53 pages 1 hour read

Jules Verne

Around the World in Eighty Days

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1872

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Chapters 31-37Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 31 Summary: “In Which Fix the Detective Considerably Furthers the Interests of Phileas Fogg”

Aouda greets Phileas with a passionate display, relieved he has returned safely. Phileas appears unmoved and asks when the next train is due. They are now 20 hours behind schedule.

Fix explains that he knows an American sledge driver who can take the small group to Omaha, where they can board the train once more. They arrive in Omaha, catch a train to Chicago and then another to New York, and arrive on December 11 with 10 days remaining to complete their voyage.

Chapter 32 Summary: “In Which Phileas Fogg Engages in a Direct Struggle With Bad Fortune”

The group misses the boat to Liverpool. Phileas secures passage aboard the Henrietta heading for Bordeaux, France, for an exorbitant fee.

Chapter 33 Summary: “In Which Phileas Fogg Shows Himself Equal to the Occasion”

Once on board, Phileas locks the captain of the Henrietta in his cabin and convinces the crew to head for Liverpool. The crew warns that there is not enough coal for that voyage, but Phileas convinces them to carry on. When the coal is gone, Phileas releases the captain and demands he sell the ship to Phileas to burn the wood on board for additional fuel.

Angrily accusing Phileas of piracy, the captain refuses. When the protagonist names an incredible sum of money, however, the captain joyfully accepts.

The group arrives in Ireland, takes a train from Dublin to Liverpool, and rushes to London, where Fix promptly arrests Phileas.