The Author E.M. Forster wrote A Passage to India in 1924, the last completed novel that he published during his lifetime. The novel differs from Forster's other major works in its overt political content, as opposed to the lighter tone and more subdued political subtext contained in works such as Howards End and A Room With A View. The novel deals with the political occupation of India by the British, a colonial domination that ended after the publication of Forster's text and still during his lifetime. Background of the Novel The colonial occupation of India is significant in terms of the background of the novel. Britain occupied an important place in political affairs in India since 1760, but did not secure control over India for nearly a century. In August of 1858, during a period of violent revolt against Britain by the Indians, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act, transferring political power from the East India Company to the crown. This established the bureaucratic colonial system in India headed by a Council of India consisting initially of fifteen Britons. Although Parliament and Queen Victoria maintained support for local princes, Victoria added the title Empress of India to her regality. The typical attitude of Britons in India was that they were undertaking the "white man's burden," as put by Rudyard Kipling. This was a system of aloof, condescending sovereignty in which the English bureaucracy did not associate with the persons they ruled, and finds its expression in characters such as Ronny Heaslop and Mr. McBryde in A Passage to India. Indian nationalism began to foment around 1885 with the first meeting of the Indian National Congress, and nationalism found expression in the Muslim community as well around the beginning of the twentieth century. Reforms in India's political system occurred with the victory of the Liberal Party in 1906, culminating in the Indian Councils Act of 1909, but nationalism continued to rise. India took part in the first world war, assisting the British with the assumption that this help would lead to political concessions, but even with the promise after the war that Indians would play an increased role in their own government, relations between the English and Indians did not improve. It is around this time that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became a preeminent force in Indian politics, and it is also around this time that Forster would wrote A Passage to India. More than twenty years later, after a long struggle, Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act in 1947, ordering the separation of India and Pakistan and granting both nations their sovereignty. 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. 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. Mr. 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. 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 sends over a servant to follow the women 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. 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. Doctor Aziz: A Muslim doctor in Chandrapore. Intelligent, outgoing and sensitive, but also suspicious and irrational at times. Hospitality and kindness to Adela and Mrs Moore. Shares a friendship with Fielding till the end of the trial. Becomes more uptight with people after the trial; ceases to bend down to the whims of the whites. Reflects the fears and disillusionment of educated Indians under the British Raj. Mrs Moore: Reflective, sympathetic, sensitive and pious. Likes Dr Aziz; doesn't agree with Anglo-Indian treatment of Indians. After the incident in Marabar, starts seeing everything negatively; escapes from Aziz’s trial though she knew she could’ve proved his innocence. Dies on her voyage back to England. The other face of the colonizer. Doesn’t like the idea of colonialism, and is kind to all people regardless of race or religion. Adela Quested: Serious, curious and ambiguous. Wishes more interaction with Indians, though her fiancée disproves of it. Confused by the setting of the caves, falsely accuses Aziz of assaulting her. Admitting the mistake in court leads to her being abandoned by the Anglo-Indian community. Though respectful to Indians, she can’t have a good relationship with them. The Marabar incident seemingly changes her rational mind forever. Cyril Fielding: Headmaster at the local college and friend of Aziz Pleasant in character and revolutionary in thought Free from prejudice and generalisation towards Indians Maintains a healthy relation with all Indians around him Marries Stella, Mrs Moore’s daughter, in the end. Fielding prefers individual and personal relationships to institutional ones that are patronising. Containing both positive and negative characters, Fielding represents the stance of Forster in the context of the novel. Professor Godbole He is a Hindu philosopher. He is most charming and mysterious character of the novel. Godbole is deeply thoughtful and wise ; he is aware of the universal mystery. He believes in love amongst and in respect for nature and life as well. Ronny Heaslop: Mrs Moore’s first son; district magistrate; engaged to Adela. Typical British colonizer: racist, prejudiced and unmindful of Indians. Regards all religions to be vain and silly, except Christianity, which justifies the English monarchy. Considers his institutional duty to be above respecting Indians. Breaks off with Adela after she doubts her love for him after the trial. The typical white colonizer with the “white burden”. Has a deep sense of civilisation, but is insensitive to the local people. The Marabar Hills are described as the fists and fingers of the south. Despite their human characteristics, the hills are imposing. Earth here is more impressive than any of the people in Chandrapore. The women are fascinated by the moonlight, which has a mystical quality to it. However, a British stranger reminds them that in British India, though they might be halfway