A Passage to India

A Passage to India

Infobox Book |
name = A Passage to India
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = TSP Book Club 1995 edition (paperback)
author = E.M. Forster
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = England
language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Novel
publisher = Edward Arnold, (London)
release_date = 1924
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = 978-0-14-144116-0
preceded_by =
followed_by =
"A Passage to India" (1924) is a novel by E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of English literature by the "Modern Library" and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Time Magazine included the novel in its "TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005". [http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html]

Plot introduction

"A Passage to India" revolves around three characters: Dr. Aziz, his British friend Cyril Fielding, and Adela Quested. During a trip to the Marabar Caves, Adela accuses Aziz of attempting to rape her. Aziz's trial, and its run-up and aftermath, bring out all the racial tensions and prejudices between indigenous Indians and the British colonists who rule India. In "A Passage to India", Forster employs his first-hand knowledge of India.

Plot summary

A young British schoolmistress, Adela Quested, and her elderly friend, Mrs. Moore, visit the fictional city of Chandrapore, British India. Adela Quested is there to marry Mrs. Moore's son, Ronny Heaslop, the city magistrate.

Meanwhile, Dr. Aziz, a young Muslim Indian physician, is dining with two of his Indian friends and conversing about whether it is possible to be friends with an Englishman. In the middle of the meal, a summons arrives from Major Callendar, Aziz's unpleasant superior at the hospital. Aziz hastens to Callendar's bungalow as ordered, but is delayed by a flat tire and difficulty in finding a tonga and the major has already left in a huff.

Disconsolate, Aziz walks down the road toward the train station. When he sees his favorite mosque, a rather ramshackle but beautiful structure, he enters on impulse. When he sees a strange Englishwoman there, he angrily yells at her not to profane this sacred place. The woman, however, turns out to be Mrs. Moore. Her respect for native customs (she took off her shoes on entering) instantly disarms Aziz, and the two chat and part friends.

Mrs. Moore returns to the British club down the road and relates her experience at the mosque. Ronny Heaslop initially thinks that she is talking about an Englishman, and becomes quite indignant when he learns the truth. He thinks she should have indicated by her tone that it was a "Mohammedan" who was in question. Adela, however, is intrigued.

Because the newcomers had expressed a desire to see Indians, Mr. Turton, the city tax collector, invites numerous Indian gentlemen to a party at his house. The party turns out to be an awkward business, thanks to the Indians' timidity and the Britons' bigotry, but Adela does meet Cyril Fielding, headmaster of Chandrapore's little government-run college for Indians. Fielding invites Adela and Mrs. Moore to a tea party with him and a Hindu-Brahmin professor named Narayan Godbole. On Adela's request, he extends his invitation to Dr. Aziz.

At Fielding's tea party, everyone has a good time conversing about India, and Fielding and Aziz even become great friends. Aziz buoyantly promises to take Mrs. Moore and Adela to see the Marabar Caves, a distant cave complex that everyone talks about but no one seems to actually visit. Aziz's Marabar invitation was one of those casual promises that people often make and never intend to keep. Ronny Heaslop arrives and rudely breaks up the party.

Aziz mistakenly believes that the women are really offended that he has not followed through with his promise and arranges the outing at great expense to himself. Fielding and Godbole were supposed to accompany the little expedition, but they miss the train.

Aziz and the women begin to explore the caves. In the first cave, however, Mrs. Moore is overcome with claustrophobia, for the cave is dark and Aziz's retinue has followed her in. The press of people nearly smothers her. But worse than the claustrophobia is the echo. No matter what sound one makes, the echo is always "Boum." Disturbed by the echo, Mrs. Moore declines to continue exploring. So Adela and Aziz, accompanied by a single guide, a local man, climb on up the hill to the next cluster of caves.

As Aziz helps Adela up the hill, she innocently asks him whether he has more than one wife. Disconcerted by the bluntness of the remark, he ducks into a cave to compose himself. When he comes out, he finds the guide sitting alone outside the caves. The guide says Adela has gone into one of the caves by herself. Aziz looks for her in vain. Deciding she is lost, he angrily punches the guide, who runs away. Aziz looks around again and discovers Adela's field-glasses (binoculars) lying broken on the ground. He puts it in his pocket.

Then Aziz looks down the hill and sees Adela speaking to another young Englishwoman, Miss Derek, who has arrived with Fielding in a car. Aziz runs down the hill and greets Fielding effusively, but Miss Derek and Adela have already driven off without a word of explanation. Fielding, Mrs. Moore, and Aziz return to Chandrapore on the train.

