Review

The main character in this novel, Mr Phileas Fogg was a middle-aged English gentleman who lived in the 19th century in a simple, unique way. He didn’t have any relatives and lovers, only had a servant - Passepartout. Fogg was a member of the Club of The Improvement, with large deposits in his bank account. One day, while playing cards at the club, he made a bet with the bankers that he could travel around the world in 80 days, with a bet of 20,000 pounds, which was a large amount of money at that time.However, he didn’t lack money, and just bet to prove himself, as well as simply be intended to travel around the world. So he took simple luggage and the servant Passepartout to set off immediately. He was good at geography and had a detailed schedule: London-Suez (by train and ship) 7 days; Suez-Mumbai (by boat) 13 days; Mumbai-Kolkata (by train) 3 days; Kolkata-Hong Kong, China (by boat) 13 days; Hong Kong China-Japan Yokohama (by boat) 6 days; Yokohama-San Francisco (by boat) 22 days; San Francisco-New York (by train) 7 days; New York-London (by boat and train) 9 days, added up to 80 days. It was so precise that he even couldn’t make a mistake. He was such a careful, brave individual that never in a panic when met with problems. He always put forward solutions as soon as possible. When he was in India, the train broke down and he spent a lot of money on riding elephants in order not to delay the trip. But when he saw that Mrs. Aouda was about to be burned to death by the savage tribes of India, he risked his life to rescue this unknown woman. As a result, he had a female to accompany him during the journey that was still left. To my surprise, he did accomplish his journey without impatience as usual. On the former part of the trip, he seemed to be able to solve most of the problems with money. On the train, when Passepartout was abducted by the robbers with guns, he did not hesitate to rescue Passepartout, although Passepartout was only a servant. Fogg undertook his duty and responsibility. When he missed the time to Liverpool, and saw that the plan was about to fail, he kidnapped the captain of a ship, bought the crew, and burned all the wood material on board to get to Liverpool without fuel. Of course he offered the captain a higher price than the ship itself to apologize. When he arrived at Liverpool Pier, there was one day left before the 80-day deadline, and it was only six hours to go to London by car. That's when he was arrested in charge of stealing a bank deposit of 50,000 pounds, which was plotted by Mr. Ficks. It was only in the last six hours that Fogg was proved to be innocent, and the real thief, who looked like him, had been caught. He came out and got into the car in a hurry, but the delay on the way still made him five minutes late. If he lost he would lose 20,000 pounds, and the cost on the journey would be nearly 20,000 pounds, which would lead to a bankruptcy for him. But he did not blame anyone, and was prepared to send his only money remained to Mrs. Aouda, since he had brought her from India to London, for she could not have avoided being killed if she stayed there. Fogg had no relatives, and was penniless. But Mrs. Aouda accompanied him, and said: ‘Would you like to have a person who is both a relative and a friend? Would you be willing to let me to be your wife?’ So he was not alone anymore and finally found that he did not lose the bet, because they have been heading east, so that he was even on time and ahead of the deadline on account of the jet lag. He wouldn’t suffer the bankrupt, but he would not profit from the bet. Anyway, he get his love and happiness. As far as I am concerned, there isn’t anything better than happiness.When I read this novel first.I sensed that Mr Fogg was a person who was too cautious, even a little rigid. But as I read deeply, I felt that a person with principles, confidence, wisdom, patience, and who never lack humanity is just the person I want to be.