A PASSAGE TO INDIA

E.M. FORSTERBEENISH M.PHIL ENGLISH. UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA

Edward Morgan ForsterEdward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970)

English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. well-known for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. travelled in continental Europe with his mother and visited Egypt, Germany and India with the classicist Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson. Forster spent a second spell in India in the early 1920s. After returning he completed his last novel, “A Passage to India” (1924). humanist, homosexual, lifelong bachelor.

Other works:

• What I Believe

• A Room with a View

• Maurice

• Howards End

• The Hill of Devi

A PASSAGE TO INDIABackground of Novel:

The colonial occupation of India is significant in terms of the background of the novel

Indian nationalism began to foment around 1885 with the first meeting of the Indian National Congress

TITLE

Forster took the title from Walt Whitman's poem "Passage to India", 1870. The Suez Canal, creating a passage to India, was completed in 1869.

Themes:

1. the difficulty of friendship between an Englishman (the colonist) and an Indian (the colonized)

2. the racism and oppression of the British who rule India

3. the “muddle” of Indian civilization and psychology, and the oneness (and perhaps sameness) of all life

SummarySummaryTwo English women, the young Miss Adela Quested and

the elderly Mrs. Moore, travel to India. Adela expects to marry Mrs. Moore’s son, Ronny, a British magistrate from the Indian city of Chandrapore.

Adela and Mrs. Moore each hope to see the real India during their visit, rather than cultural institutions imported by the British. The two women are about to know India through an Indian doctor, Aziz. He offers them the chance to visit the Marabar caves, being accompanied by a new friend of the doctor, Fielding, and by a Hindu professor. The last two happen to miss the train to the caves, but arrived there later .

During the visit of the caves, Adela is almost raped in a cave and after she escapes, despite the fact she hasn’t seen who the guy was, she accuses doctor Aziz of being the attacker.

After an exhausting process, Adela realizes that it wasn’t Aziz and all the English people start to despise her. Aziz chooses to spend his life far away from the English, near Hindu people and after a fight with Fielding, he renewed the friendship with him.

Main CharactersDr. Aziz – Indian doctor from

Chandrapore, who tries to make friends with Adela Quested, Mrs. Moore, and Cyril Fielding. He is a character full of contradictions. He has an attitude of irony towards his English superiors. Many of his characteristics are specific for Indians.

Cyril Fielding – The principal of the government college near Chandrapore. He believes in educating the Indians as individuals. The character most associated with Forster himself. He is Forster’s model of liberal humanism.

Miss Adela Quested – A young Englishwoman who travels to India with Mrs. Moore. She has an openminded desire to get to know India.

Mrs. Moore – An elderly Englishwoman who travels to India, hoping that Adela will marry her son Ronny. She is a literar character, but she then becomes a symbolic presence. She symbolizes the ideal spiritual and race-blind openness that Forster sees as a solution to the problems in India.

Ronny Heaslop – Mrs. Moore’s son, the magistrate at Chandrapore. Briefly engaged to Adela Quested. The open-minded attitude with which he has been brought up has been replaced by a suspicion of Indians. Forster presents Ronny’s failing as the fault of the colonial system, not his own. Professor Godbole  -  A Brahman Hindu who teaches at Fielding’s college.

OTHER CHARACTERS

Mr. Turton -  The collector, the man who governs Chandrapore. Mrs. Turton  -  Turton’s wife. She embodies the novel’s stereotype of the snobby, rude, and prejudiced English colonial wife. Mr. McBryde  -  The superintendent of police in Chandrapore. He and Fielding are friendly acquaintances. Major Callendar  -  The civil surgeon at Chandrapore, Dr. Aziz’s superior. Hamidullah  -  Dr. Aziz’s uncle and friend. Hamidullah was a close friend of Fielding before Fielding and Aziz met. Mahmoud Ali  -  A lawyer friend of Dr. Aziz who is deeply pessimistic about the English. The Nawab Bahadur  -  The leading loyalist in Chandrapore. Dr. Panna Lal  -  A low born Hindu doctor and Aziz’s rival. ‑Stella Moore  -  Mrs. Moore’s daughter from her second marriage. Stella marries Fielding toward the end of the novel. Ralph Moore  -  Mrs. Moore’s son from her second marriage, a sensitive young man. Miss Derek  -  A young Englishwoman who works for a wealthy Indian family and often steals their car. Amritrao  -  The lawyer who defends Aziz at his trial. Amritrao is a highly anti British man. ‑

PLOTWe are introduced to Chandrapore, a city that is part of the British Raj. It is separated into three parts: Mosque, Caves, and Temple.