Then the blow falls. At the train station, Dr. Aziz is arrested and charged with sexually assaulting Adela in a cave. She reports the alleged incident to the British authorities.

The run-up to Aziz's trial for attempted rape releases the racial tensions between the British and the Indians. The British colonists at Chandrapore are outraged by the alleged assault, but no one is really shocked. For at the back of all their minds is the conviction that all darker peoples lust after white women. Holding this attitude, they are understandably stunned when Fielding proclaims his belief in Aziz's innocence. Fielding is ostracized and condemned as a blood-traitor. But the Indians, who consider the rape allegation a fraud aimed at ruining their community's reputation, welcome him.

During the weeks before the trial, Mrs. Moore is unexpectedly apathetic and irritable. Her experience in the cave seems to have ruined her interest and faith in humanity. Although she curtly professes her belief in Aziz's innocence, she does nothing to help him. She insists on taking a ship back to England before the trial takes place. She dies during the voyage.

After an initial period of fever and weeping, Adela becomes confused as to Aziz's guilt. At the trial, she is asked point-blank whether Aziz sexually assaulted her. She asks for a moment to think before replying. She has a vision of the cave in that moment, and turns out that Adela had, while in the cave, received a shock similar to Mrs. Moore's. The echo had disconcerted her so much that she temporarily became unhinged. She ran frantically around the cave, fled down the hill, and finally sped off with Miss Derek. At the time, Adela mistakenly interpreted her shock as an assault by Aziz, who personifies the India that has stripped her of her psychological innocence, but he was never there. With laudable honesty and bravery, she proclaims her mistake. The case is dismissed.

All the Anglo-Indians, who had eagerly rallied to her support, are shocked and infuriated by what they view as Adela's betrayal of the white race. Mrs. Turton shrieks insults at her, and Ronny Heaslop soon breaks off their engagement. Adela stays at the sympathetic Fielding's house until her passage on a boat to England is arranged. After explaining to Fielding that the echo was the cause of the whole business, she departs India, never to return.

Although he is free and vindicated, Aziz is angry and bitter that his friend, Fielding, would befriend Adela after she nearly ruined his life. The two men's friendship suffers in consequence, and Fielding soon departs for England. Aziz believes that he is leaving to marry Adela for her money, for which Fielding had dissuaded Aziz from suing her. Bitter at his friend's perceived betrayal, he vows to never again befriend a white person. Aziz moves to the Hindu-ruled state of Mau and begins a new life.

Two years later, Fielding returns to India and to Aziz. His wife is Stella, Mrs. Moore's daughter from a second marriage. Aziz, now the Raja's chief physician, at first persists in his anger against his old friend. But in time, he comes to respect and love Fielding again. However, he does not give up his dream of a free and united India. In the novel's last sentences, he explains that he and Fielding cannot be friends, at least not until India is free of the British Raj. Even the earth and the sky seem to say, "Not yet."

Key to chapters

:PART ONE: MOSQUE
#Description of Chandrapore
#Dr Aziz is called away from Hamidullah's house by Major Callendar; on arrival, he finds Callendar has left; Mrs Callendar and Mrs Lesley take his carriage; he walks to the mosque and meets Mrs Moore; they talk
#Mrs Moore returns to the club and tells her son Ronny Heaslop and her travelling companion, Adela Quested, about her encounter; Ronny is bothered by it
#The Collector invites Indians to a Bridge Party
#The Bridge Party
#Dr Panna Lal asks Dr Aziz why he didn't go
#Mr Fielding; Dr Aziz invites Adela Quested and Mrs Moore to the Marabar Caves
#Adela Quested and Ronny Heaslop
#Mr Hamidullah, Dr Panna Lal, Fielding, Rafi Haq, Ram Chand, Syed Mohammed visit Dr Aziz at his home
#The heat
#Fielding visits Aziz at his house; they become friendlyPART TWO: CAVES
#Description of caves
#Fielding and Godbole miss the train
#Mrs Moore and the caves
#Dr Aziz and Miss Quested part ways
#Loss of Miss Quested; arrest of Aziz
#Fielding learns of this; he talks to Mr Turton
#Fielding talks to Mr McBryde
#Fielding talks to Hamidullah, Godbole, Aziz
#The situation is discussed at the Club; Fielding resigns
#Rest of the evening
#Miss Quested starts to have doubts; Mrs Moore is dismissive
#Mrs Moore leaves India
#The trial; Quested withdraws her accusation
#Dr Aziz and Dr Panna Lal
#Fielding talks to Quested; they learn of Mrs Moore's death
#Fielding talks to Aziz
#Death of Mrs Moore; the cult of Esmiss Esmoor
#Last conversation between Fielding and Quested; she leaves India
#Aziz talks to Das
#Aziz no longer trusts Fielding
#Fielding travels back to EnglandPART THREE: TEMPLE
#Professor Godbole
#Dr Aziz's life while Fielding is gone
#Fielding returns; Aziz realizes he never married Adela Quested
#Aziz meets Ralph Moore
#Aziz and Fielding talk about politics and India's future as a nation

