Novel 4

Passage to India

Major characters / Themes

 Members of the group

Doaa Ahmed Ali SalehJawaher Subhi AlbalawiShoaa Ibrahim Albalawi

Manal Flaih Alanzi Albandari Flaih Alanzi

Passage to India

byE. M. Forster

A Passage to India (1924) is a novel by English author E. M. Forster , Edward Morgan Forster was born in London in 1879 and died in 1970. A Passage to India published in 1924 , It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English literature by the Modern Library , “A Passage to India” is Forster's last novel, based on his experiences in India.

 In this novel , Forster examines the conflict between Indian and British . The story revolves around four characters: Dr. Aziz, his British friend Mr. Cyril Fielding, Mrs. Moore, and Miss Adela Quested. During a trip to the Marabar Caves , Adela thinks she finds herself alone with Dr. Aziz in one of the caves (when in fact he is in an entirely different cave), and subsequently panics and flees . It is assumed that Dr. Aziz has attempted to assault her. Aziz's trial, and its run-up and aftermath, bring to a boil the common racial tensions and prejudices between indigenous Indians and the British who rule India.

Introduction

Major characters

Doctor AzizMain character of the novel. Aziz is a young Muslim/Indian doctor who lives very simply in a modest bungalow in Chandrapore in order to support his three children. Aziz's quick response to Mrs. Moore and Fielding is a part of the secret of the "understanding heart" which Forster emphasizes as the key to understanding among men. Aziz's name embodies the "beginning" and the "end" (A to Z) of human frailties, but he makes no mistake about the people who have the ability to judge on the basis of individual worth. Aziz is a skilled surgeon and a well-educated, intelligent doctor, and he also is poet . Aziz is partly influenced against Western thought by the high-handed ways of the English, who do not make the Western way of life attractive.

Cyril Fielding

The schoolmaster of the Government College. He is a middle-aged man who is too set in his ways to be influenced by the other Anglo-Indians. He is liberal, strong and intelligent. Fielding is Forster's "top man" to demonstrate the kind of understanding that the world needs. Like Adela, he is ruled more by intellect than love or emotion. He is a loyal friend , sticking by Aziz during the trial despite their racial differences and pressure from the British. With a combination of human and spiritual understanding, Fielding would certainly be the man "most likely to succeed" in promoting world understanding.

Mrs. Moore

Mrs. Moore comes to India to visit her son and bring over Adela. Mrs. Moore personifies the religious theme of the novel. She is the symbol of spirit and universal love. Mrs. Moore came over to India as a good Christian, but her experience in India draws her to the spiritual world rather than the traditionally religious one. After her death, her character becomes even more important, especially in the trial. She is capable of loving and of being loved. Though they know each other for only a short time, Mrs. Moore and Aziz deeply love and respect each other.

Adela Quested

she Comes to India to visit Ronny, the man she thinks she will marry, to see how he behaves at work. She wants to see the 'real India' for purely intellectual reasons. Unlike Aziz and Mrs. Moore, Adela is pure intellect. She does not feel things, but thinks them. She is plain but generally decent. She is neither likable nor detestable. The reader may find himself sympathetic with Adela and at the same time smile agreement with Aziz at his unkind, but comic, remarks about her; her cold honesty is admirable but not endearing.

Ronny HeaslopRonny Heaslop is Adela’s fiancée and Mrs. Moore’s son. He is the City Magistrate of Chandrapore. He and his mother disagree about the way Indians are treated. He is a victim of the British school system and is steeped in unemotional officialism . Ronny believes his mother’s religious and spiritual beliefs are a sign of senility. Ronny is the epitome of the class-conscious Englishman. He does not judge on the basis of merit, but rather by position on the social ladder. As a result of his training, he cannot countenance, or understand, anyone who questions these standards. This is why Adela is unsuitable for him and why he cannot be reached by his mother's arguments.

Themes

1/ ColonialismOn one level, A Passage to India is an in-depth description of daily life in India under British rule. The British “Raj” (its colonial empire in India) lasted from 1858 to 1947. Forster himself was British, but in the novel he is very critical of colonialism. He never goes so far as to advocate outright Indian rebellion, but he does show how the colonial system is inherently flawed. Forster also shows how the colonial system makes the Indians hate and sometimes condescend to the British , his overall message is that colonialism in India is a harmful system for both the British and the Indians. Friendships like that between Aziz and Fielding are a rare exception, not the rule, and even such friendships are all but destroyed or thwarted by the problems and tensions of colonialism.

2/ Friendship

On one level, A Passage to India is an in-depth description of daily life in India under British rule. The British “Raj” (its colonial empire in India) lasted from 1858 to 1947. Forster himself was British, but in the novel he is very critical of colonialism. He never goes so far as to advocate outright Indian rebellion, but he does show how the colonial system is inherently flawed. Forster also shows how the colonial system makes the Indians hate and sometimes condescend to the British , his overall message is that colonialism in India is a harmful system for both the British and the Indians. Friendships like that between Aziz and Fielding are a rare exception, not the rule, and even such friendships are all but destroyed or thwarted by the problems and tensions of colonialism. Thus Forster doesn’t let go of his humanistic ideals, but he does show how such ideals can be hindered by social systems and cultural divides.

3/ Race and Culture

Many observations about race and culture in colonial India are threaded throughout the novel. A Passage to India is in some ways a sort of ethnography, or an examination of the customs of different cultures. On the English side, Forster examines the English tendency to be rational without emotion, and what is perceived as the English lack of imagination. Forster gives equal time to analyzing Indian culture. On one level he portrays the many religions and cultures of the country, which are part of the reason India remains so internally divide . Forster gives the greatest importance to interpersonal human interaction and friendship, but he also recognizes the pervasive influence of larger social forces.

ConclusionPassage to India was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English literature , it was Forster's masterpiece .The question that the Indians discuss in Chapter 2 — "Is it possible for the Indians to be friends with the English?" — is the focal point of the plot of A Passage to India. Can East meet West on a plane where each not only tolerates but also appreciates the other? In a larger sense Forster asks if universal understanding is possible. (It should be pointed out that this novel does not really suggest an affirmative answer to that question.) He then proceeds to introduce characters from the major factions in India and to show their interactions.

References 

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