A passage to India

A Passage to India 1

Edward Forster’s

A Passage to

India

By Norma Ostrander, M.A.

A Passage to India 2

Editor: Gary Carey, M.A., University of Colorado

Consulting Editor: James L. Roberts, Ph.D., Department of English, University of Nebraska

CliffsNotes™ A Passage to India

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A Passage to India 3

CONTENTS

Life of E. M. Forster

The British Raj in India

General Summary

List of Characters

Chapter Commentaries

Part I

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-11

Part 11

Chapter 12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-24

Chapters 25-32

Part III

Chapters 33-37

Character Analyses

Dr. Aziz

Mrs. Moore

Adela Quested

Cyril Fielding

Ronny Heaslop

Professor Godbole

Hamidullah

The Tartons

The Missionaries

Critical Analysis

General Meaning

Nature in A Passage to India

Mysticism

A Passage to India 4

Structure

Techniques

Glossary

Questions and Essay Topics

Selected Bibliography

A Passage to India 5

Life of E. M. Forster

Edward Morgan Forster was born in London in 1879, the son

of an architect. He attended Tonbridge School, which he hated; he

caricatured what he termed “public school behavior” in several of

his novels. A different atmosphere awaited him at King’s College,

Cambridge, which he enjoyed thoroughly.

After graduation, he began to write short stories. He lived for a

time in Italy, the scene of two of his early novels: Where Angels

Fear to Tread (1905), and A Room with a View (1908).

Cambridge is the setting for The Longest Journey (1907). It was in

this year that he returned to England and delivered a series of

lectures at Working Men’s College. His most mature work to date

was to appear in 1910 with the publication of Howards End.

Forster then turned to literary journalism and wrote a play

which was never staged. In 1911 he went to India with G. Lowes

Dickinson, his mentor at King’s College. During World War 1,

Forster was engaged in civilian war work in Alexandria. He

returned to London after the war as a journalist.

In 1921 he again went to India, to work as secretary to the

Maharajah of Dewas State Senior. He had begun work on A

Passage to India before this time, but on reading his notes in

India, he was discouraged and put them aside. The book was

published in 1924, having been written upon his return to

England. This was his last novel. It is considered to be his

magnum opus, and it won for the author the Femina Vie Heureuse

and the James Tait Black Memorial prizes in 1925.

In 1927 Forster delivered the William George Clark lectures at

Trinity College, Cambridge. Titled Aspects of the Novel, the

lectures were published in book form the same year. Also in 1927

he became a Fellow of Cambridge.

Forster’s writing after that time has been varied. A collection

of short stories (The Eternal Moment) was published in 1928.

Abinger Harvest (1936) is a collection of reprints of reviews and

articles. During World War 11 he broadcast many essays over the

BBC. He has written a pageant play (England’s Pleasant Land), a

film (Diary For Timothy), two biographies (Goldsworthy Lowes

Dickinson in 1934 and Marianne Thornton in 1956), a libretto for

Benjamin Britten’s opera, Billy Budd (with Eric Crozier), and

numerous essays. In 1953 he published The Hill of Devi, an

uneven collection of letters and reminiscences of his experiences

A Passage to India 6

in India.

In 1960 A Passage to India was adapted for the stage by

Santha Rama Rau. After playing in London for a year, the play

opened on Broadway on January 31, 1962, and ran for 110

performances. Although Forster was “delighted” with the

adaptation, most of the American critics felt the play did not

measure up to the novel. Forster has never agreed to film versions

of his novels.

In 1946, Forster moved to King’s College in Cambridge to live

there as an honorary fellow. Mr. Forster’s numerous awards

included membership in the Order of Companions of Honour, a

recognition bestowed in 1953 by Queen Elizabeth II.

A Passage to India 7

The British Raj in India

India was accustomed to invaders by the time the English

arrived in the seventeenth century. Beginning with the great

Indo-Aryan invasion (2400-1500 B.C.), the natives of the Indian

subcontinent had seen parts of their land overrun by conquering

armies of Huns, Arabs, Persians, Tartars, and Greeks. Buddhists,

Hindus, and Moslems had ruled over parts of the vast country.

None had succeeded in ruling all of India—none until Great

Britain came onto the scene.

The English arrived at an opportune time, during the

disintegration of the Mogul Empire, which had controlled most of

India from 1526 until the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. As the

empire dissolved, wars for power between Marathas, Persians,

and Sikhs began. The English took advantage of these conflicts.

The English did not come as invaders or conquerors; they

came as traders. When the British East India Company was

formed in 1600, its agents were in competition with the French

and Portuguese traders who had preceded them. Whereas the other

European traders kept aloof from Indian affairs, the English

became involved in them. Trade was their most important

consideration, but fortifications and garrisons were necessary to

insure security. Warring princes were very interested in obtaining

European arms and military skills for their own purposes and

willingly paid for them with cash, credit, or grants of land.

In this way power was gradually gained by the British East

India Company until in 1757 Robert Clive gained control of India

in the Battle of Plassey. In 1774 Warren Hastings became the first

governor-general of India; during his regime the foundations of

the civil service system were laid and a system of law courts was

organized. The power was still in the hands of the East India

Company; the company agents extended their control and

obtained the right to collect taxes.

The Sepoy Rebellion in 1857 was an attempt by the Mogul

emperor to regain power, and it showed a desire on the part of

Indians to win back control of their own country. The rebellion,

which lacked organization, support, and leadership, left

widespread bitterness. In 1858 the British government took over

rule of India, with power in the hands of the British Parliament.

Great Britain indirectly controlled various territories, known as

“Indian States,” where the rulers were rewarded for support

A Passage to India 8

during the rebellion: titles were conferred, autonomy was granted,

and protection against possible revolts was assured.

In 1885 the Indian National Congress was formed. Little more

than a debating society, it did represent every geographical area

and all religious groups and castes. In 1906 the Moslem League

was formed to advance the cause of Mohammedanism in India.

From 1858 to 1914 England firmly established its rule over the

country. English governors at the head of each province were

responsible to the governor-general (or viceroy) who was

appointed by the King of England and responsible to Parliament.

In 1877 Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India.

In return for helping Great Britain in World War 1, Indians

were promised a share in their own government. This was far

from independence, for repressive measures were directed against

India. More Indians, however, were elected to the legislature and

Indians, for the first time, sat on the Viceroy’s Council. There was

a constant struggle for independence. The Amritsar Massacre in

1919 indicated the extent of unrest and trouble among the Indians.

India was guaranteed independence before it agreed to help the

Allies in World War 11. In 1946 Clement Atlee, Prime Minister

of Great Britain, offered complete independence as soon as Indian

leaders could agree on a form of government that could manage a

free India. By 1947 it was clear that only partition could resolve

the conflict among the Indian peoples. India and Pakistan became

dominions in the British Commonwealth of Nations. In 1949, the

new constitution declared the Union of India to be a sovereign

democratic republic.

A Passage to India 9

General Summary

A Passage to India was divided by E. M. Forster into three

parts. The first part, “Mosque,” begins with what is essentially a

description of the city of Chandrapore. The physical separation of

the city into sections, plus the separation of earth and sky, are

indicative of a separation of deeper significance that exists

between the Indian and English sectors.

This novel deals with human relationships, and the theme that

determines its plot line is introduced in this section: “Is it possible

for the Indian and the Englishman to be friends?” To show both

sides of this question, the reader is first introduced to Dr. Aziz and

his friends. Aziz is a Moslem doctor who practices at the

government hospital in Chandrapore under the supervision of

Major Callendar. Among Aziz’s friends are Hamidullah, an Indian

barrister who has lived in England; Nawab Bahadur, an influential

landowner; and Mahmoud Ali. In the opening chapters these men

are shown discussing the English officials who govern under the

British Raj in India.

Among the English faction, who also discuss the Anglo-Indian

relationship, are Mr. Turton, the Collector; Major Callendar, the

English doctor; Mr. McBryde, the police magistrate; and Ronny

Heaslop, the city magistrate and the latest official to assume

duties in Chandrapore.

Between these groups, or outside them, are Cyril Fielding, the

English principal of the government school, whose allegiance

belongs to neither group; Mrs. Moore, mother of Ronny Heaslop,

who has come to India as chaperone to Miss Adela Quested,

Ronny’s intended fiancee; Professor Godbole, a Hindu who is

separated from the Moslems by his religion and* from the English

by his religion and nationality; and the English missionaries, Mr.

Graysford and Mr. Sorley, who share none of the arrogance of

English officialdom as they attempt to convert the Indians to

Christianity.

The story opens with Aziz’s arrival at Hamidullah’s house,

where he is to spend a social evening with his friends. Their

conversation centers upon the indignities that the Indian must

suffer at the hands of the English officials and their wives. Young

Ronny Heaslop, whom they dub the “red-nosed boy,” is a

particular object of ridicule.

Aziz is summoned to the house of his superior, Major

A Passage to India 10

Callendar. He is late in arriving and when he arrives, he finds the

major gone. Two English women preempt his tonga and on the

walk back to his house he encounters Mrs. Moore at the mosque.

The old lady endears herself to Aziz by her innate understanding

of him and of Moslem custom; he calls her an Oriental.

Later, at the English club, Adela Quested expresses her desire

to see the “real India” and is advised by a passerby to “try seeing

Indians.” To humor her Mr. Turton offers to give a “Bridge

Party,” a garden party ostensibly designed to bridge the distance

between the English and the Indian, and to give Adela and Mrs.

Moore the opportunity to meet socially some of the upper-class

Indians.

At Mrs. Moore’s cottage that night Ronny and his mother

discuss her encounter with Aziz at the mosque. Ronny shows his

unmistakable prejudice and Mrs. Moore is appalled at his

inhumane attitude. On her way to bed, she exhibits a sympathetic

response to a wasp, one of the least of India’s creatures.

On the outskirts of the town, Mr. Sorley, the younger and more

liberal of the two English missionaries, while willing to accept

that there may well be a heaven for mammals, cannot bring

himself to admit the lowly wasp.

The garden party given by the Turtons only serves to show

more clearly the division of peoples, as each group keeps to itself.

Cyril Fielding, who mingles freely with the Indians, is impressed

by the friendliness of Mrs. Moore and Adela and invites them to

tea at his home. They are also invited for a Thursday morning

visit—which never materializes—to the home of the

Bhattacharya’s, a Hindu couple.

That evening, in a discussion with Ronny, Mrs. Moore is again

appalled by her son, and quotes to him from the Bible, reminding

him that God is love and expects man to love his neighbor (though

she herself has found Him less satisfying in India than ever

before). Ronny humors her, reminding himself that she is old.

At tea at Fielding’s house, Mrs. Moore and Adela visit

pleasantly with Aziz and Professor Godbole, enigmatic Hindu

associate of Mr. Fielding. The kindness of Mrs. Moore and Adela

Quested prompts Aziz to invite them on an outing to the Marabar

Caves, which they accept. Ronny Heaslop arrives at Fielding’s

cottage to take his mother and Adela to a game of polo; his

discourtesy to Aziz and his arrogant demeanor toward all Indians

A Passage to India 11

causes Adela and Ronny to quarrel, and Adela tells Ronny she

cannot marry him.

Later the young people go for a ride with Nawab Bahadur, and

when the automobile is involved in an accident with an

unidentified animal on a back road, they are drawn together once

more and announce their engagement. Mrs. Moore accepts the

news calmly, but when told of the accident she murmurs, “A

ghost!”

Aziz, pleased with the friendship shown him by Cyril Fielding,

shows the English professor a picture of his dead wife, a courtesy

equal to inviting Fielding behind the purdah, the highest honor an

Indian can give.