Character list

; Dr. Aziz : A young Muslim Indian Physician who works at the British hospital in Chandrapore. He relies heavily on intuition over logic, and he is more emotional than his best friend, Fielding. He makes friends easily and seems quite garrulous at times. His chief drawback is an inability to view a situation without emotion, which Forster suggests is a typical Indian difficulty.; Cyril Fielding : The 45-year-old, unmarried British headmaster of the small government-run college for Indians. Fielding's logical Western mind cannot comprehend the muddle (or mystery) of India, but he is highly tolerant and respectful toward Indians. He befriends Dr. Aziz, but cultural and racial differences, and personal misunderstandings, separate them.; Adela Quested : A young British schoolmistress who is visiting India with the vague intention of marrying Ronny Heaslop. Intelligent, brave, honest, but slightly prudish, she is what Fielding calls a "prig." She arrives with the intention of seeing the real India. But after a frightening trip to the Marabar Caves, she falsely accuses Aziz of sexually assaulting her.; Mrs. Moore : The elderly, thoughtful mother of Ronny Heaslop. She is visiting Chandrapore to oversee her son's engagement to Adela Quested. She respects Indians and their customs, and the Indians in the novel appreciate her more than they do any other Briton. After undergoing an experience similar to Adela's, she becomes apathetic and bitter.; Ronny Heaslop : The British city magistrate of Chandrapore. Though not a bad man, he shares his Anglo-Indian colleagues' racist view of Indians. He breaks off his engagement to Adela after she retracts her accusation against Aziz. He considers it a betrayal of their race.; Professor Narayan Godbole : An elderly, courteous, contemplative Brahmin who views the world with equanimity. He remains totally aloof from the novel's conflicts.; Mr. Turton : The British city collector of Chandrapore. He does not hate Indians, for that would be to negate his life's work. Nevertheless, he is fiercely loyal to his race, reviles less bigoted people like Fielding, and regards natives with thinly veiled contempt.; Mrs. Turton : Mr. Turton's wife. Openly racist, snobbish, and rude toward Indians and those Anglo-Indians who are different, she screams at Adela in the courtroom when the latter retracts her accusation against Aziz.; Maj. Callendar : The British head doctor and Aziz's superior at the hospital. He is more openly racist than any other male character. Rumors circulate among Indians that Callendar actually tortured an injured Indian by putting pepper instead of antiseptic on his wounds.; Mr. McBryde : The British superintendent of police in Chandrapore. Like Mr. Turton, he considers dark-skinned races inferior to light-skinned ones. During Aziz's trial, he publicly asserts that it is a scientific fact that dark men lust after white women. Nevertheless, he is more tolerant of Indians than most Britons, and he is friendly with Fielding.; Miss Derek : An Englishwoman employed by a Hindu royal family. She frequently borrows their car -- and does not trouble to ask their permission or return it in time. She is too boisterous and easygoing for most of her compatriots' tastes. She has an affair with McBryde, though.; Nawab Bahadur : The chief Indian gentleman in Chandrapore. Wealthy (he owns a car) and generous (he lends his car), he is loyal to the British (he lends his car to Ronny Heaslop). But after the trial, he gives up his title of "nawab," which the British bestowed on him, in favor of plain "mister."; Hamidullah : Aziz's uncle and friend. Educated in law at Cambridge University, he declares at the beginning of the novel that it is easier to be friends with an Englishman in England than in India. Aziz comes to agree with him.; Amritrao : A prominent Indian lawyer from Calcutta, called in to defend Aziz. He is known for his strong anti-British sentiment. He takes the case for political reasons and becomes disgusted when the case evaporates in court.; Mahmoud Ali : A Muslim Indian barrister who openly hates the British.; Dr. Panna Lal : A low-born Hindu doctor and Aziz's rival at the hospital.; Ralph Moore : A mentally handicapped but discerning youth, the second son of Mrs. Moore.; Stella Moore : Mrs. Moore's daughter and Fielding's beautiful younger wife.