1 MOSQUEAziz is a poor doctor who has lived dutifully under British command, but has grown more frustrated with their treatment of him and his fellow Indians. He and his friends discuss the English and complain that they have changed in attitude over the years and have become more intolerant and cold. The British officials at the civil station in Chandrapore run a club that forbids Indians from attending and try to avoid any intimate friendships or relations with the natives. Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested come over from England to visit Ronny Heaslop, Mrs. Moore's son and Adela's betrothed

2CAVESThere are four Barabar caves.

Their smooth interior walls sustain prolonged echoes.

 

Aziz gets to the train station especially early so nothing will go wrong with the excursion. Mrs. Moore and Adela arrive on time, but Fielding and Godbole have not yet arrived. Aziz is nervous because he does not want to be left alone with the women, anticipating that trouble will arise. Ronny also disapproves of the women being left alone. He sends over a servant to follow them to make sure they are not left alone with Dr. Aziz. Fielding and Godbole arrive too late. They miss the train and Aziz is left to travel alone with Mrs. Moore and Adela. They put him at ease and assure him they are in good hands. At the caves, the weather is hot. The three go in and out of the caves, which all look similar. Within the caves is the haunting sound of an echo. While Mrs. Moore is in the cave, which is completely dark, she feels something touch her. But she is haunted by the sound of the echo, which takes over her thoughts. She decides to rest after her experience and let Adela and Aziz continue to explore other caves

Adela becomes preoccupied with her engagement to Ronny and realizes she does not love him. Before she enters the cave, she asks Aziz about his wife and love. Adela and Aziz become separated eventually and Aziz can not find Adela. Aziz hears a car and later assumes that Miss Derek, Adela's friend, picked up Adela. Fielding joins Aziz and Mrs. Moore and they board the train back to Chandrapore. When the train pulls into the station, Aziz is arrested for charges that are unknown to him. Fielding publicly vows to defend Aziz and alienates himself from his countrymen. Aziz is charged with making improper advances to Adela in the caves. Fielding believes that Adela was hallucinating.As the trial approaches, Mrs. Moore becomes more aloof. Adela seeks her support, but Mrs. Moore wants nothing to do with her or anyone else

Adela is haunted with the echoes from the caves, and when she realizes Aziz's innocence, the echoes go away. She tells Ronny about her doubts of Aziz's guilt and Mrs. Moore backs them up, but Ronny encourages her to go on with the trial and continue to press charges. Mrs. Moore, with the support and encouragement of her son, leaves for Britain before the trial. She dies en route, unable to endure the heat and travel conditions. At the trial, Adela continues to hear echoes. The courtroom becomes charged with emotion. Indians in the courthouse begin to call for Mrs. Moore to clear the name of Aziz. When Adela is called to the witness box, Mr. McBryde presses her until finally she admits that she is not sure if Aziz is really guilty. The judge drops the charges and all of the Indians in Chandrapore celebrate Aziz's victory. Adela walks the streets in a daze and is intercepted by Fielding. He invites her to his office for her safety.