The next section, “Caves,” begins with a detailed description

of the Marabar Caves, the peculiar hollow caverns within the

equally curious Marabar Hills that rise from an otherwise flat area

outside the city of Chandrapore.

It is to these caves that Aziz has planned an elaborate trip for

Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested. He has also included Fielding

and Godbole in the invitation. Unfortunately, Fielding and

Godbole miss the train and Aziz is left in full charge of the

expedition, which begins with a train ride and ends with an

elephant ride to the immediate vicinity of the caves. In the first

cave Mrs. Moore is terrified by an echo and the press of the crowd

and declines to go farther.

Aziz, a guide, and Adela go on alone. Adela, pondering her

engagement to Ronny, unwisely asks Aziz if he has more than one

wife. The excitable little Indian, upset by her queries, dashes into

a cave to recover his composure. Adela wanders aimlessly into

another cave and is supposedly assaulted by someone there. She

rushes down the side of the hill, where she meets Nancy Derek, an

English companion to a maharani, who has brought Fielding to

the caves. Nancy returns the overwrought Adela to Chandrapore.

In the meantime Aziz, knowing nothing of what has happened

to Adela, entertains his other friends and returns with them by

train. At the station he is met by Mr. Haq, the police inspector,

who arrests him for assaulting Miss Quested.

Fielding alienates himself from the English by siding with

Aziz. The English rally around Adela and press for a quick

conviction. Mrs. Moore, now sunk into a state of apathy, refuses

to admit that Aziz may be guilty but also refuses to testify in his

A Passage to India 12

behalf in court; Ronny arranges passage for her to England. On

the way she dies; her name, however, becomes for a time a legend

to the natives of Chandrapore.

At the trial, Adela Quested, who has been in a state of shock

since the incident at the caves, suddenly finds her mind clear

again and exonerates Aziz. Her withdrawal of the charge against

Aziz causes her to be ostracized by the English. Fielding

reluctantly offers her the use of his cottage while he is absent on

official business, and Ronny eventually breaks their engagement.

Disillusioned by her experience in India, Adela returns to

England; and Fielding persuades Aziz to drop a damage suit

against her.

Two years later the setting of the novel shifts to the Hindu

state of Mau in a section entitled “Temple.” Following the trial,

Fielding had returned to England, married, and was then sent on a

tour of central India to inspect government schools. Godbole has

become the Minister of Education at Mau, and through his

influence, Aziz has become personal physician to the Rajah of

Mau.

The opening chapter of this section describes a Hindu

ceremony honoring the birth of the god Krishna. Professor

Godbole directs the temple choir and, in an ecstasy of religious

fervor, dances his joy. While in this almost trancelike state he

remembers Mrs. Moore and a wasp, associating them as he

contemplates the love of God. The biblical statement “God is

Love,” with which Mrs. Moore had exhorted her son, is repeated

in the Hindu ceremony, although through an error in its printing it

becomes “God si Love.”

Aziz is annoyed when he discovers that Fielding is visiting

Mau in line with his official duties. He has become thoroughly

disillusioned with the British and even with Fielding; when he

learned that Fielding had married in England, he concluded that

the wife was Adela Quested and henceforth refused to read any of

Fielding’s letters. Aziz has married again and has his children

with him. Although he does not embrace Hinduism, he is tolerant

of their festivals and is finding peace and contentment away from

British domination. He has, however, let his practice of medicine

degenerate until he is little more than a glorified medicine man.

When Aziz meets Fielding again, he learns that Stella Moore,

not Adela Quested, is Fielding’s wife. Stella and her brother

Ralph have accompanied Fielding to India. Aziz forms a special

A Passage to India 13

attachment for Ralph, whose bee stings he treats, because Ralph

shows many of the traits of his mother, Mrs. Moore.

The Hindu festival continues after the celebration of the birth

of the god. Fielding and Stella go out in a boat to better observe

the ceremony, as do Aziz and Ralph in another boat. In the storm

the boats collide with each other and capsize. In the general

confusion that follows, the ceremony comes to an end and the

English return to the guest house. Aziz has confided to Ralph that

the rajah has died, but the announcement of his death is suspended

until after the festival.

Hinduism affects both Stella and Ralph, but Fielding cannot

understand the effect it has on them, though he is intrigued by it.

Aziz believes that Ralph, at least, has an Oriental mind, as Mrs.

Moore had.

Although Fielding finds that the school that Professor Godbole

was to superintend has been neglected and the building turned into

a granary, he does nothing to rectify the situation. The floods,

which have kept Fielding in Mau, abate, and he and his party

make plans to leave. Before they go, Fielding and Aziz take a

final horseback ride together. Good-naturedly, they argue about

the Anglo-Indian problem. Aziz excitedly declares that India must

be united and the English driven out. Sensing that this is the end

of their association, Aziz and Fielding attempt to pledge eternal

friendship in spite of their differences, but the path narrows and

their horses are forced apart, signifying that such a friendship is

not yet possible.

A Passage to India 14

List of Characters

Adela Quested

A young woman newly arrived from England, expecting to be

the fiancee of Ronny Heaslop.

Mrs. Moore

Adela’s chaperone and Ronny Heaslop’s mother, by her first

marriage.

Ronny Heaslop

The City Magistrate of Chandrapore.

Doctor Aziz

The Moslem doctor at the Government Hospital.

Major and Mrs. Callendar

A Civil Surgeon and Aziz’s superior; and his wife.

Cyril Fielding

The English Principal at the Government College.

Professor Godbole

The Hindu colleague of Fielding’s.

Hamidullah

Aziz’s uncle and eminent Moslem barrister.

Mahmoud Ali

Pleader (attorney) in the court, and friend of Aziz.

Ram Chand, Syed Mohammed, and Mr. Haq

Friends of Aziz.

Mr. Das

Ronny’s assistant and the Hindu judge at the trial.

Nawab Bahadur

The wealthy, influential friend of Aziz.

Mr. and Mrs. McBryde

The District Superintendent of Police and his wife.

Nancy Derek

A guest of the McBryde’s and the companion of a maharani in

a native state.

Mr. and Mrs. Turton

Collector, head of British officialdom and social leader of

Chandrapore; and his wife.

A Passage to India 15

Mr. Armitrao

The lawyer from Calcutta who takes Aziz’s case.

Nureddin

Grandson of Nawab Bahadur.

Ralph Moore

Mrs. Moore’s son by her second marriage.

Stella Moore

Mrs. Moore’s daughter, who becomes the wife of Cyril

Fielding.

Mr. and Mrs. Lesley

A British official and his wife.

Karin, Ahmed, Jamila

Children of Aziz.

Doctor Panna Lal

Hindu colleague of Aziz.

Mohammed Latif

Poor relative who lives in the house of Hamidullah.

Mr. Graysford and Mr. Sorley

Missionaries who live on the outskirts of Chandrapore.

Lord and Lady Mellanby

The Lieutenant Governor and his wife.

Mrs. Bhattacharya

The Indian woman who invites Adela and Mrs. Moore to her

house and then neglects to send a carriage for them.

A Passage to India 16

Chapter Commentaries

Part I

Chapters 1-3

Chandrapore is an undistinguished Indian town except for the

outlying Marabar Caves. The language that Forster uses to

describe the town creates the feeling of monotony, vast space, and

infinity. The separation of the English settlement from the Indian

is as distinct in the character and attitudes of the people as it is in

the physical appearance of the houses and grounds.

Forster uses the sky as the symbolic arch which is almost the

only common link between the two national groups. By

implication, he contrasts the infinite power and mystery of the

immense sky with the discordant affairs of earthbound men.

Changes in weather and types of weather are common symbols

used by authors to indicate changes in moods or deeper meanings.

In this book, Forster shows the sky as a source of strength as it

governs the weather and the seasons. The earth is shown to be

dependent upon the caprices of the sky. Words such as “glory”

and “benediction” give the sky divine attributes. In his notes in the

Everyman Edition, Forster records that the three parts of the book

correspond to the three seasons of India: the cold season, which is

just ending in the Mosque section, the hot season, which

dominates the Caves section, and the rainy season, which occurs

during the Temple section.

A central question of the novel is presented in Chapter 2: “Can

the Indians and the English become friends?” The problems

involved in interracial relationships determine the main lines of

the plot’s structure.

The Indians are introduced as intelligent and perceptive people

who resent their treatment by the British but generally accept it

with a humorous cynicism. Forster, although he depicts Indian

failings, quite frankly sympathizes with the Indian attitude rather

than with the English. Part of his concern was to show the evils of

political rule of one nation over another. The major Indian

characters in this novel are educated men who are capable of

independent action. They must serve under minor or major British

officials who rarely make any effort to consider the Indian

A Passage to India 17

viewpoint about anything. The Indians are expected to obey the

British without question.

Some of the older Indians judge the English both as a group

and as individuals: Hamidullah, for example, recalls the fine

English people with whom he lived in Cambridge. In India,

however, only the English are free to make overtures of

friendship. The Indians know from past experiences, too, that the

friendly English newcomers usually become tiresomely

condescending in a short time under the influence of the career

British officials. (It will be seen throughout the book that most of

the English think of the Indians as a group. It is a rare English

person who dignifies an Indian as an individual.)

The reader meets Aziz’s aunt, a Moslem woman in purdah (an

Indian custom by which women live in seclusion). The only men

to see women’s faces were the men in their immediate families. It

was commonly thought that Indian women were unimportant

shadows in the background. Forster suggests that the sheltered

Indian women were often women with lively minds whose

opinions were sought and valued. Their men enjoyed visiting with

them as equals.

Part 1, therefore, begins with an introduction to India from the

Moslem viewpoint. (The term “Mohammedan,” used by

Westerners as a synonym for “Moslem,” is considered

objectionable by the professors of this faith. Mohammed, or

Muhammed, was not divine; he was simply the messenger of

Allah. The terms “Moslem” to define the person and “Islam” to

mean the religion are considered correct.) This viewpoint is

shown primarily through the warm, impulsive, young Aziz.

It is important to remember that Aziz calls Mrs. Moore an

Oriental. The conflict of the Oriental mind and the Western mind

is an important one in this novel, because it is the basis of much of

the misunderstanding. Mrs. Moore has the ability to cross the

lines. It is further important to remember the inscription that Aziz

would choose for his tomb: he cherishes the “secret understanding

of the heart” and values that quality in others.

Forster uses Chapters 2 and 3 to contrast Indian and English

customs, attitudes, and beliefs. He shows the Indians at home

discussing the English, followed by the English at the club

discussing the Indians. Both groups are revealing likes, dislikes,

and preconceived judgments about each other. Only the reader is

seeing both sides and the elements that shape the problem of

A Passage to India 18

Anglo-Indian dissension in India.

It is well to review these two chapters in detail to gain the

feeling of differences between the groups. Look for contrasting

viewpoints. For example, notice the difference in attitudes in the

Major Callendar-Aziz episode. The major expected Aziz

promptly; Aziz tarried with his friends and was delayed further by

an accident to his bicycle. The underlying conflict is in the

attitude toward time.

Highly organized nations and people put a premium on

promptness; visitors to foreign lands, where life is slower, often

notice that their time has only relative value. Punctuality, to a

native of a country such as India, is not a major virtue; but

courtesy is. The major, however, waiting to go to the club,

becomes impatient at the delay and dashes off to settle the matter

without leaving a message, without considering that Aziz may

have a social life which would take him away from his house.

Both men feel a sense of injustice.

Such opposing points of view serve as a constant source of

irritation on both sides. Very few of the characters are able to

overlook such petty differences and to find planes of common

respect. Underlying these surface differences is, of course, the

feeling of superiority of the British ruling class and the sting the

Indian feels as the subject race.