around the world from home, they stick to the same moon. Therefore, there is little spirit or imagination in the India of the English. Mrs. Moore and Adela hope for something more. Looking into the sky, Mrs. Moore sees a moon that is very different from the moon in England. This moonlight filled her with a sense of unity with nature and the heavens the way it never had at home. The heat of April, an aspect of the earth in India, makes things quite unbearable and influences the behavior of those who live there. McBryde tries to argue that the hot climate and geographic conditions of India drive the Indians to behave the way they do. He contends that nature has control over man in India and if the British were to endure this climate, they would behave the same way. When Mrs. Moore first came to India, the mystical forces of the earth overtook her. However, after the engagement of Ronny and Adela, she becomes burdened with the duties of reality and this disrupts her union with spirit and earth. The echoes of the cave haunt Adela and make her question her charges against Aziz. The sound of the caves haunts her until she reveals the truth about Aziz and clears her conscience. The earth prevents Aziz and Fielding from riding back to each other. It prevents the continuation of their friendship, at least until the British leave India. 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. 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. 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. 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. Ronny terminates the engagement with Adela. The two had never been in love and were probably incapable of loving each other. Both Adela and Fielding have given up on love and think they will never love anyone. 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. The British National Anthem inspires feelings of power rather than patriotism. England's role in India is one of power and control. While discussing Akbar, a 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. 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. 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. The trial awoke the nationalist spirit in Aziz. He now began to think of the motherland in his poetry. Aziz expresses his wish not to associate with any British people. He even pushes away the friendship of Fielding. Aziz and Fielding part ways, knowing they can never be friends as long as the British continue to control India. English people are civil, or even friendly, towards natives when they first arrive in India. However, the longer they stay in India, the greater the gulf grows between them and the Indians. Though the English and Indians are both physically in the East, there is a clear separation between Eastern and Western culture in colonized India. 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. Many Indians are skeptical about the sincerity of Turton's invitation to his Bridge Party. Nawab Bahadur, a person who is respected by British and Indians, convinces his countrymen to attend the party. 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. Fielding and Aziz forge an instant friendship despite their racial differences. 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. Fielding tries to tell Aziz that he should not think about the picnic in terms of East and West, but simply in terms of friendship. Turton, who believes his years of experience in India have made him wise and knowledgeable, says that Indians and English are incapable of interacting on an intimate basis. That is why he feels there should exist a great distance between them. Aziz tries to explain to Fielding that Mrs. Moore, though an old British woman, was an Oriental at heart. She had an Eastern way of relating to people. Aziz considers measuring emotion, as Fielding does, to be a Western trait. 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. At the Mosque, Aziz feels renewed. He feels most at home there. His body and spirit are unified by his religion in the Mosque. He is more loyal to Islam than to his country. Two missionaries discuss God and how he does not exclude any creature from his house. This conversation is ironic against the backdrop of the colonized India. Mrs. Moore is a religious woman. She talks to Ronny about the bad and unchristian treatment of the British towards the Indians. She says that God loves everyone and since India is part of the earth, God loves the Indians. Religious thought is divided in India. Aziz blames an Indian couple's bad manners on the fact that they are Hindu. To put Aziz at ease when Fielding and Godbole do not arrive, she tells him that they will all be Muslims together-signifying their equality. Aziz tells Mrs. Moore and Adela that he can not accept the Hindu notion of universality. He believes it is best if every one adheres to his own religion. In the caves, the 'boom' sound erases all religious thoughts from Mrs. Moore's mind. The echo becomes more powerful than her religion. In the aftermath of the incident at the caves, Mrs. Moore loses her interest in religion and all other aspects of life. In her despair, Adela strays from her usually intellectual ways and begins praying again. In her absence, the Indians at the trial begin to chant Mrs. Moore's name. By mispronouncing her name as Esmiss Esmoor, they have called her the name of a Hindu goddess. Mrs. Moore appears in Godbole's head during a spiritual fervor. The visit by Mrs. Moore completes him and brings him closer to God. God is love. 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. Fielding contends that English women can never be friends with Indian men. Disaster happens whenever the two meet. 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. 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. At the club, the men talk of protecting the women and children. This incites in them a blinding national pride. 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.