Themes

"A Passage to India" has four central themes: the difficulty of friendship between an Englishman and an Indian, the racism and oppression of the British who rule India, the "muddle" of Indian civilization and psychology, and the unity of all life. (See the concept of Brahman in Hinduism.)
* The novel's second chapter opens with a discussion between Mahmoud Ali and Hamidullah about whether an Indian can be friends with an Englishman. They conclude that such a friendship is virtually impossible, especially in India. This foreshadows the future split between Fielding and Aziz, whose cultural and national differences keep them apart, even though they like each other. For no member of an occupied race can really be friends with a member of the master race. Despite all rationale, the former will unavoidably resent the latter, and the latter will despise the former. As Aziz says, until India is free from the British, an Indian and an Englishman cannot be true friends.
* One of the most overt themes of the novel is the racist attitude of the British in India toward the native population, and the oppression of Indians that frequently results. The cruelty of Major Callendar, who boasts of torturing an injured Indian youth by putting pepper on his shattered face, is the most egregious example. But there are many others, from Mr. McBryde's supercilious views on Indians' lust for white women, to Mrs. Turton's vitriolic rantings, to Mr. Turton's arrogance, Ronny Heaslop's ignorance, and Miss Derek's scorn for her Indian employers. All the British (except Fielding) assume that Aziz is guilty before his trial, simply because he is an Indian. Yet even Fielding, who respects Indians more than any other white man, eventually comes to accept that British rule over India is the best thing for that country. As a result of British rudeness and arrogance, the Indians in the novel come to hate their foreign masters.
* In Part Two of "A Passage to India", E.M. Forster frequently refers to India as a "muddle." This is not necessarily because he is racist, but because his logical Western mind cannot accept the extreme diversity of Indian religion, society, wildlife, and even architecture. Westerners, Forster explains, are always trying to categorize and label things, but India defies labelling. But the Indians quietly accept this diversity, not as a muddle but as a "mystery," like the Catholic Trinity or Sacraments, things ordained by God that must be accepted but cannot be explained in terms of reason. Additionally, Indians rely more on emotion and intuition in their judgments of people and events, whereas the British are always trying to make their opinions scientific and logical, like McBryde with his pseudo-scientific theory about the lusting after of dark men for white women. These differences in outlook and psychology, Forster implies, are the ultimate differences between the British and the Indians. For British minds, shackled by reason and race, cannot understand the Indian psyche.
* The Marabar Caves produce a pernicious echo, "Boum," to whatever noise one makes. To Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested, this echo symbolizes the Dharmic belief in the fundamental oneness of all things. But this "realization" unhinges their Western minds, shackled by logic. Mrs. Moore abandons all interest in spirituality and in human relationships, and Adela Quested becomes panicky and feverish. But was their realization true, and were their reactions excessive? For most of the novel, Forster with his Western outlook suggests that the Dharmic doctrine of oneness or "Om," (Boum is a parody) devalues us and everything we hold dear. But in Part Three, he seems to enter the Indian psyche and reveal to his readers that all things are one, perhaps, but they are not the same. Indians revel in this unity while retaining their differences. For are we not all members of the same species, made of atoms, containing the same organs, harboring the same basic needs and impulses? Yet our behavior and thoughts are highly individualized. Thus, Forster suggests that we accept our unity and our differences with equanimity, as Professor Narayan Godbole does. For oneness is not sameness.

Awards

* Won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction in 1924.
* Listed 25th on the Modern Library's list of the 100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century.

Adaptations

* The 1984 film version by David Lean, starring Judy Davis, Victor Bannerjee, James Fox, Peggy Ashcroft, and Alec Guinness won 2 Oscars and numerous other awards.
* A BBC TV version of the novel, starring Sybil Thorndike, Virginia McKenna, Cyril Cusack, and Saaed Jaffrey first aired on 16 November 1965. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059569/ "Play of the Month" Passage to India (1965) ] ]
* A theatrical version by the playwright Martin Sherman opened in Milton Keynes Theatre in 2002.Fact|date=May 2008 It played at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Harvey Theater in November 2004. [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=1&res=9502E0D6163CF937A35752C1A9629C8B63&fta=y&oref=slogin]

References

External links

* [http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/passage/index.html Detailed analyses, chapter summaries, a quiz and essay questions] , by SparkNotes
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/classics/0,6121,99926,00.html Original 1924 review] reprinted by "The Guardian"
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html A list of the Modern Library's top one hundred novels of the twentieth century]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059569/ 1965 television adaptation of the novel] at the Internet Movie Database
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087892/ 1984 movie adaptation of the novel] at the Internet Movie Database


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