The principal characters begin to emerge more distinctly from

this point. Mrs. Moore and Aziz are revealed as persons of spirit

and determination. Fielding’s one line at the club, “Try seeing

Indians,” discloses that he shares their broader thinking.

Ronny Heaslop is shown for what he is: the kind of person

who seems to have been stamped out with a cookie cutter. He is a

product of England’s public school system and adopts quickly and

completely the attitudes of his British colleagues in India. This

solves the inconvenience of thinking for himself and, of course,

simplifies his relationship with his colleagues.

Contrast Ronny’s statement about the subject race with the

ideas of the newcomers, Mrs. Moore and Miss Quested. One

should give careful consideration to the way Mrs. Moore begins

her acquaintance with India. She respects what she cannot

understand, as at the mosque. She puzzles her son, Ronny, by

describing Aziz as a “young man” rather than as a young native.

Later, she is almost swayed by Ronny’s interpretation of the

A Passage to India 19

incident until she realizes that Ronny does not really know Aziz

and that he is judging him simply as an Indian. Aziz is, to Ronny,

not a young man to whom one accords the dignity of his position,

but a young Indian who has dared to converse on an equal basis

with an Englishwoman.

Adela Quested develops as a possible “thorn-in-the-side”

person because she questions blanket judgments. She is a plain,

fair-minded young woman with a questing mind and with (so she

believes) an interest in knowing the Indians as they really are. She

has the perception to wonder if she can be happy with a

“rubber-stamp” British official as she questions Ronny’s

acceptance of the opinions of the 20-year men in the British Raj.

Fielding’s comment, “Try seeing Indians” is a key to

understanding this man’s broader thinking. He seems to be saying:

Stop looking at India. Try seeing the Indians as people with all the

common problems that people everywhere have to meet.

The comments and thoughts of Fielding and Mrs. Moore

should be observed closely. Their viewpoints, although different

from each other, are unusually objective, and through their eyes

the reader is able to view the problems more objectively.

In the opening chapters observe Forster’s use of symbols.

These symbols carry a thread of meaning throughout the novel.

For instance, in the first chapter special significance is given to

the sky. In Chapter 3 the moon becomes a symbol of universality:

Mrs. Moore wonders if she is looking at the other side of the

moon, the side never seen in England. A person passing by

overhears, and comments that even on the other side of the world,

it is still the same old moon.

Consider the implied meanings. Geographical location may

change, but the same moon shines down upon everyone. There is

a universal oneness—the oneness that might be achieved among

all people, but which now exists only in the natural world. Later,

when Mrs. Moore looks up at the moon, she feels a curious

kinship with all heavenly bodies. This is the first portent of the

transcendent nature of Mrs. Moore’s thoughts.

The wasp symbol which crops up throughout the novel appears

here for the first time. It is associated with Mrs. Moore’s spiritual

sensibility; and later the Hindu, Professor Godbole, is to associate

the wasp with his memory of Mrs. Moore when he is participating

in a religious ceremony. Both Mrs. Moore and the professor have

A Passage to India 20

an appreciation for the importance of everything—people,

animals, insects, and even inanimate objects—in the divine

scheme.

The geniality with which Collector Turton offers to give the

“Bridge Party” (a party supposedly intended to bridge the gap

between nationalities), to satisfy Adela Quested’s desire to see

Indians is indicative of the courtesy the English tender to their

own kind. This serves as a contrast to the lack of courtesy they

show to their Indian subjects.

Chapters 4-6

The central event of these chapters is the Bridge Party. When

the Indian gentlemen receive their invitations, Nawab Bahadur, a

wealthy landowner, makes a significant statement about

long-distance sympathy. Some of the Indians believe that the

invitation to meet the English socially is due to pressure brought

to bear by the lieutenant governor. Nawab Bahadur announces his

intention to accept the invitation, believing that it is local in

origin; he says, in effect, the governor is too far away to

understand the problem of Chandrapore. A problem that is too

uncomfortable to face can always be ignored if one maintains a

safe distance from it.

By this time, the actions and reactions of the two large groups

are generally evident. One is accustomed to the feeling of

suspicion that the groups hold for each other, with nothing

accepted at face value.

A part of the English colony that is seldom mentioned is the

missionary compound on the outskirts of the city. To lead into the

discussion of the work of the missionaries, Forster writes, “All

invitations must proceed from heaven perhaps . . .” The

missionaries, Mr. Sorley and Mr. Graysford, are trying to teach

that God loves everyone. The Hindus question if that includes

monkeys, jackals, and even the lowly wasp? (Recall Mrs. Moore’s

appreciation for the wasp, one of the least-appreciated creatures of

India.)

The younger of the missionaries, Mr. Sorley, though he will

admit mammals to a heaven, cannot quite bring himself to include

wasps; and he balks completely at plants, mud, and bacteria.

Forster seems, by implication, to be indicating another difference

between the cultures. First, from the missionaries’ (and the

Western) point of view, everyone must omit something from his

consideration: if everyone and everything is equal, how can there

A Passage to India 21

be anyone or anything to look down upon to increase one’s sense

of self-importance? Second, from an opposing standpoint, Forster

emphasizes an important Hindu concept, that the Divine excludes

nothing and no one.

The term “Bridge Party” is an ironic one, for the party serves

only to intensify the division of peoples. Fielding, who chooses to

socialize with the Indians, does so at the cost of alienating himself

from the English. The English use of “they” in speaking of the

Indians again demonstrates that the English think of the Indians en

masse, not as individuals.

In describing the party, Forster presents many types of women.

Mrs. Turton typifies the “official Englishwoman.” She is the

acknowledged leader of the British social class system. She

considers herself superior to Indians, even to those who surpass

her in knowledge. Contrast her Indian dialect for underlings, for

example, with the Indian ladies’ command of English.

Miss Quested, the newcomer, is the inquiring woman who is

too much of an individual to accept the conformity required by the

British group. To many of the Englishwomen in the strange world

of India, conformity and security become companions.

Conformity assures the insecure of a standard of thought and

behavior, thus relieving them of the anxiety of making their own

decisions. The insecure person feels threatened by new or

different ideas, and the individual who questions, as Adela does,

poses a threat. She is immediately set down as not being “pukka,”

or one of the right sort to live in India.

The Indian women, only recently liberated from purdah, are a

puzzling combination of giggles, shyness, and unexpected

knowledge. The purdah custom was subject to bitter discussion

within Indian ranks for many years. At the time of this book,

1924, many women were emerging into a fuller life. Many more

of the women were urged, often by their men, to forsake purdah.

For example, the forsaking of this custom was often the subject of

Aziz’s poetry two years later, in Mau, though he still respects it in

the earlier sections of the book. One realizes the rapid

transformation of the Indian woman’s status since 1924 by

remembering that in 1966 a woman, Indira Nehru Gandhi, became

India’s prime minister.

Mrs. Moore emerges as a still more important figure. In her is

centered what may be termed the “mystical” aspect of this

novel—that aspect which makes it much more than a

A Passage to India 22

propagandistic story about the problems of Anglo-India. She is an

enigmatic character, and her significance has been the object of

much critical discussion. Her sympathy with a wasp (and by

implication with Hindu theology), has been indicated in the

preceding chapters; here she shows the beginnings of her

alienation from Christianity. She tells Ronny that “God is Love”

and quotes to him the familiar passage from the New Testament

(Corinthians 13) which emphasizes the importance of charity

(love).

But the chapter ends with the statement that, although she

thinks of God more as she grows older, Mrs. Moore has found

Him less satisfying and more remote since she entered India. And,

as will be seen later, her actions after the incident in the caves can

by no means be termed “charitable.”

Note the allusions to the weather, the sky, and the echo, which

are recurring symbols throughout the novel. The weather has

much to do with the temperament of both British and Indian in

India. The sky, with its arches above and beyond it, relates the

human condition to the infinite and indicates a quality of

remoteness in the infinite. The echo, only casually mentioned

here, becomes increasingly important in ensuing chapters in a

mystical and highly complex manner.

Aziz, whom Forster chooses as the spokesman and principal

representative of the Moslem faction in Chandrapore, is shown to

be a man of excitable and changeable temperament. He is highly

affectionate by nature and extends this affection to Indian and

English alike when they exhibit traits of understanding and

sincerity. This accounts for his quick acceptance of Mrs. Moore

and Cyril Fielding. By the same token, he is quick to condemn

both Indian and English for insincerity and lack of courtesy.

Some authorities see the name Aziz as symbolic: Aziz

represents the range of human emotion from A to Z. He loves his

children and makes great material sacrifices for them; and though

the memory of his dead wife, with whom he had enjoyed an

intellectual companionship, saddens him, he does not think of her

often, and arranges to visit a brothel in Calcutta. His religion is

important to him only for patriotic reasons, in relation to the past

glories of Islam. He is tormented and delighted in turn by his

ability, or inability, to relate adequately to other people.

An example of Aziz’s acceptance of persons whose

humanitarian instincts prompt them to disregard nationality and

A Passage to India 23

creed is the affection he feels for Mrs. Moore following their

encounter at the mosque. Later, when Cyril Fielding invites him to

tea, even though Aziz had ignored an earlier invitation, the

English professor is firmly established in Aziz’s friendship. His

tendency to act on impulse—as his heart, rather than his head,

dictates—is indicated when he does not attend the Bridge Party;

he had arranged to go with Dr. Panna Lai, but at the last minute

was “seized with a revulsion” and decided to send a telegram to

his children instead, since this was the anniversary of his wife’s

death.

Chapters 7-8

Fielding’s tea party presents a contrast to the Bridge Party in

that, without pretending to, it bridges the gap successfully. Present

are English (Mrs. Moore, Adela, Fielding), Moslem (Aziz), and

Hindu (Professor Godbole). There is mutual respect and tolerance,

and the conversation is rewarding.

Several incidents and developments are noteworthy:

1. Aziz has a chance to reciprocate Fielding’s friendliness. At a

risk to his own dress (which Ronny Heaslop speaks of

disparagingly later), Aziz removes his collar stud and gives it to

Fielding, saying, out of courtesy, that it was in his pocket.

2. Adela mentions the Bhattacharya incident, which Fielding

thinks is better forgotten. Perhaps the Bhattacharyas did not

expect the Englishwomen to take the invitation seriously, or they

became too worried about the visit to carry it through.

3. Professor Godbole is introduced by Forster as the enigmatic

representative of Hinduism. He eats apart from the group, as

becomes a Brahmin, but is included in the conversation. His quiet

wisdom is contrasted with Aziz’s quick judgments. One would do

well to review the contrast between the two men. Note, in

particular, their discussion of the Marabar Caves: Aziz tries to

persuade Godbole to reveal concrete information about them, with

the feeling that the Hindu is, probably unconsciously, concealing

something—but he does not succeed.

It is important to notice Mrs. Moore’s interest in Professor

Godbole. She is quick to sense the wisdom he represents. The

song that Godbole suddenly sings is especially important. In it he

takes the role of a milkmaid and appeals to Krishna, who refuses

to come to him alone, or to a multitude of his companions; in fact,

Godbole—calmly says the god does not come in this or in any

A Passage to India 24

other song, despite appeals. (See the discussion of Chapter 33 for

the role of Krishna in Hindu theology.) This song is a factor in

furthering the apathy of Mrs. Moore—an apathy the beginnings of

which have already been indicated, and which becomes more

prounounced after her visit to the caves.