Aziz becomes jealous while Adela and Fielding spend time together. Fielding pities her since her engagement has been broken and since she put her life on the line to tell the truth. He asks Aziz not to collect money from Adela for damages. Rumors begin to spread that he and Adela are having an affair. Fielding denies the rumor, but in the back of his mind, Aziz believes the rumor to be true and thinks Fielding will marry Adela for her money. After the trial, Aziz wants nothing to do with the British and begins to write poetry about the motherland and the nation. He decides to move out of the Raj to a free Indian state. Fielding and Adela return to England

3TEMPLETwo years have passed and Aziz and Godbole now live in Mau, an independent Hindu state. Godbole is the Minister of Education and Aziz has a clinic in town. The town is celebrating the arrival of a new God and is filled with singing and dancing in the streets. Godbole receives a note that Fielding and his new wife will be paying a visit. He tells Aziz who refuses to see them. Aziz has ignored all of Fielding's letters and postcards over the years and assumed that he has married Adela in London. Aziz runs into Fielding and his new brother-in-law (Ralph) by accident, when he goes out to attend to Ralph's bee sting.Aziz treats Fielding coldly. Fielding asks why Aziz never returned his letters. Finally, Aziz realizes that Fielding did not marry Adela, but Mrs. Moore's daughter, Stella. Adela introduced them in London. Aziz continues to behave coldly and says he wants nothing to do with the British.

Later on, Aziz checks up on Ralph's bee sting and continues to be cold, but is finally overcome by a spiritual epiphany brought on by the celebrations in town. He asks Ralph if he knows when a stranger becomes a friend and he answers yes. This was what his mother said to Aziz in the Mosque when they met. Finally, Aziz and Fielding become friends again. Aziz gives Fielding a letter to deliver to Adela forgiving her for her charges against him. He has left the past behind him. As Fielding and Aziz say their final good-byes, their horses pull them away from each other and they know they will never see each other again.One night, Mrs. Moore encounters Dr. Aziz in a Mosque in the moonlight. They are at first startled by each other, but instantly become friends. Mrs. Moore and Adela are more liberal than Ronny and wish to see the "real India" and befriend Indians.

TEA PARTY

Tea PartyMr. Fielding, the Principal of the Government College, invites Adela and Mrs. Moore to his home for tea. He also invites Dr. Aziz, who he recently met and liked instantly, and his mystical Hindu colleague Professor Godbole. Fielding's tea party is very friendly and comfortable. Aziz feels so at ease, that he invites the women on an excursion to the caves at Marabar.

THEMESRELIGION and GOD

CULTURE CLASH

EAST VS WEST

NATIONALISM

IPERIALISM

LOVE

WOMEN

THEME OF POWER

THEME OF JUSTICE AND JUDGMENT

IMPERIALISMThe economic consequences of British imperialism are hinted at only briefly in the novel. This occurs when Fielding mentions to Godbole and Adela that mangoes can now be purchased in England: "They ship them in ice-cold rooms. You can make India in England apparently, just as you can make England in India" (chapter 7). This hints at the economic exploitation of India. The British claim to be in India for the good of the Indians, whereas in fact, they are there to increase their own wealth by setting up a system of trade that is entirely beneficial to themselves.

GOD AND RELIGION

E. M. Forster was not a religious man nor a religious writer. However, religion is a major preoccupation in the book. India is seen as a meeting point of three of the world's historic religions−Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism.Aziz loves the cultural and social aspects of his Moslem (Islamic) heritage, but he seems less concerned with its theology and religious practice. He is aware that Moslems are in the minority in India, and he thus feels a special kinship with other Moslems such as Hamidullah.Ronny Heaslop admits that for him Christianity is fine in its place, but he does not let It interfere with his civil duty.Mrs. Moore is basically Christian in her outlook. However, she experiences a crisis of faith during her visit to the Marabar Caves, and her belief in God or in any meaning to life is destroyed.

Hinduism is the main religion of India, and Professor Godbole is the central Hindu figure in the book. He is also, by far, the most religious character. For Godbole, Hinduism is "completeness, not reconstruction.“

Culture Clash

Cultural misunderstanding or clash is the main theme of this novel. Fundamental differences in race, language, sexual equality and religion separate the Indians from the British sent to govern them. Although the British are living in India, they stay in their own community and have their own “club” where locals are not allowed; they perform British plays and have British parties, only inviting native Indians as showpieces for the new arrivals to view.

