A PASSAGE TO INDIA

E.M. FORSTER
BEENISH M.PHIL ENGLISH. UNIVERSITY OF
SARGODHA

Edward Morgan
Forster

English novelist,
short
essayist and librettist.
(1 January
1879 story
7 Junewriter,
1970)

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 INDIA
Background 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

Summary
Two English women, the young Miss Adela Quested and
the elderly Mrs. Moore, travel to India. Adela expects to marry
Mrs. Moores 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 hasnt seen
who the guy was, she accuses doctor Aziz of being the attacker.
After an exhausting process, Adela realizes that it
wasnt 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
Dr. Aziz Indian doctor from
Characters
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 Forsters 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. Moores

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 Ronnys failing as the
fault of the colonial system, not
his own.
Professor Godbole - A Brahman
Hindu who teaches at Fieldings
college.

OTHER CHARACTERS
Mr. Turton- The collector, the man who governs Chandrapore.
Mrs. Turton - Turtons wife. She embodies the novels 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. Azizs superior.
Hamidullah - Dr. Azizs 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 lowborn Hindu doctor and Azizs rival.
Stella Moore - Mrs. Moores daughter from her second marriage. Stella
marries Fielding toward the end of the novel.
Ralph Moore - Mrs. Moores 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
antiBritish man.

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

1 MOSQUE
Aziz 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

2CAVES
There 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

3TEMPLE
Two 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.

THEMES
RELIGION and GOD
CULTURE CLASH
EAST VS WEST
NATIONALISM
IPERIALISM
LOVE
WOMEN
THEME OF POWER
THEME OF JUSTICE AND JUDGMENT

IMPERIALISM
The 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 religionsIslam,
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. EAST

Though 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
nave 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 logic
Chap 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.

SYMBOLS
WASP
GREEN BIRD
FESTIVALES, PARTIES and SOCIAL
OCASSIONS
MOSQUE,CAVES,TEMPLE and WEATHER
THE SKY
NOTHINGNESS
CAVE

WASP
Early 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.

NOTHINGNES
S
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

Cave
Cavesrepresentsallthatisalienaboutnature

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