4. Fielding, as host, is the broadminded man who embraces all

ideologies, because, in a sense, he embraces none. He is the

worldly man whose “understanding heart” judges only on the

basis of the worth of the individual. He professes to being

interested only in education. As such he poses a threat to the smug

English community: as Fielding educates the Indians, he gives

them a view of a better life. This is what the British Raj’ cannot

countenance. Forster emphasizes the point that only a people kept

in ignorance can be kept in submission.

5. Under the influence of the social compatibility she shares with

the Indians at Fielding’s tea, Adela sees her place in the English

Club circle as impossible and inadvertently states that she does

not intend to remain in India.

6. When Ronny Heaslop appears, he sounds a discordant note and

all the old animosity returns. Aziz becomes irritable and rude.

Mrs. Moore is embarrassed, Adela is resentful, and Godbole

retreats into silence, breaking it only to sing his song. On the way

home from the tea the annoyance deepens; Ronny’s chief concern

seems to be that his mother and Adela have not behaved as the

British in India should.

Forster indicates the influence of new locale on human

behavior:

1. Ronny criticizes Aziz for what he calls the “fundamental

slackness” of the race because Aziz, otherwise impeccably

dressed, has apparently forgotten a collar button (the one which he

gave to Fielding). On the other hand, when they are away from the

Indians, he shows great tolerance and understanding when Adela

tells him she cannot marry him.

2. Adela is disturbed because she acts so “British.” She seems to

feel that she should act differently now that she is in India.

3. Forster introduces the little green bird which neither of the

young people can identify to remind them and the reader that in

spite of their British attitudes, they are in an India which they do

not really know and cannot understand, and India will continue to

intrude.

A Passage to India 25

4. Mrs. Moore shows further traits of her affinity with Hindusim

when she abruptly withdraws from Adela and Ronny’s quarrel.

Remember how Godbole withdraws into himself at any mention

of dissension.

Ronny and Adela are shown interacting in the incident of the

quarrel and the subsequent ride, which ends in an accident. They

are shown almost as half-characters who, although they are

reasonably honest and reasonably fair, are coolly restrained and

not capable of any depth of feeling or real involvement. The main

difference between them is that Adela is more perceptive about

herself and others, and basically therefore more honest with

herself; Ronny, whose notions are those of the accepted group,

seldom questions his motives.

Ronny and Adela’s ride in Nawab Bahadur’s car and the

subsequent accident bring out several interesting points:

1. The uninspiring scenery seems to call out “Come, come” in

vain, as in Godbole’s song.

2. Ronny and Adela’s engagement is brought about by the slight

sensual thrill that they feel, showing once more the lack of depth

in their affection.

3. Miss Derek is introduced as another quite different part of the

English community in India. Ronny feels that her position in the

household of a maharani is detrimental to English prestige.

4. Mr. Harris, the half-English, half-Indian chauffeur, expresses

the despair of so many of his kind; he feels that he belongs to

neither group.

5. Nawab Bahadur’s condemnation of superstition following the

accident is defensive rather than deeply felt; he secretly believes

that the cause of the accident was the ghost of a drunken man

whom he had run over and killed years earlier.

6. When Mrs. Moore, after being told of the incident, mentions a

ghost, she exhibits once more her unconscious affinity with the

Oriental mind.

Forster makes a facetious play on words as Ronny’s servant

Krishna (like the Krishna in Godbole’s song) does not come,

although Ronny storms angrily at him.

Chapters 9-11

When Aziz becomes mildly ill, he exaggerates his illness and

A Passage to India 26

is visited by representatives of the many groups of Indians. This

meeting gives Forster an opportunity to demonstrate subtle humor

in conjunction with inter-racial tensions in India. Should the

British depart, there would be no Indian unity. The Indians would

lose their only bond—their common dislike for the English. Now,

the Indians blame the English for their problems, rather than

seeking understanding and agreement within their own ranks. In a

sense, the British save the Indians from themselves. The widely

differing opinions of the group around Aziz’s bed show the

dissension within the groups of Indians and their opinions of the

causes.

Into this group comes Fielding. His blunt answers to the

Indians’ questions demonstrate the Englishman’s highly valued

virtue of honesty, which often seems impolite to the Indian mind.

Recall earlier chapters where the Indian, as a courtesy, has gone to

great lengths to give an answer that “saves face” for himself and

embarrassment for his listener. This is part of the reason that the

Indian will sometimes refrain from saying what he means; instead

he will say what his listener wants to hear. In his viewpoint

courtesy takes precedence over honesty.

Another reason for the vague answer with which the Indian

skirts the truth is that, when the Indian admits something, he is

often judged by the British on the basis of his race and is then

penalized without further investigation. After a number of

episodes such as this, the Indian becomes cautious and

self-protective. This characteristic is not limited to the Indian.

People who are dominated by a person, or a group, tend to be

elusive to save some particle of independent thought or action.

For further contrasts in the Indian-English viewpoint, look to

Aziz’s thoughts on sex and his comments to Fielding. Aziz holds

that it is wrong to offend God or a friend, but that there is no

wrong deceiving society because society is not injured unless the

wrong is discovered. Later, Aziz implies that having an

illegitimate child to carry on one’s name is preferable to having

no children. In contrast, Fielding is content to let his name vanish.

Time, as pointed out previously, is not naturally important to

the Indian. However, under the influence of Western thinking, the

educated Indians realize that this lack of attention to time is one of

their problems.

When Aziz’s guests leave him they are conscious of the heat;

even the thought of it is oppressive. Forster makes it plain that the

A Passage to India 27

weather governs India. The hot weather of April saps man’s

strength and taxes his disposition; it is a period when tempers

flare and troubles increase.

Fielding, who has been purposely detained by Aziz, is paid the

highest compliment that an Indian can bestow upon an

Englishman. He is shown a picture of Aziz’s dead wife. This is

equivalent to lifting the purdah and Aziz says that this is done

only for a man whom he can call “brother.” The mutual trust and

affection that Aziz and Fielding feel for each other is the

beginning of a strong friendship. Both have understanding hearts

and educated minds, and each has some knowledge and

appreciation of the other’s cultural and social customs. This is a

firm basis for friendship and only time and circumstance will tell

if this is enough to withstand the differences that exist between

them.

Through the eyes of Fielding, the individualist and the

objective observer, the reader may see more clearly the emotional

events into which the Indians and English will be plunged in Part

11. While Fielding is objective, he is also human and capable of

error in judgment. Realizing this, the reader can more clearly

understand what happens when a subjective, highly sensitive, and

insecure person such as Aziz is faced with disaster.

A Passage to India 28

Part II

Chapter 12

In the introductory chapter of Part II Forster describes the

Marabar Caves. Though he describes them physically—their great

geological age, their lack of shrines, their perfectly polished walls,

their rough-hewn, manmade entrances—what remains in the mind

is their sense of mystery, which Forster suggests but does not

attempt to explain. There is “something unspeakable” in them;

visitors come away with uncertain impressions; if the unopened

caves were excavated, “nothing would be added to the sum of

good or evil.” Recall here Godbole’s unwillingness to describe the

caves in Chapter 7; the assumption there is that he understands

their mystery, and they are thereby related to Hinduism.

It might be suggested that the caves symbolize in part the total

negation of self, the complete rejection of the importance of all

material things, which is the goal of the practice of Yoga; the

sense of such negation and rejection would be terrifying to a

totally unprepared person, especially to a Westerner reared in an

individualistic environment. Yet even this interpretation is too

simple; it will not bear the weight of all that the caves imply in the

novel, the “something very old and very small . . . incapable of

generosity” that dwells in them.

Chapters 13-16

Having set the stage in Part I, Forster leads the reader into the

height of his drama in Part II.

Aziz, with his peculiar combination of Eastern and Western

thinking, has impulsively invited the guests of Fielding’s tea party

to an excursion to the Marabar Caves. The irresponsible,

courteous Eastern half of his mind made the invitation; the

Western half is obliged to carry it out. His plans include a curious,

almost ludicrous, mixture of Indian and English entertainment. He

provides a “purdah” car on the train for Mrs. Moore and Adela

and serves them an English breakfast. At great expense he

provides an elephant ride from the train to the caves—the one

thing to which all tourists are treated and which Adela and Mrs.

Moore did not want. Mrs. Moore, with her usual innate

understanding, assures Aziz that he is the perfect host.

There is an ironic note on the subject of time, for it is Fielding,

the Englishman, who misses the train. However, Professor

Godbole is the real culprit, for he has been too long at his prayers.

A Passage to India 29

Although the trip is busy with human activity, there is a

spiritual atmosphere enveloping the participants. Mrs. Moore and

Adela are in a state of apathy dating from the tea party and

Professor Godbole’s song. The impression that this has made

upon them keeps them from being excited about the visit to the

mysterious caves. Adela confesses to herself that she cannot get

excited over Aziz’s arrangements because they will not “bite into

her mind,” and she resolves to spend the time planning her

wedding.

Mrs. Moore feels detached from the reality of any human

activity, reflecting that “though people are important, the relations

between them are not.” In her reflections she senses the necessity

for an understanding between men, an understanding that has not

progressed despite all centuries of human relationships.

Several phrases are dropped by Forster to keep the spiritual

note predominant. There is a “spiritual silence” during the

elephant ride: nothing is important; everything is elusive and

illusionary. Aziz cannot answer questions about the caves because

he knows nothing about them. He wishes for Professor Godbole,

for the professor is a spiritual man, the man most likely to be able

to explain a mystery.

There is an early portent of the catastrophe about to take place

when Aziz allows extra time for misfortune, which he says often

happens “among my people.”

Mrs. Moore suffers a violent reaction to her experience in the

first cave. The whole party surges in; the press of the crowd

stiffles her; and the echo terrifies her. Whatever is said in the cave

produces a meaningless “bourn” or “ou-boom.” As she sits alone,

everything—poor little talkative Christianity,” people, the

universe—becomes meaningless, and she surrenders herself to

complete apathy.

Forster, who has related Mrs. Moore’s receptivity to Hindu

philosophy, does not make her adopt Hinduism. Though she

senses the universality of all creation, she does not consciously

subscribe to it; though she feels at one with the heavenly bodies

and, at the other end of the continuum, takes delight in the lowly

wasp, she cannot conceive of a religion that is adequate to teach

such a concept, and this disheartens and frightens her.

When Adela, Aziz, and the guide, in accord with Mrs. Moore’s

request, continue the investigation of the caves by themselves,

A Passage to India 30

Adela is pondering her marriage to Ronny. Her questions to Aziz

about marriage are innocent attempts to find some answers to the

dilemma of her engagement. She fails to see the agitation she

engenders in Aziz when she asks him how many wives he has.

Forster makes the point that Aziz is offended because he is proud

of his Westernized thinking, which forbids polygamy. As Forster

says, “it challenged a new conviction.... and new convictions are

more sensitive than old.”

This lack of understanding causes Aziz to leave Adela for a

short time while he dashes into a cave to regain his composure. As

Adela wanders aimlessly into another cave, pondering her feelings

for Ronny, she precipitates a crisis that, for one thing, results in

the resolution of her problem.

Because the caves are so much alike, Aziz is unable to locate

the spot where he left Adela. When he sees her going down the

hill he rationalizes away the peculiar circumstances of her hasty

departure, such as the broken strap of her field glasses, which

appear to have been unceremoniously dropped, and the

disappearance of the guide. Fielding, with his logical English

mind, is uneasy. Mrs. Moore remains unmoved.

By now the reader is aware of the many references which

Forster makes to the differences in Oriental and Occidental

thinking. As another example, note the contrast between the

maxim which Aziz makes up to explain how frugality must give

way to hospitality and the care of one’s poor relatives, and the old,

stuffy maxims upon which, Fielding says, “the British Empire

rests.”

