XVI explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Time and Punctuality

  Fogg remains 'as well and as punctual as ever,' maintaining his schedule despite the journey and Aouda's presence.

• Cultural Encounter and Imperialism

  Aouda's Parsee background and the British colonial context in India and Hong Kong highlight cultural intersections.

• Justice and Mistaken Identity

  Fix's pursuit of Fogg as a bank robber, based on mistaken identity, drives the detective's scheming.

Characters to notice

• Phileas Fogg

  Continues his journey with punctuality, treating Aouda with polite precision and visiting her daily.

• Passepartout

  Reunites with Fix on the Rangoon and recounts Aouda's rescue and the events in Calcutta.

• Fix

  Secretly aboard the Rangoon, he plots to arrest Fogg in Hong Kong and considers using Aouda to delay him.

• Aouda

  Travels with Fogg, grateful for his protection, and shares her Parsee heritage and hope to meet her relative Jeejeeh in Hong Kong.

Key passages

• “As well and as punctual as ever, not a day behind time!”

  He is in perfect health and strictly on schedule, without any delay.

  Passepartout assures Fix that Fogg remains precise and timely.

• “Aouda fastened her great eyes, 'clear as the sacred lakes of the Himalaya,' upon him; but the intractable Fogg, as reserved as ever, did not seem at all inclined to throw himself into this lake.”

  Aouda gazed at Fogg with her beautiful, clear eyes, but he remained aloof and unresponsive.

  Describes Aouda's hopeful look and Fogg's characteristic emotional detachment.

• “Hong Kong was the last English ground on which he would set foot; beyond, China, Japan, America offered to Fogg an almost certain refuge.”

  Hong Kong was the final British territory where Fogg could be arrested; beyond it, he could easily escape to non-British lands.

  Fix's strategic concern about the limits of his legal authority.