Significance in Servitude
What is a master without a servant?
It is Jules Verne asking you this in 1873, when "Around the World in Eighty Days" was published.
To be perfectly honest there are three questions you should be asking yourself.
Did Passepartout help or hinder his master? If he did or not what were the occasions?
And last but perhaps greatest, in either eventuality what was his purpose?
For the first, Passepartout helped more than he hindered.
His actions in the Indian Temple gave the policeman reason to arrest him and his master, however it did not delay their journey and without this incident Passepartout would never have supposed Mr. Fix a policeman until they were arrested for the robbery.
Although the events that happened with the "Carnatic" came close to setting them behind they did not and it was Passepartout's actions in India, which found them a mode of transportation so that when they gained San Francisco they "Had neither gained nor lost a day."
Ironically, while they are detained on the train before the shaky bridge it was Passepartout's misgivings which urge the recklessness of the engineer and the other passengers.
Willing to sacrifice himself, Passepartout single-handedly manages to stop the train to save all their lives from the Sioux.
Other than these examples he also rescued Aouda in India (much to the dismay of those who would prefer to have seen her burn.)
It was his bravery that encouraged Mr. Fix to procure the sledge to help Mr. Phineas Fogg to get to the steamer on time.
And it was his dedication that by happy chance in the end won his master the bet and procured an uplifting ending to the book.
Passepartout came to love his position and his master.
His actions saved the beautiful Aouda, saved his master, and won the bet.
The entire purpose of this character in this book is in the following.
He existed to be there for his master in essence but to create a foil and adventure for him to advance in the story.
Explaining that last quixotic sentence is impossible, The Author did not and therefore there is no complete answer beyond that he was there to tease, to roil and lift the surface of the story, to bring movement to a tale of simple victory.
He accomplished his purpose extremely well both helping and hindering just to introduce an element of suspense.
As a valet his purpose was to assist his master in whatever manner he should desire and this he did admirably displaying great loyalty.
Human nature is never better revealed but in a servant, in a master, and in a man of religion.
Passepartout revealed human nature. He was human nature at Verne's most basic perception of it, a servant, to the Fates and to the whims of men.
The examples of this have been described in detail over the previous paragraphs.
Most importantly, his purpose as a character and companion was revealed in his nature. Very enthusiastic, especially after it was too late to change an event, angry in difficultly, happy in success, he was action and reaction like water being changed by its surroundings.
He was a wet stone and a flint to his master's blade of steel. He existed to serve as an extreme, to create a dichotomy. Passepartout is the most important part of this story.