The caves, which suggest infinity and menacing mystery when

seen close-up, become “finite and rather romantic” seen from a

comfortable distance.

Aziz reflects the Indian attitude toward the British Raj when he

is arrested. He thinks of the disgrace to his name and his children,

showing that in his opinion, being arrested is the same thing as

being found guilty.

Chapters 17-24

Forster shows his attitude toward a nation that dominates

another as he directs bitter satire toward the British Raj. Adela’s

supposed assault becomes an excuse for the British officials to

exercise authority over their Indian subjects with Aziz as the

“example.” Feelings that have smoldered between the two

A Passage to India 31

nationalities suddenly burst into flame. Forster shows the strength

of mob psychology when emotions that have been held in check

have something to feed upon.

Because Fielding always thinks first of the individual, and

because he knows Aziz is incapable of the crime of which he is

accused, he feels he must defend Aziz; his stand earns him the

hatred of his countrymen. He tries to temper his defense of Aziz

to Mr. Turton with courtesy, but the collector is crazed with

emotion and cannot understand Fielding’s lack of the “herd

instinct,” his failure to rally to the cause.

McBryde, the superintendent of police, is less emotional about

the incident but comes to the same conclusion as the others. He

has a theory that the climate makes the Indian criminal; he

believes Aziz is guilty and refuses to accept any evidence to the

contrary. He is upset by Fielding’s defense of Aziz primarily for

official reasons: if Fielding refuses to come into the English camp,

he will weaken English rule, and McBryde says they can afford no

“gaps.”

Fielding wants to see Adela himself, because he believes she is

being abetted in her accusation of Aziz by people whose only

desire is to see him convicted. But he is not allowed this privilege.

Every scrap of evidence available is brought in against Aziz. A

letter is found addressed to Aziz from a friend in Calcutta who is

believed to keep a brothel. When Fielding objects to this,

McBryde changes the subject. The later revelation that McBryde’s

wife is divorcing him for adultery reveals the irony in this

conversation. The crowning insult to Aziz is the confiscation of

his wife’s picture, which he has kept hidden from all except those

he calls “brother.”

As the Indians begin to gather their forces, Fielding realizes

just how much in the middle of things he is. While the English are

coldly furious with him for standing by Aziz, the Indians frustrate

him with their illogical thinking and their fear. Forster states that

“fear is everywhere and the British Raj rests on it.” As long as the

Indians can be kept in fear and ignorance, British domination will

remain intact. Fielding has been busy fighting ignorance by

educating the Indian; now he sets about to give him courage. As a

result of Fielding’s talk with him, Hamidullah turns from

obsequiousness to aggressiveness, to the unfortunate extreme of

insisting on hiring a notoriously anti-British Hindu lawyer for

Aziz’s defense.

A Passage to India 32

To understand in any measure the strange dialog between

Fielding and Professor Godbole, the student must understand

something of a central dogma of Hinduism. Essentially it is this:

All the universe, animate and inanimate, is one perfect design or

image. This image is seen perfectly only by a few holy men, or

Brahmins, when the activity of the mind is brought to complete

stillness by the practice of Yoga. After seeing this complete image

of the universe, the mind once more returns to activity, but ever

after the Brahmin sees everything as a part of the whole and every

part is equal in the sight of the Divine Spirit, for every part is

necessary to complete the divine image.

In a sense then, good and evil are both a part of the same thing

and the people who perform good and evil acts are not only a part

of the whole scheme, but also a part of each other. Likewise,

cows, stones, mud, and wasps have a part in the whole design and

are as sacred as any other part. This concept is hard for the

Western mind to grasp, for to the Western mind only man is of

God.

Chapter 20 is characterized with the greatest quantity of fine

irony in the book. Adela Quested, who had been condemned as

not belonging—not being “pukka”—suddenly becomes the

“darling” of the English Club circle. The men become charged

with chivalry and the women take her to their bosoms. Mrs.

Blakiston, formerly ignored because her social standing is not

equal with that of the wives of the British officials, is now the

symbol of all that is good and pure which must be protected from

the colored horde of India.

Collector Turton now finds himself in a quandary. He must

keep a precarious balance between righteous indignation toward

Aziz and a full-scale riot. It is not only that a riot might be

difficult to control, but also that the lieutenant governor would

most certainly look with disfavor upon it.

Fielding, who prides himself on maintaining a neutral position

between the Indian and the English, is forced to make an open

break with the British when he is provoked by accusations leveled

at him by the subaltern. Though his “understanding heart” senses

Ronny Heaslop’s distress, he is made to appear discourteous and

unfeeling to the city magistrate in maintaining that Aziz is

innocent. After resigning from the club, Fielding goes to join his

Indian allies. On the way he resolves to examine some of the cave

incidents—the echo and the guide—further.

A Passage to India 33

There is much activity in Chandrapore in preparation for the

Moslem festival, Mohurram, a one-time sacred worship of Allah,

which has degenerated into a hassle over the height of the floats in

the parade. The festival also serves to heighten the emotional

pitch brought on by the arrest of Aziz.

Godbole, whose training as a Brahmin has taught him to be

detached and indifferent, refuses to be drawn into the controversy

and leaves quietly for his new job in an outlying Hindu state.

Chapter 22 is essentially Adela’s inner struggle. The reader

should note especially the many references to the echo she keeps

hearing, which disappears when she suddenly cries that Aziz is

innocent. Ronny does his best to convince her that she is mistaken

and confused, and that his mother’s defense of Aziz is just as

mistaken. Adela is an intensely honest person in an emotional

crisis, and her inability to think logically of what actually did

happen in the caves distresses and horrifies her.

Mrs. Moore, to whom Adela turns, repudiates her. Forster

chooses specific expressions to show that Mrs. Moore withdraws

from the situation, much as Godbole has done except that his

withdrawal is peaceful. Mrs. Moore says that when she settles the

marriages of her children she will “retire . . . into a cafe of [her]

own.” In another instance she remarks, “Oh, why can’t I walk

away and be gone?” Godbole has already gone.

Although Ronny fears that his mother will probably help Aziz

if she remains in India, it is Mrs. Moore who decides to return to

England before the trial. She sails for England as the guest of

Lady Mellanby, wife of the lieutenant governor of the province.

Ronny, always impressed with rank and station, basks in the glow

of this unexpected honor.

As the omniscient author, Forster reveals Mrs. Moore’s

meditations. He shows her pondering immorality. She had come

to India satisfied with her view of man and his relation with

infinity. She played her game of “patience,” secure in the

traditions of her Christian belief. Her experiences in India, and

particularly her experience in the cave, resulted in a change of

attitude. The evil of the Marabar was for her “the undying worm”

itself. This presumably has reference to Mark 9:44, “where their

worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.” The subject is hell,

for Mrs. Moore, the hell of meaninglessness.

It should be noted that the caves do not effect everyone

A Passage to India 34

equally. Mrs. Moore reacts violently to her experience in the first

cave; Adela does not react until she reaches the second one, and

her reaction is different; and Aziz and Fielding seem unaffected.

In Chapter 24, Forster brings together many of the forces upon

which he has been focusing his attention.

First there is the weather. Just as the trial brings emotions to

fever pitch, the heat descends upon the city of Chandrapore.

The British officials turn out in force to convict Aziz; by his

conviction they hope to get a tighter grip upon their Indian

subjects.

The Indians, strengthened by the friendship of Fielding and a

growing discontent, show an unusual spirit of rebellion. There are

strikes, and some Moslem women have declared a fast until Aziz

is free. Stones drop on, or near, the car of the collector. At the

beginning of the trial, through the calculating wisdom of the

Hindu lawyer, the English are humiliated by having to come down

from the dais in the courtroom where they hoped to lend

superiority to their position by being physically above the Indians.

In the midst of the political struggle, Adela, who has started

the whole thing, is nearly forgotten. On the strength of her

testimony against Aziz, the English expect to put down the

“changing tide” in Chandrapore, and this is almost the extent of

their regard for her.

Mrs. Moore, safely on her way to England, still lends the

spiritual impetus that changes the complexion of the trial. Adela’s

buzzing echo, which becomes worse as the trial approaches, has

kept her mind confused and wavering; but when she thinks of

Mrs. Moore and hears the chant (“Esmiss, Esmoor”) of the natives

who have deified Mrs. Moore, she is suddenly able to remember

the day in detail, in a sort of vision, and she exonerates Aziz.

The unexpected exoneration sets the courtroom in an uproar.

As the English lose their grip, the women who have clasped Adela

to them lash out at her in uncontrolled fury. (Forster sometimes

tempers his criticism of the English officials with mercy—that of

their wives, almost never.)

The strikingly handsome young outcaste who operates the fan

is apparently a symbol of the gods’ disregard of man. Men come,

create a furor, and go, and he continues to fan the air.

A Passage to India 35

Chapters 25-32

The trial that vindicates Aziz has some strange results, but an

expected result is the mass hysteria of the natives of Chandrapore.

If Adela’s honesty had freed a Caucasian, she would have been

a heroine to him and his friends. The Indians, however, are unable

to understand or appreciate the honest effort to be fair that

prompted Adela to rescind her accusation; it is too cold and

unemotional for them. Aziz not only does not feel gratitude

toward her, but he violently resents having his name linked with

hers on a sexual charge, because she is physically unattractive.

Although technically he has been declared innocent, the stain on

his character remains. He states that all he has left is the affection

of his friends.

The English are furious because the outcome of the trial

weakens their political superiority and their prestigious social

position.

Fielding resents having to protect Adela from the rioting

crowd. He has no feeling for her because his hardheaded approach

to life made him doubt her veracity from the first.

When the first surge of the victory celebration breaks over

Chandrapore, one senses the strength and the menace of the

revolutionary spirit. Hamidullah and Mahmoud Ali, usually quiet

and thoughtful, suddenly turn against the English with loud and

angry voices. One can almost see the guillotine fall on the necks

of the Turtons and the McBrydes. This is India, however, and not

France: Dr. Parma Lai, Aziz’s unprincipled colleague, saves the

riot from more disastrous results by playing the fool at the

hospital; and finally the weather has the last word. The heat saps

the strength from the momentary rebellion and it dies.

Nawab Bahadur, whose attitude has been one of appeasement,

significantly changes his name back to Zulfiqar. Bahadur means

“brave one.” Perhaps the events of the trial make him feel that

reconciliation between the nationalities is futile, and that the name

bestowed upon him by the English no longer has meaning.

Chapter 26 deals with the interaction between Fielding and

Adela, which is brought about by her enforced stay at his cottage.

Adela’s earnest attempt to analyze the situation at the cave and

her complete honesty earn Fielding’s grudging admiration. He

thinks she has had a hallucination; she agrees that that may be

true—or she may have been attacked by the guide who

A Passage to India 36

disappeared, or by someone else; they will never know, and it no

longer seems important.

Forster inserts a bit of comic irony as he has Hamidullah

announce Ronny Heaslop’s coming by saying, “He comes, he

comes, he comes.” Krishna will not come when Godbole calls,

and He is God, but the English come unbidden. They come with

their superiority, their blunt English manners, and their lack of

understanding.

Fielding is particularly disappointed in Hamidullah. The

barrister has been the most stable of the Indian gentlemen, but he

is far from any kind of understanding. The trial, which should

have proved that someone connected with the British officials

could be fair, does nothing to soften the hearts of the Indians

toward their rulers—though of course it is true that the entire

affair was caused by Adela’s mistaken accusation.

