Instructions for Assignment #3
Read the passage below from A Passage to India (pp. 37-8, at the end of Chapter 4).
In our Father’s house are many mansions, [the missionaries] taught, and there alone
will the incompatible multitudes of mankind be welcomed and soothed. Not one
shall be turned away by the servants on that verandah, be he black or white, not one
shall be kept standing who approaches with a loving heart. And why should the
divine hospitality cease here? Consider, with all reverence, the monkeys. May there
not be a mansion for the monkeys also? Old Mr. Graysford said No, but young Mr.
Sorley, who was advanced, said Yes; he saw no reason why monkeys should not have
their collateral share of bliss, and he had sympathetic discussions about them with
his Hindu friends. And the jackals? Jackals were indeed less to Mr. Sorley’s mind
but he admitted that the mercy of God, being infinite, may well embrace all
mammals. And the wasps? He became uneasy during the descent to wasps, and
was apt to change the conversation. And oranges, cactuses, crystals and mud? and
the bacteria inside Mr. Sorley? No, no, this is going too far. We must exclude
someone from our gathering, or we shall be left with nothing.
Then write 2 paragraphs:
* The first paragraph should interpret the passage. What “point” is Forster trying to make by showing us this
conversation? What is the significance of Mr. Sorley saying “We must exclude someone from our gathering,
or we shall be left with nothing”?
* The second paragraph should discuss some other specific passage or conversation in the novel that you think
is relevant to what is being discussed in this passage. Why might the author want us to be thinking about
these two scenes or passages in relation to each other? How does that comparison help us to interpret the
larger meaning or purpose of either of these scenes or conversations?
When you discuss your chosen passage, remember to “set the scene” for us briefly, so that we know where we
are in the book in relation to the story. (Don’t just say, “At the beginning of Chapter 3…” Instead, say
“When Aziz first meets Mrs. Moore in the mosque…”) Tell us who is talking to whom, etc., so that we know
where we are in the novel and generally what is going on.
Finally, keep in mind that the entire purpose of this exercise is to help you come to an interpretation of the
various scenes, conversations and passages that you are discussing. Each time you discuss a passage or
conversation in the novel, you will be quoting from that scene or conversation and interpreting
something within that quotation. When you interpret a passage from the text, that just means you end up
(1) explaining the implications of the passage (that is, the significance of that phrase or passage beyond what
it obviously and explicitly says), and (2) how that phrase or statement or passage reflects some important issue
that goes beyond just that particular scene or conversation.
One suggestion about the “heaven” passage above: Keep in mind that, to the Christian missionaries, heaven
would be considered an infinite realm with infinite resources! So it doesn’t make sense to say that they feel
the need to exclude because there wouldn’t be enough “room” or resources if everyone on earth got into
heaven. There must be some other meaning to the idea that “we shall be left with nothing” if we don’t
exclude…