Several Anglo-Indians consider Adela a race-traitor for admitting that she was wrong about an Indian (Dr. Aziz) sexually assaulting her. The Indians resent the British rule and their foreign customs and attitudes. There is further culture clash within the Indian culture. The Muslims and Hindus are separate and Dr. Aziz, the protagonist, insults the Hindu culture on several

WEST VS. EASTThough the English and Indians are both physically in the East, there is a clear separation between Eastern and Western culture in colonized India.

Chap 3: Adela confronts Ronny about his treatment of Indians. Still fresh in India, she feels the bridge between East and West can be crossed with pleasant and equal behavior. Ronny advises her that her naïve perspective will change the longer she stays in the country.

Chap 5: Adela and Mrs. Moore are sad that there is no interaction between the British hosts and the Indian guests. The Bridge Party does not create a bridge between the people. Chap 8: Aziz tells Nawab Bahadur's grandson that believing in superstition and evil spirits is a defect of the East. The West has advanced, he believes, because they believe in reason and logicChap 37: Aziz and Fielding part ways, knowing they will never see each other again. The notion that Indians and British can never be intimate friends while the British control India seems to hold true.

WOMEN

Chap 2: Mrs. Moore impresses Aziz by removing her shoes before she enters the Mosque. This is a sign of respect that he does not expect from British women in his country. Chap 7: Fielding contends that English women can never be friends with Indian men. Disaster happens whenever the two meet.

Chap 11: Aziz shows Fielding a picture of his wife: an act that is forbidden unless it is between brothers due to the tradition of purdah, the separation and veiling of women. Fielding asks if people in the world were to treat each other as equally as brothers, if there would be no more need for purdah. Chap13: Aziz's friends now warn him that it is not advisable for him to mix with British women. They predict something bad will happen due to his interaction with these ladies. Chap 20: At the club, the men talk of protecting the women and children. This incites in them a blinding national pride. Chap 34: Aziz begins to write poetry about Oriental womanhood. He calls for the end of purdah, which he believes is an essential step to forming Indian statehood.

NATIONALISM Chap 3: The British National Anthem inspires feelings of power rather than patriotism. England's role in India is one of power and control. Chap 14: While discussing Akbar, a Hindu figure who had a unifying force, Aziz tells Mrs. Moore and Adela that India cannot be united. As a Muslim, he feels divided from the other half of India. Chap 24: Adela begins to feel guilty about the notion of the British as a civilizing force. She contemplates who gave them the right to control a country. At the same time, McBryde uses a "scientific" approach to prove the racial and national superiority of the British over the Indians. Mahmoud Ali becomes vocal about the unfair role of the British in India. He stands up for Indian nationalism and storms out of the court.

Chap 25: The otherwise pro-British Nawab Bahadur, the most diplomatic and respected of Indians, becomes so inspired by the cruel treatment of his son and the treatment of Aziz by the British, that he renounces his name and title for his Islamic name. Chap 30: The trial awoke the nationalist spirit in Aziz. He now began to think of the motherland in his poetry. Chap 35: Aziz expresses his wish not to associate with any British people. He even pushes away the friendship of Fielding. Chap 37: Aziz and Fielding part ways, knowing they can never be friends as long as the British continue to control India

LOVE Chap 8: Though they have broken off the engagement, the bumpy ride in Nawab Bahadur's car awakens Adela and Ronny's feelings of love, or at least lust. Chap 11: Aziz and Fielding discuss marriage. Aziz admits that he fell in love with his wife after they were married. Sharing the photo of his wife with him is an act of brotherly love. Fielding also admits that he has never married or never plans to. He says he is too old to fall in love. Chap 15 : Adela begins to doubt her love for Ronny. She realizes she is not in love with him and questions if she is capable of loving another. She thinks she is too intellectual to be in love. Chap 27: Fielding can not understand why Aziz loved Mrs. Moore so much, since she had not been there for Aziz, especially after the cave incident. He tells Fielding that Mrs. Moore was oriental in her emotions--

she never measured love. Fielding is very western and Aziz feels he measures his emotions too much. Chap 28: Ronny terminates the engagement with Adela. The two had never been in love and were probably incapable of loving each other. Chap 29: Both Adela and Fielding have given up on love and think they will never love anyone. Chap 36: Ralph tells Aziz that his mother loved him very much. Though Aziz is very short with Ralph, Ralph overlooks the behavior and assures him that he is a friend, though he is a stranger. This oriental attitude is like his mother's. Ralph proves he is capable of loving on instinct the way his mother had.