After the victory celebration dinner, Fielding and Aziz talk

about the damages that Aziz feels Adela owes him. It is a curious

exchange in that Aziz, through his confinement, has acquired a

way of thinking that is in some ways hard, blunt, and very much

Western. Yet when Fielding chides him on the disproportion of

his emotional feelings for the two women—his strong affection

for Mrs. Moore, who has done nothing for him, and his strong

dislike of Adela, who has freed him at great cost to herself—Aziz

objects to this unemotional common sense.

Forster comments on the difference in the Western and Eastern

ideas of leisure and on the natural grace, the civilized “restfulness

of gesture” of the Oriental—the social equivalent of Yoga.”

Chapter 28 reveals three significant attitudes toward Mrs.

Moore’s death:

1. It is an inconvenience to Lady Mellanby; it spoils her

homecoming.

2. In Chandrapore, the natives begin a short-lived

“Esmiss-Esmoor” cult, and a legend grows up that Ronny has

killed her for trying to save an Indian’s life.

3. Ronny Heaslop at first feels guilty, but with his customary

rationalizing, he manages to lay the blame for his mother’s death

on her, because she had “mix[ed] herself up with natives.” He

decides to forget the matter, planning a memorial tablet to her in

her church in England.

A Passage to India 37

Ronny is shown rapidly hardening into the pattern of the

“twenty-year official.” Having taken care of his mother, he turns

his thoughts to Adela. He feels that she will be detrimental to his

career, no doubt because she has shown that she can never be an

adequate part of the British Raj, and he plans to break their

engagement.

The lieutenant governor reinstates Fielding at the club and

murmurs the usual glib clichés of the observer who is not

personally involved in an affair.

For the second time Forster says that Adela gets “the worst of

both worlds.” She has gained the enmity of the English, but she

has not earned the gratitude of the Indians. The Indians cannot

understand the generosity of her honesty, so they mistrust her

motives. She is not physically attractive, so she cannot gain their

admiration. She, in turn, has no real affection for them and only

waits in India for Ronny to make up his mind about her.

When the subject of the damage suit arises again, Fielding uses

what he knows of Oriental thought to persuade Aziz to drop the

charges. Having failed to arouse him to a feeling of sympathy for

Adela, Fielding turns to Aziz’s affection for Mrs. Moore. Her

memory is the only key to any leniency that he may expect from

Aziz, and Aziz cannot override it; he drops the suit.

Although Fielding uses the thought of immortality to help

convince Aziz that Mrs. Moore would not want him to trouble

Adela, he himself takes no stock in the afterlife. Adela agrees with

him in principle. Their conversation occasionally approaches

matters beyond their understanding—such as Adela’s suggestion

of. Mrs. Moore’s telepathic knowledge - - but they both shy away

from anything which their honest intellectuality cannot

comprehend. However, they are vaguely aware of the immensity

of what they avoid; and as they shake hands in parting, Forster

records that they are as “dwarfs.”

With the thought of England and her job, Adela returns to

stability. She is really untouched by India, because without the

“understanding heart” she cannot meet its demands.

The trial accomplishes nothing as far as the Anglo-Indian

problem is concerned, except to deepen the ill-feeling between the

races, but it does bring about at least a temporary and local

tolerance between Moslem and Hindu. Aziz is invited by a Hindu

(Mr. Bhattacharya, brother-in-law of Das, the magistrate at the

A Passage to India 38

trial) to write a poem for a new Indian magazine for both Hindus

and Moslems. However, despite his realization of the need for a

unified India, he never writes the poem, but rather decides to

leave British India.

When Hamidullah tells Aziz of the rumor of an affair between

Fielding and Adela, Aziz is resentful at the thought that Fielding

did not tell him of the affair; such an omission indicates a lack of

trust and affection. (Later he assumes that Fielding talked him out

of the damage suit because he intended to marry Adela, and, in

effect, have the money himself.) When Aziz mentions the matter

to Fielding, the latter in his surprise calls Aziz “a little rotter,”

much to the distress of both.

Later, as they strive to salvage the remnants of their friendship

and are discussing poetry, Fielding makes an important

observation about Hinduism. Though he is an atheist, he says that

“there is something in religion that may not be true, but has not

yet been sung.... something that the Hindus have perhaps found.”

Since this remark comes from Fielding it carries much weight.

When Fielding leaves India and sees the harmony between the

works of man and nature in the Mediterranean countries, he is

more conscious than ever of the disharmony, the muddle, of India;

he has returned to the “human norm,” to that which he

understands well.

A Passage to India 39

Part III

Chapters 33-37

The apparent confusion of the Hindu festival in the opening

chapters is indicative of the disorder that characterizes India, but

with a difference: there is harmony among the people, a harmony

achieved through love and a momentary transcendence of self.

“Talkative” Christianity coined the phrase “God is love”.

Hinduism practices it. Love exists and dominates the scene.

A brief discussion of some aspects of Hinduism here may be

of some help to the reader in understanding at least the outward

aspects of this festival.

In the Hindu religion, the eternal and infinite is usually called

“Brahman” rather than “God”; the essential teaching of the

religion is the oneness of all living things, all of which partake of

Brahman; the ideal is the loss of the ego and of individuality—a

concept not congenial, or even understandable, to most

Westerners. It is a highly complex philosophy, and no attempt will

be made to explain all of its ramifications here; those interested

may read the pertinent books listed in the bibliography.

The importance of Krishna in the novel, however, may be

somewhat clarified by a statement of his place in Hindu

mythology, according to which there are three aspects of God:

Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the

destroyer. There have been nine chief incarnations of Vishnu, in

which God is assumed to have taken human form. The most

important of these are Rama and Krishna, and the latter is the

more popular; his story, as Forster indicates, is in some respects

similar to that of Christ (who in Christian theology, of course, is

an incarnation of God the Father). Krishna, however, has amatory

experiences, which the Hindus interpret symbolically; one of the

legends concerning him (referred to several times in the novel)

deals with his flirtation with the milk maidens and his affair with

one of them (Rahda). It is the birth of Krishna that the festival is

celebrating.

In the trancelike state brought on by Godbole’s religious

fervor, the thought of Mrs. Moore enters his mind, followed by

that of a wasp. This would seem to be an indication that her

sympathy with the tenets of Hinduism was recognized, perhaps

intuitively, by Godbole.

Aziz, through Godbole’s influence, has become the attending

A Passage to India 40

physician to the rajah of the state of Mau. He has found peace and

contentment among the Hindus. The secret of his peace among

them is due to one thing—tolerance. He does not understand their

religion and does not attempt to do so, but continues to write his

poems, into which Islam continues to intrude. The one remnant of

Islam in the Hindu state is a decaying shrine about which Aziz’s

children play.

Into this Hindu state comes Fielding with his bride and her

brother. At first Aziz has no desire to see Fielding, believing him

to have married Adela Quested; he feels that she would be a

disrupting influence, bringing ugliness and trouble. When he

learns that Stella Moore is Fielding’s wife, he is torn between

embarrassment and happiness, for the memory of Mrs. Moore is

still a tender one.

Floods attend Fielding’s arrival. The hot weather broken,

men’s spirits revive, and the promise of life is renewed. This is

first symbolized by the birth of the god. The festival continues

after the initial ceremony and everyone is caught up in it. Forster

makes a point of the precedence of religious matters over the

affairs of state.

Contrast to this the attitude of Ronny Heaslop and the British

in general; for them, political matters always predominate and

religion is subservient.

Forster also points up the difference that Mrs. Moore noted

earlier between the wisdom of Godbole and the simpler mind of

Aziz, who felt “like a baby” in Godbole’s presence.

Two things are significant in the incident of the bee stings.

One authority says that the bees are significant of the hostility of

India to interracial relationships. This, coupled with Mrs. Moore’s

appreciation for the wasp, would confirm Aziz’s opinion that she

has an Oriental mind and therefore is one of them. Another facet

of the bee-sting episode is that when Aziz treats Ralph, Ralph tells

him that his “hands are unkind.” He has sensed that Aziz’s rough

treatment has an emotional source; it is retaliation for the

unkindness with which Nureddin, grandson of Nawab Bahadur,

was rumored to have been treated by Major Callendar, and also

retaliation for Aziz’s general mistreatment by the English.

But when Ralph shows signs of his mother’s understanding,

Aziz typically warms to him. Forster stresses many times that

what India needs most is kindness, and Ralph tells Aziz that

A Passage to India 41

kindness is the one thing he “always knows.” In return for this

confidence, Aziz classes Ralph with Mrs. Moore, calling him an

Oriental.

The collision of the boats, one carrying Aziz and Ralph, the

other Stella and Fielding, with the holy tray borne by the servitor,

serves again to emphasize the “muddle” of India; it is not a

dignified climax to the ceremony, but the Hindus are not unduly

disturbed by it, nor by the downpour which follows. It also serves

to ease the tension between Fielding and Aziz.

One of the most significant points in Part III is Fielding’s

reaction to Hinduism. By marrying an English girl Fielding travels

less light (he has earlier contended that he “travels light”). He has

aligned himself with the British Raj. However, he is intrigued by

the effect of Hinduism on his marriage—his relationship with

Stella is better here than it had been previously—and for the first

time he seems consciously aware of, and interested in, matters

beyond his comprehension. This interest in the spiritual is an

important admission by Fielding, but Aziz is not interested in his

questions, for he has no such interest himself.

One of Forster’s conceptions is that of the cyclical nature of

life. With the acquaintance of Ralph, Aziz sees everything

“beginning all over again.” The expanding symbol, the

ever-widening circle, seems to be operating at the end of this

book.

Aziz makes a portentous statement about future generations

driving the English out of India. The concept of universal love and

understanding that India—and all the world—needs, Forster

leaves to another circle of time. This is symbolized by the rocks

that force Fielding and Aziz apart and by the sky that speaks for

all the discordant voices which come to it from India.

A Passage to India 42

Character Analysis

Doctor Aziz

Aziz is a warmhearted, passionate, excitable people whose

quick changes of mood lift him to heights of exuberance and cast

him into the depths of despair within an exceedingly short space

of time. He is high-spirited, fun-loving, and hospitable to an

exaggerated degree. When he is found in error, he is tremendously

sensitive.

His feelings are genuine, however, and his loyalty to his

friends is unquestioned. His response to Mrs. Moore is one of

quick affection that remains constant even after her death.

Although he refuses to read Fielding’s letters, his deep sense of

betrayal is caused by his great love, which he feels has been

offended. 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, but the science of medicine is not a matter of deep concern

to him and he gives it up quite readily to live and practice in a

more primitive way in a remote Hindu state. Here he is free to

write his poetry extolling the past glories of Islam and pleading

for the freedom of women. His poetry exemplifies his quandary.

He is a man at the crossroads. One way leads to Western

civilization, which would abolish the purdah and establish

sanitary practices; the other would retain Eastern customs,

traditions, and the primitive practices of the medicine man. Like

Janus, Aziz has two faces; one faces back toward the India of the

past, the other turns toward the West, the civilizing force of which

can help conditions in India. Whoever deals with Aziz can never

be sure which face he is presenting. 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.

Mrs. Moore

Mrs. Moore, endowed by nature with an understanding heart,

is steeped in Christian tradition. Apparently it has served her well

in England. In India, where the problems are more complex, she

finds it inadequate. And although her innate sympathy with many

of the tenets of Hinduism is indicated—her appreciation of all of

A Passage to India 43

God’s creation, for example—that religion is also inadequate for

her: While Professor Godbole withdraws peacefully into himself

from human turmoil, Mrs. Moore’s own withdrawal is far from

peaceful. Therefore she may be somewhat disappointing to the

reader; she brings to India everything that is needed—kindness

and the “understanding heart”—but she turns morose and peevish.

