Status
Feeling like adventuring around the world? No problem—so long as you have the money, go for it. Social status is a key player in Around the World in Eighty Days: Phileas is a gentleman with a lot of money. And without that money and male status, we probably wouldn't be following along as he circles the globe.
Phileas doles out the bills while his servant, Passepartout, goes and fetches things like clothes, tickets for railroads, and hotel accommodations. Phileas also has the money to eat in really nice staterooms onboard the ships and trains he takes around the world, buy his way out of obstacles, and get himself and Passepartout out of jail free. Aouda's social status as an Indian princess makes her a suitable wife for a British gentleman, because even though she's foreign, she's royalty.
Names
Names are pretty neat in Around the World in Eighty Days. We can tell a lot about the characters from the way their names sound. Phileas Fogg and Passepartout both use the letter p but in different ways as different sounds. Phileas is much more subdued and effortless to spit out, while Passepartout is way rougher and more bold. In this way, their names reflect their respective characters.
Detective Fix has the soft f sound, just like Fogg, but he also has the hard sound of d in "detective," like Passepartout with his p. This guy's name is sort of like a combination of our two heroes' names—a conflicting combination that reflects that conflict within Fix. And of course, Fix also sounds a lot like fox, and this dude's as sneaky and sly as they come.
Aouda's a different sound altogether. Her name just whispers out; it's warm and foreign just like her character.
Actions
At times our characters' actions speak louder than words in the novel. Passepartout, though he's a worrier and a bit prone to mucking things up, takes charge several times in order to save the day. He dresses up as the dead rajah in order to rescue Aouda, and he uncouples the train cars from the engine in order to stop the Sioux Indian raid. We see him not only as a sidekick, companion, or comic relief in the novel, but also as a brave hero.
It's easy to point out that Phileas is detached and emotionless through his sparse, curt dialogue, but through his actions we get the feeling that he's actually a nice guy on the inside. When a beggar woman at the train station begs him for money, "Mr. Fogg took out the twenty guineas he had just won at whist, and handed them to the beggar, saying, 'Here my good woman. I'm glad that I met you'; and passed on" (4.13). Passepartout recognizes this kindness and "had a moist sensation about the eyes; his master's action touched his susceptible heart" (4.14). So they're both softies.