Charitable or Cold and Insincere?
Phileas’s varied behavior has struck me as difficult to reconcile. Are we supposed to believe Phileas is a giving, kind-hearted man or is Verne asking us to see past the surface? Sure, Phileas gives all of his whist money to charity (which incidentally everyone knows about . . . I guess Phileas never heard the whole bit about not letting the left hand know what the right hand does) and he won Passepartout over by his generous gift of money and polite words to the beggar woman outside the station.
Nonetheless, in contrast to that admirable behavior, he fires a servant because he brought Phileas shaving water that was two degrees lower than mandated. Additionally, when Passepartout realized he left his lamp on, Phileas who apparently has money spilling out all over the place “coldly” replied that Passepartout would be expected to pay the bill. At first I thought Phileas was merely quirky but now I am starting to think his charitable nature is nothing more than a calculated effort to appear a respectable gentleman. Not to mention his total lack of respect to Passepartout in assuming Passepartout would accompany him on his trip around the world and not having the courtesy to give him either notice, explanation, or many details.
Jules Verne is a Frenchman and I think he is using Phileas to portray the distasteful qualities he perceives in Englishmen: uppitiness (his treatment of Passepartout), arrogance (his assertion that he could and would make the trip), a focus on image (giving to charity and everyone knows it, sits all the club all day to be seen) and finally, absolute uptightness (read any page of the book for an example of this). Verne makes comments every now and then which I think are meant to poke fun at these perceived English characteristics: the “proverbial coldness of [the English] gentlemen” and if the trip “can be done at all, then it’s only right that an Englishman should be the first to do it.” Ch. 2, Ch. 6.
My prediction is that despite all of Phileas’s precise calculations and determination to make the trip, the Frenchman is going to be the real hero of the story and the most loveable character. I mean the guy was in the circus and has “lips that were made for eating, drinking and kissing.” Ch. 2. Besides, he has a history of getting himself out of tricky situations and I foresee that as coming in handy for this world trip. So, is Phileas giving . . . sure. Is he kind-hearted . . . not so far. I hope he will learn a thing or two from Passepartout on this trip.
So, to comment on the first six chapters write as little or as much as you want about whatever you want. I had a couple of questions that I haven’t figured out yet in case anyone has any thoughts: What is Phileas’s motivation for taking this trip?; What is Phileas’s or Verne’s obsession with numbers/time?; Phileas says, “There’s no such thing as the unexpected.” Ch.3. Are we supposed to believe him and won’t it make a boring novel if he is right and/or has that even proven true so far?
Posted by Shyla
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5 comments:
Who wrote this?
Well, I certainly am thankful for Shyla's comments. Now I know I better get my hylighter out. I've only been able to read to Chapter 5 because Eddie took started reading it from Chap. 1 when I got up to help one of the kids, but maybe excuses aren't exceptable on this blog.
When I was reading I just thought that Phileas was, or is rather, OCD. That is to say, obsessive compulsive. He is also a hermit which is going to make him weird.
Isn't Verne the father of science fiction? I couldn't help but notice the hot air balloons on the front of the book. I think Verne takes Phileas on this adventure as a challenge to see what new technology can do. He also doesn't tell anyone how he plans to do it, so I'm sure there will be some surprises and he obviously has this all planned out. He doesn't seem like a real "fly off the cuff" kind of guy. He was probably just waiting for the perfect mate and then Passepartout shows up and there you have your perfect mate. I'm with Shyla that Passepartout will probably be invaluable to the challenge and we will all think he is wonderful.
The whole issue of firing the servant because the water was not right just goes back to his OCD behavior and inability to accept less than exactly what he wants. The other servant had to have already known that and maybe wanted to get fired. Remember when Passepartout had his interview and Phileas said, "you are aware of my condition?" And Pass said yes. So I believe the expectation is there when you say you'll work for him. ALthough, Phileas sure threw Pass for a loop getting home 4 hours early and telling him to pack up fast so they can take a trip around the world.
I have not formed an opinion if his kindness is genuine. I don't know his motivation for the trip.
My question is how do you pronounce 'Passepartout'. It's like Hermione all over again. I will probably write again, I imagine there is no limit to our comments. You lucky dogs.
And Karen, this first posting has "Shyla wrote this" screaming from almost every word.
I haven't finished reading the assignment yet. However, I would like to bring to the readers' attention that the book was written in the late 1800s. Exisiting in the cultures in both England and France were more than several distinct classes of aristocracy. Members of the aristocracy did not work or have any other apparent reason for living. Many of their days were filled with "nothingness". So for Phileas a little amusement, such as accepting the bet" to travel the world in 80 days was a "reason for living". And with regard to "Pass", I too would like to know how to pronounce his name. However, being a servant to Phileas was, perhaps, as great a challenge to him as traveling the world in eighty days was for Phileas.
It has become apparent to me that not being "anxiously engaged" is a detriment to the progression of mankind. No wonder God wanted to get Adam and Eve out of the garden.
Am I rambling?
posted by Mom
Phileas' might be obsessed (Tecia's word) with numerology which, defined in my American Heritage Dictionary, is the study of the occult meanings of numbers and of their supposed influence on human life. However, I believe, that some Jews in interpreting the meaning of religious text employ "gematriya". In gematriya, each Hebrew letter has a numerical value and gives another or different meaning to the words used in studying the text.
I'm pretty sure Phileas is not a Jew. Therefore, he is probably impressed by numerology and gets a big kick out of interpreting the meaning of his life and his decisions from a "numerology" point of view.
Just a thought. I still haven't read the first six chapters because I'm too engrossed with responding to everybody else's "comments". I think this online book club thing is going to kill me.
posted by mom
In my last post, I was responding to Shy's comment about Phileas' interest in the calendar and numbers. This interest might shed some light on Phileas' nature or personality and certainly with what occupies his mental exercises.
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