She refuses to become involved in helping Adela or Aziz in their

time of need. She has, however, imparted her understanding

nature to her younger children and has left an indelible mark upon

Aziz; and, at the trial, it is her chanted name that helps to clarify

Adela’s mind.

Adela Quested

Adela Quested’s name may not have significance, but it

suggests the “Questioner.” This is the role, at any rate, that Forster

assigns to her.

She is presented as a plain young woman whose best qualities

are her innate honesty and a kind of courageous decency. Her

approach to life is completely intellectual. She is sensible, but not

sensitive. She serves as an antithesis to Mrs. Moore, who is ruled

by emotional intuition. This difference in personality affects their

understanding of each other, and of others.

Adela’s passionless disposition makes her unfit for marriage

and her frank objectivity helps her to realize it. It is this guileless

attitude that wins Fielding’s grudging admiration.

Her response to India is one of reason, but since India, with its

highly complex problems, cannot be approached through the

intellect alone, Adela can never comprehend it. However, she is

appalled at the smug and snobbish ways of the British in India.

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.

Her lack of sensitivity is pointed up when Fielding has to

suggest that perhaps she should apologize to Aziz. She is willing

to make amends, but she does not have the compassion to do it

without being told. Her remorse is of the head, not the heart; her

primary feeling is one of guilt for having been the cause of so

much trouble to everyone.

Cyril Fielding

Cyril Fielding is a man of the world. He has not only

A Passage to India 44

associated with many people, but he has learned to judge them on

the basis of merit alone. He is intellectual, kind, and committed to

helping anyone in need. The injustice manifested toward Aziz in

this novel has nothing to do with color or creed as far as Fielding

is concerned; it is rather a matter of the violation of a man’s

rights. Fielding does not defend Aziz because he is an Indian; he

defends him because he is innocent. Fielding is Forster’s “top

man” to demonstrate the kind of understanding that the world

needs. He is dwarfed, as Forster puts it, only because he is

committed to earthbound affairs.

At the end of the story he is shown aligning himself with the

English by marrying an English girl. This separates him from

Aziz, but at the same time he establishes a direct relationship with

Mrs. Moore by marrying her daughter. Although Stella is a

shadowy figure, Hinduism impresses her, and this awakens an

interest in Fielding. He feels that contact with Hinduism has

somehow improved his marriage and he admits that perhaps the

Hindus have found “something.”

Forster leaves the reader to speculate about what might happen

if Fielding should become interested in the spiritual side of life.

Adela is said to get the worst of both worlds; Fielding, endowed

as he is with natural graces, could very well find the best of both

worlds. With a combination of human and spiritual understanding,

Fielding would certainly be the man “most likely to succeed” in

promoting world understanding.

Ronny Heaslop

Ronny Heaslop is pictured as the “rubber-stamp” product of

the Public School crowd for whom Forster had so much contempt.

He is the typical follower, influenced by power, prestige, and a set

pattern of behavior. These traits make it easy for him to be led

into the Turton-Callendar-McBryde camp, for they represent to

Ronny the peak of social and political prestige.

As a disciple of the Public School tradition, 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.

Ronny is the issue of Mrs. Moore’s first marriage. It is

possible that, when he was young, she had not reached the level of

A Passage to India 45

maturity and perception that would have influenced his life as it

seems to have affected the lives of her younger children.

Professor Godbole

Professor Godbole, “Ancient Night,” represents Hinduism in

the novel. Although Hinduism does not appear to dominate the

book until the final section, a backward look will show the effect

of it in the other two sections. It is the professor’s haunting song

that affects both Adela and Mrs. Moore; in a sense it haunts them

as Hinduism haunts every part of the book.

Forster records, “Ever since Professor Godbole had sung his

queer little song, they [Mrs. Moore and Adele had lived more or

less inside cocoons.” The idea expressed by the cocoon is that of a

dormant life soon to be awakened to full beauty. Ironically,

however, they both awaken to experiences that are far from

beautiful—Mrs. Moore to terror that leads to total apathy, and

Adele to the horror of her experience in the cave, and the trial.

Although Forster seems to hold Godbole, and Hinduism, in

esteem, it should be realized that he is not advocating Hinduism as

a panacea for all evils, even though he admires some of its tenets

and practices; Forster is not a “preacher.” The thinking reader will

realize that Hinduism, too, has its less appealing aspects—at least

to the Western mind, with its respect for the value of the

individual—such as the caste system (outlawed in 1950). He will

also realize that Godbole cannot be effective in promoting

universal understanding so long as he holds himself aloof from the

mainstream of life; it will be people like Fielding who will do

more to break down racial prejudice and national barriers. Yet a

world composed only of Fieldings would be an unbalanced one;

Forster undoubtedly respects various human qualities on various

levels. He is too complex a writer to suggest one simple answer

for the world’s ills.

Names seem to have significance in this book. The name

Godbole may symbolize something because it contains the word

“God,” as the man seems to contain God. At least he is Godconscious.

Hamidullah

Hamidullah is a Cambridge-educated Indian whose experience

with the English includes the kindly friends in whose home he

stayed when a student in England twenty year’s previous to the

time of the story. He tries to reconcile his Indian friends to a more

charitable attitude toward the English officials in Chandrapore. He

A Passage to India 46

is fair-minded and willing to work for amiable relations between

nationalities until his nephew Aziz is falsely accused and unfairly

treated by the English.

A closer look at the efforts of Hamidullah shows the student

how the English muff a chance to use this good, clear-thinking,

intelligent man to improve the situation in Chandrapore.

Hamidullah’s disillusionment is evident when his usual affability

turns to bitterness after Aziz’s trial.

The Turtons

Mr. Turton is the government and social leader of the English

sector of Chandrapore. Under a pretext of good fellowship, he

brings the newcomers into contact with the Indians. His

high-handed and jocular manner puts the Indian where Mr. Turton

wants him—in a class below the English. His is the lead that

Ronny Heaslop imitates, Fielding refuses to tolerate, and Adela

Quested cannot understand.

Mrs. Turton is even haughtier than her husband. She relegates

all Indians to the servant class. She intends to preserve as much of

England in Chandrapore as possible and to allow as little

encroachment of India into her society as she can. She is bitterly

hostile to Adela after the exoneration of Aziz, not because she

necessarily believes him guilty, or really cares what becomes of

Adela, but simply because she thinks the English have been

betrayed.

The other English officials fairly well follow the pattern set by

the Turtons. McBryde is somewhat more broad-minded and less

conventional than the others, but in the final analysis his attitude

is the same as theirs: the Indians are inferior.

The Missionaries

Mr. Sorley and Mr. Graysford have one goal in mind, to

convert the Indians to Christianity. Their aim is benevolent; their

motives are pure. However, one can only be converted to

something that seems to him better than that which he already has.

The missionaries cannot quite agree that God loves all his creation

equally, and the Hindu cannot accept a religion that does less than

that.

A Passage to India 47

Critical Analysis

General Meaning

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.

As he traces the interplay, he keeps before the reader symbols

that show forces above and beyond the reach of most men’s grasp.

The sky and a hint of arches beyond it are prominent examples.

To show that not only are there heights which only the most

perceptive minds can comprehend, but also depths, he shows

especially sensitive people finding beauty—and God—in the

lowest of creatures, the jackal and the wasp. Within this

framework he treats of three of the great religions, Islam,

Christianity, and Hinduism.

Islam is shown in a decadent state reveling in past glory. The

Westernized Moslem finds it hard to maintain his belief. His

festivals are empty ceremonies in which the participants bicker

about inconsequential matters. Aziz, whom Forster chooses to

represent Islam, professes to skepticism about the precepts of his

religion; his poetry is devoted to flamboyant exploits of the past.

All he appears to have left is a sadness because of the decline of

Islam, and a contempt for the Hindus.

The phrase that Mrs. Moore uses to describe Christianity,

“little talkative Christianity,” seems to be Forster’s view of that

religion. He chooses to use many biblical allusions, often in an

ironic manner, which point up what Christianity professes, but

does not practice. The religion of the English in India takes

second place to affairs of state and does not enter into the practical

aspect of their lives; it is merely a conviction.

The events of the story lead the reader step by step to a

consideration of Hinduism. Professor Godbole, its main exponent,

is pictured as a man of peace, a man of wisdom, who refuses to

become enmeshed in the petty quarrels of men. The short

climactic section at the end of the novel shows Hinduism in

A Passage to India 48

action. The religious zeal of the participants in the festival causes

them at least to suspend momentarily, if not to disregard entirely,

any self-seeking for position as leader, even though the rajah is

near death. The adoration of the god is so intense that when the

sick and aged rajah is brought to the ceremony, he is scarcely

noticed.

The ceremony includes ecstasy, merriment, and solemnity,

suggesting that religion should embody the whole of life. The

biblical passage “God is love” has an error in spelling, but none in

practice. The Hindus’ faces are mild and serene, because “religion

is a living force to the Hindus,” and among its tenets, one of the

most important is the “peace that passeth understanding.” But

Hinduism too has its imperfections; Forster points out that in

Mau, though there is no strife between Moslem and Hindu, there

is between Brahmin and non-Brahmin.

The key phrases in regard to the characters are “the

understanding heart.” Aziz, warmhearted and impulsive,

possesses understanding, but his volatility reduces its

effectiveness; Adela is cold, honest, and reserved. Mrs. Moore has

both kindness and an innate understanding of people at the

beginning of the novel, but the kindness at least does not

withstand her experience in the caves, and understanding without

kindness is of no use to her.

Fielding is the key figure who develops with the novel. He not

only crosses racial and national lines, but he responds as though

they did not exist. He professes atheism, but by the end of the

novel he has at least become personally aware of spiritual

influences: puzzled by the pleasing change in his wife after the

encounter with Hinduism, he is intrigued by whatever it is that the

Hindus seem “to have found.”

Professor Godbole is not so much a character as a “carrier” for

an ideology that suggests at least a theoretical answer to the

question Forster poses at the beginning of the book, “Can the

Indian be friends with the English?”

There is a historical aspect to this novel as well as a religious

one. Forster’s premise seems to be that no nation can subjugate

another without inflicting wounds that leave deep scars. No nation

can be of service so long as the ruling nation holds itself superior

and aloof. The book is not a strictly historical account, of course,

because Forster is more concerned with social relationships than

he is with history. But he does indicate the spirit of rebellion that

A Passage to India 49

is beginning to build in India and shows the English losing their

grip on the government. The last few paragraphs of the novel

seem almost prophetic of Indian independence, which did not take

place until 22 years after the book’s publication.

Nature in a Passage to India

This novel does more than stress the malignant effect of moral

and political domination; it also emphasizes the coexistence of

nature with human struggle. Someone has noted that Forster knew

and appreciated many of the beauties of India’s landscape, but this

is not the novel that depicts them. The mud, the dun-colored sky,

the buzzing flies, the evil caves, the floods, and the merciless heat

constitute for Forster the setting about Chandrapore. It is a place

of cheerless plains and “lumpy” hills which contain the “fists and

fingers” of the Marabar. “Nothing fits,” and man’s creations are

completely out of harmony with nature.

It is quite evident that Forster intentionally chooses a most

unlovely part of India to show the disharmony among the people

who inhabit it. He explores the extremes of benevolence and

malevolence and uses nature to help with both. For example, the

beauty of the moon illuminates the lovely friendship of Mrs.

Moore and Aziz; the pale sun against an “insipid sky” forecasts

the evil of the cave incident. The wasp enhances Mrs. Moore’s

and Professor Godbole’s concept of God’s love for His creation.

