Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days Imagery

India

As the group traverses the Indian countryside first by train and then by elephant, Verne includes a few paragraphs of intense imagery describing the incredible scene as it unfolds before them. He notes that the forests around them were "still haunted by elephants which, with pensive eyes, gazed at the train as it passed" (pg. 34). This imagery highlights the intense differences between India and the refined European cities that the group is used to.

Phileas Fogg

The very first chapter of this book spends a long time describing various characteristics of Phileas Fogg, including his appearance. One line says "Phileas Fogg was seated squarely in his armchair, his feet close together like those of a grenadier on parade, his hands resting on his knees, his body straight, his head erect" (pg. 3). These descriptions give readers a good picture of Fogg's refined, proper appearance, and all of this adds to his characterization as a stoic and reserved man.

Singapore

The group only makes a short stop in Singapore while on the steamer from Calcutta to Hong Kong, but Verne includes a paragraph of imagery describing the island. This includes lines like "A handsome carriage, drawn by a sleek pair of New Holland horses, carried Phileas Fogg and Aouda into the midst of rows of palms with brilliant foliage, and of clove-trees, whereof the cloves form the heart of a half-open flower" (pg. 62).

America

As the train plows through the American wilderness from San Francisco to New York, Passepartout marvels out the window at the vast landscape, and Verne includes passages rich in imagery to describe what he sees. A particularly good example of this can be found in the line "On the right rose the lower spurs of the mountainous mass which extends southward to the sources of the Arkansas River, one of the great tributaries of the Missouri" (pg. 113).