SYMBOLSWASPGREEN BIRDFESTIVALES, PARTIES and SOCIAL OCASSIONSMOSQUE,CAVES,TEMPLE and WEATHERTHE SKYNOTHINGNESSCAVE

WASPEarly in the novel (chapter 3), Mrs. Moore returns from the club and sees a small wasp asleep on a coat peg. She does not disturb it. Indeed, she seems to feel quite affectionate toward it, addressing it as "Pretty, dear." The wasp is a symbol of the unity of all life, as understood in the Indian religious tradition. Everything, even an insect, is a manifestation of Brahman. Mrs. Moore does not know this intellectually, but she is sympathetic to the idea of the oneness of the universe. Her reaction to the wasp shows she is in tune with this way of thinking.

GREEN BIRD

The green bird that Ronny and Adela observe and try to identify but cannot (chapter 8) symbolizes India. India is elusive; it cannot be neatly categorized. Categorization is the Western, but not the Eastern, approach to understanding. It relies on rational understanding, and is part of the scientific approach. But as far as India is concerned, "nothing is identifiable.

SOCIAL OCCASIONS: PARTIES, PICNICS, AND FESTIVALS

the Turtons' Bridge Party, Fielding's tea party, and Aziz's picnic. All of these occasions are supposed to be about coming together, making some friends, and having a good time, but all of them fail miserably. In the novel, these failed parties serve as allegories for the British Empire in general.each of these occasions fail because of the British need for exclusion, for hierarchies, for social boundaries, and for establishing an us-versus-them that always sets up an "us" as superior to "them." Racism is an extension of this desire for exclusion, and so is empire, which is based on the principle that "we" are better – more civilized, more modern, more powerful – than "them."

MOSQUE, CAVE, TEMPLE, AND A FEW COMMENTS ON THE WEATHER

The parts are also organized by the three seasons in India: "Mosque" takes place during the cool weather, "Cave" during the hot weather, and "Temple" during the rainy season.

THE SKY

The sky recurs in chapter after chapter, sometimes personified to the extent that depictions of the sky almost become characters in their own right. The sky, as the entity that embraces all things, could be construed as a symbol of inclusiveness, but it has also been read as a symbol of the vast expanse of either British imperial control or the inconceivable vastness of India itself.

NOTHINGNESS

In a twist that Godbole would surely appreciate, nothing in the novel is actually something. That is, it's a symbol. A symbol of – nothing.novel begins with the word "nothing" in its first sentence. You might have noticed that the novel seems obsessed with gaps and holes. The novel is roughly structured like a donut, with a big hole where Adela's experience in the cave should be. But if you think about it, even though nothing is written about Adela's experience in the cave, it doesn't mean that nothing happened or that nothing can be said. In fact, it's probably the most interesting part of the book precisely because it's missing

CaveCaves represents all that is alien about nature

FORSTER A MODERNIST

Edward Morgan Forster was a modern English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society.Forster's two best-known works, A Passage to India and Howards End, explore the irreconcilability of class differences.Forster is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised (as by his friend Roger Fry) for his attachment to mysticism. One example of his symbolism is the wych elm tree in Howards End. The characters of Mrs. Wilcox in that novel and Mrs. Moore in A Passage to India have a mystical link with the past, and a striking ability to connect with people from beyond their own circles.

Forster achieved his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924). The novel takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj. Forster connects personal relationships with the politics of colonialism through the story of the Englishwoman Adela Quested, the Indian Dr. Aziz, and the question of what did or did not happen between them in the Marabar Caves. Forster makes special mention of the author Ahmed Ali and his Twilight in Delhi in his Preface to its Everyman's Library Edition.

THANK YOU FOR PATIENCE