The bee stings bring Ralph and Aziz together, but the rocks force

Fielding and Aziz apart. This influence of nature on human affairs

is in line with Hindu philosophy.

Mysticism

Much has been written about mysticism in Forster’s novels,

primarily in A Passage to India. It is not, however, mysticism per

se with which Forster is here concerned, but rather the mysticism

of Hinduism. Any understanding of the mystic element in this

novel requires some knowledge of the religion on the part of the

reader. (See the short paragraph at the beginning of the

commentary on Part III, the “Temple” section.)

But even such knowledge will not bring complete or

immediate understanding, for Forster is not attempting to explain

Hinduism, or to proselytize for it; his method of dealing with it is,

in the main, allusive rather than expository.

The novel is full of unanswered questions: “Mrs. Moore felt

increasingly (vision or nightmare?) that, though people are

important, the relations between them are not.” “God si love. Is

A Passage to India 50

this the first message of India?” The reader can find many others

for himself; since Forster himself does not pretend to answer

them, it would be presumptuous to do so here. In fact, part of the

essence of mysticism is its inexpressibility; it cannot be reduced to

words, to questions with answers.

However, the reader should at least be aware of those elements

that have mystical overtones—primarily the character of Mrs.

Moore, the echo and its effect on her, and many of the aspects of

Hinduism.

Structure

A Passage to India falls naturally into three parts. The first is

dominated by the educated Moslem gentlemen, with Aziz as the

most prominent. It reveals the division of Chandrapore into two

factions, the English and the Indians. It shows how each feels

toward the other with a kind of uneasiness apparent in the

differences between them. It is the period before the hot weather

and on the surface, benign.

The Caves section plunges the groups into the hot weather.

The cave incident that involves Aziz and Adela in a trial reveals

the hatred that has lain below the surface in both groups. Evil and

ugliness prevail and violence erupts briefly and then subsides,

subservient to the oppressive heat.

Warily, in this section, Forster begins to sound the temple

bells, and the voice of Hinduism becomes more and more

prevalent.

The trial scatters the main participants in many directions.

Mrs. Moore dies en route to England; Adela returns to England

after her broken engagement; Fielding is promoted to a new

position that involves travel; and Aziz and Godbole retire to the

Hindu state of Mau, which is the setting for the final section of the

novel.

The Temple section regroups three of the main characters, and,

as the title suggests, brings Hinduism into the spotlight. Fielding,

traveling less “light” than usual, is reunited with Aziz, but

Fielding’s marriage makes complete reconciliation impossible.

The rainy season predominates and seems to give new life and to

renew the life cycle.

Although some critics seem to believe that Forster ends the

novel on a pessimistic note, the prevalence of Hinduism and its

beneficent effect on Fielding somewhat denies the charge.

A Passage to India 51

E. K. Brown discusses the rhythm in the book, saying that

there is a rise-fall-rise pattern indicated in the events of the three

parts of the book: in the first part, good; in the second, evil; and in

the third, good again.

Godbole’s song runs as a haunting melody through the part of

the book that follows the tea party, popping up unexpectedly to

produce strange effects. It finally comes to full fruition at the

celebration of the birth of the god Krishna.

Techniques

Forster’s narrative style is straightforward; events follow one

another in logical order. Structurally, his sentence style also is

relatively uncomplicated, and he reproduces accurately the tones

of human conversation; his handling of the idiom of the

English-speaking Indian is especially remarkable.

However, Forster’s rhetorical style is far from unsubtle. His

descriptions of the landscape, however unattractive it may be,

frequently have a poetic rhythm. He makes lavish use of both

satire and irony, and the satire is especially biting in his treatment

of the English colonials, particularly in the events before the trial

in the “Caves” section. But he is also capable of gentle humor,

notably in his depiction of the high-spirited and volatile Aziz.

As has been noted earlier, there are numerous themes and

symbols—such as the wasp, the echo, the “Come come” of

Godbole’s song—which recur throughout the novel; these are not

introduced in an obvious fashion, and it is not until the end of the

book that their full significance is apparent.

Some of the statements in the book are in the form of questions

to which answers are obvious; but for many of them no answers

are suggested or even implied—an indication of the philosophical

nature of the novel. Forster is not the man with all the answers,

and perhaps he is implying that he himself is not certain whether

life is (in the terms he frequently uses) “mystery or muddle”—or

both.

A Passage to India 52

Glossary

Chapter1

maidan In southern and western Asia, an open

space as for military exercises or for a

marketplace; an esplanade.

Chapter 2

hookah A pipe with a long flexible stem, so

arranged that the smoke is cooled by

passing through water.

sais A groom.

purdah A curtain or screen used to screen

women from public observation. This

custom prevents women from

participating in social and public

affairs.

chuprassi A messenger or servant wearing an

official badge.

pan The betel leaf; also the chewing of it.

tonga A kind of light two-wheeled vehicle,

usually for four persons, drawn by

ponies or bullocks.

Huzoor A respectful title of address used by

native servants.

Chapter 3

sahib The title used by natives when

addressing or speaking of a European

gentleman; a general title affixed to the

name or official title of a European,

e.g., Colonel Sahib.

burra A title of respect to designate a father,

elder brother, or a chief officer.

Hakim In Moslem countries, a ruler or a judge.

pukka Good or thoroughgoing of its kind;

genuine, substantial.

topi A pith hat or helmet, generally worn by

Europeans in India.

A Passage to India 53

Chapter 5

Mohurram Moslem religious festival, celebrated

only by Indian Moslems, which

commemorates the death of the

grandson of Mohammed. It is similar to

the Hindu Ganesh festival in which a

clay figure of the elephant god is

immersed in water when the worship is

completed. In Mohurram, a replica of

Iman Hussein’s tomb, or “tazia,” is

erected of bamboo and decorated with

paper. At the completion of the ten

days of mourning and prayer, the tazia

is buried in sand near a riverbank.

bhang A narcotic and intoxicant made of dried

leaves and young twigs of the hemp

plant; used for chewing, smoking, or

drinking (when infused in water).

gram Certain leguminous plants grown

especially for their seed.

Chapter 6

tum-tum A dog cart.

chukker A period of play in polo.

Chapter 7

babuism A disparaging term applied to the

English written or spoken by natives of

India. Derived from babu, a Hindu title

which corresponds to our “Mr.”

hammam A building or room designed for

bathing, either public or private.

Chapter 9

saddhu A Hindu ascetic or holy man.

Chapter 11

chunam Plaster or stucco made from lime and

sea-sand.

Chapter 13

tiffin Lunch.

fez A tapering felt cap, usually red, with a

A Passage to India 54

black tassel hanging from the crown

(formerly worn by Turkish men).

pujah Religious worship.

Chapter 14

mullah In India, a ravine or a watercourse.

howdah A canopied seat on the back of

an elephant for two or more persons to

ride in.

shikar Hunting.

Chapter 16

chin-chin A salutation; a toast (pidgin English).

Chapter 17

punkah A large fan made from the palmyra

leaf, or a large, swinging fan

consisting of canvas stretched over a

rectangular frame and hung from the

ceiling.

Chapter 20

quod Prison (slang).

Chapter 21

tazia See Mohurrarn (Chapter 5).

Chapter 22

mali Member of the gardner caste.

Chapter 24

chota hazri Breakfast.

peg An alcoholic drink, usually brandy and

soda.

punkah wallah The operator of a punkah, usually a

coolie or person of a low caste.

Andamans Group of islands in the Bay of Bengal;

formerly the site of a prison.

Chapter 25

victoria A low, four-wheeled carriage for two

passengers with a folding top and a

high seat in front for the coachman.

tatties A fragrant grass mat which is kept wet

A Passage to India 55

and hung at doors and windows of a

house to cool the house during the hot

weather.

Chapter 26

band-ghari A four-wheeler.

Chapter 31

almeira A wooden wardrobe.

durry A thick cotton cloth or carpet.

Chapter 33

Turkuram A Maratha poet.

ryot A peasant or tenant farmer.

Chapter 34

bhakti Religious devotion; love directed

toward a personal deity.

Chapter 36

Chhatri A funerary monument; a chapel built

over a tomb.

Ganpati Elephant god.

A Passage to India 56

Questions and Essay Topics

1. Compare the attitude toward the natives of (1) Mrs. Moore; (2)

Fielding; (3) Ronny.

2. Describe some of the barriers to understanding between the British

civil servant and the natives.

3. Give instances of insensitive and uncivil treatment of the Indians by

the English.

4. Discuss Oriental womanhood as shown in the novel.

5. In what specific ways does Mrs. Moore make herself agreeable to

Aziz?

6. What is the effect of the exoneration of Aziz upon (1) Mr. and Mrs.

Turton; (2) Ronny; (3) Fielding; (4) Aziz?

7. Give instances of satire in the novel.

8. What is the basis of the friendship between Fielding and Aziz?

Between Fielding and Adela?

9. Does Cyril Fielding change in the course of the novel? Why, and in

what ways?

10. Why does Mrs. Moore allow Ronny to send her back to England?

11. What is the effect of Professor Godbole’s song upon Adela and Mrs.

Moore?

12. What keeps the “Bridge Party” from being a success?

13. Why do the Hindus not respond favorably to the missionaries?

14. How does the Hindu religious festival of the Temple section differ

from the Mohurram festival?

15. In what way does Adela get the “worst of both worlds”?

16. Why is reconciliation difficult for Fielding and Aziz at the end of the

book?

17. What portentous statement does Aziz make to Fielding on their last

ride together about the future generations of Indians?

18. What similarities do you see between Hinduism and Christianity as

presented in this book? What differences?

19. What is the significance of the friendship between Aziz and Ralph?

A Passage to India 57

20. Why does Fielding not reprimand Godbole for neglecting the

government school?

21. Explore the use of any one of these symbols in detail, or all of them

briefly: the echo, the sky, the wasp.

22. Adela may be said to approach life intellectually, Mrs. Moore

emotionally, and Aziz impulsively. Compare and contrast these

characteristics in any given situation.

23. Select a protagonist and defend your choice.

24. Take the scene of the “Bridge Party” and describe what might have

brought the groups together.

25. What is the significance of the magnificent native who operated the

fan in the court scene? Discuss his relation with the participants.

A Passage to India 58

Selected Bibliography

Allen, Glen 0. “Structure, Symbol, and Theme in E. M. Forster’s

A Passage to India,” PMLA, LXX (December, 1955), 934-54.

Bradbury, Malcolm (ed.). A Collection of Critical Essays.

Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966. Excellent for a

comparative study by significant critics.

Brown, E. K. “E. M. Forster and the Contemplative Novel,”

University of Toronto Quarterly, III (April, 1934), 349-61.

“The Revival of E. M. Forster,” Yale Review, XXXIII (June,

1944), 668-81. Brown seems to be the most lucid of the critics

of Forster.

Forster, E. M. Aspects of the Novel. New York: Harcourt, Brace

& World, 1927, 1954.

McConkey, James. The Novels of E. M. Forster. Ithaca, N.Y.:

Cornell University Press, 1957.

Trilling, Lionel. E. M. Forster. New York: A New Directions

Paperback, 1934-64. Especially good on the political aspect of

A Passage to India.

Warner, Rex. E. M. Forster. London, New York: Published for

the British Council by Longman’s Green, 1950.

Islam and Hinduism

Unless the reader is interested in a detailed study of these religions,

these two books present a capsulated description of them:

Chalmers, R. C., and John A. Irving (eds.). The Meaning of Life

in Five Great Religions. Philadelphia: The Westminister Press,

1965.

Fairchild, Johnson E. (ed.). Basic Beliefs. New York: Hart

Publishing Co., 1959.