A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
"A Passage to India" by E. M. Forster is a novel that explores the complex relationships and cultural tensions between the British colonial rulers and the Indian populace during the British Raj. The story centers on Dr. Aziz, an Indian Muslim physician, and his interactions with British characters such as Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested. The narrative begins with Dr. Aziz feeling insulted by the dismissive behavior of the British and evolves into a series of events that highlight misunderstandings and prejudices, particularly during a visit to the enigmatic Marabar Caves.
The novel delves into themes of friendship, identity, and the impact of colonialism, illustrating how societal divisions exacerbate personal relationships. A pivotal moment occurs when Adela accuses Dr. Aziz of assault, leading to a trial that intensifies the existing racial tensions. Ultimately, the story examines the insurmountable barriers between cultures, as even genuine affection cannot bridge the deep chasms created by colonization and societal expectations.
Forster's work invites readers to reflect on the nature of human connection amidst cultural conflict, making it a significant commentary on colonialism and its enduring effects. The narrative's conclusion emphasizes the challenges of reconciling differing identities within a socially constructed divide, leaving a lasting impression on the dynamics of race, friendship, and understanding.
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
First published: 1924
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of plot: c. 1920
Locale: India
Principal characters
Dr. Aziz , a young Indian surgeonMrs. Moore , a visiting Englishwoman and Dr. Aziz’s friendRonald Heaslop , the city magistrate and Mrs. Moore’s sonAdela Quested , Ronald’s fiancé, visiting India with Mrs. MooreCecil Fielding , principal of the Government College and Dr. Aziz’s friend
The Story
Dr. Aziz is doubly snubbed this evening. He had been summoned to the civil surgeon’s house while he was at supper, but when he arrived, he found that his superior had departed for his club without bothering to leave any message. In addition, two Englishwomen emerged from the house and took their departure in his hired tonga, or horse-drawn vehicle, without even thanking him.
The doctor starts back toward the city of Chandrapore afoot. Tired, he stops at a mosque to rest and is furiously angry when he sees an Englishwoman emerge from behind its pillars with, as he thinks, her shoes on. Mrs. Moore, however, had gone barefoot to the mosque, and in a surge of friendly feelings, Dr. Aziz engages her in conversation.
Mrs. Moore had recently arrived from England to visit her son, Ronald Heaslop, the city magistrate. Dr. Aziz finds they have common ground when he learns that she does not care for the civil surgeon’s wife. Her disclosure prompts him to tell of the usurpation of his carriage. The doctor walks back to the club with her, although as an Indian, he himself cannot be admitted.
At the club, Adela Quested, Heaslop’s prospective fiancé, declares she wants to see the real India, not the India seen through the rarified atmosphere of the British colony. To please the ladies, one of the members offers to hold what he whimsically terms a “bridge party” and invite some native guests. The bridge party is a miserable affair. The Indians retreat to one side of the lawn, and although the conspicuously reluctant group of Anglo-Indian ladies go over to visit them, an awkward tension prevails.
There is, however, one promising result of the party. The principal of the Government College, Mr. Fielding, a man who apparently feels neither rancor nor arrogance toward the Indians, invites Mrs. Moore and Adela to a tea at his house. Upon Adela’s request, Mr. Fielding also invites Professor Godbole, a teacher at his school, and Dr. Aziz. At the tea, Dr. Aziz charms Fielding and the guests with the elegance and fine intensity of his manner. The gathering, however, breaks up on a discordant note when the priggish and suspicious Heaslop arrives to claim the ladies. Fielding has taken Mrs. Moore on a tour of his school, and Heaslop is furious at him for having left Dr. Aziz alone with his prospective fiancé.
Adela is irritated by Heaslop’s callous priggishness during her visit and informs him that she does not wish to become his wife. Later that evening, during a drive into the countryside, a mysterious figure, perhaps an animal, looms out of the darkness and nearly upsets the car in which they are riding. Their mutual loneliness and a sense of the unknown draws them together, and Adela asks Heaslop to disregard her earlier rejection.
One extraordinary aspect of the city of Chandrapore is a natural formation known as the Marabar Caves, located several miles outside the city. Mrs. Moore and Adela accept Dr. Aziz’s offer to escort them to the caves. The visit proves catastrophic for all. Entering one of the caves, Mrs. Moore realizes that no matter what was said, the walls return only a prolonged booming, hollow echo. Pondering that echo while she rests, and pondering the distance that separates her from Dr. Aziz, from Adela, and from her own children, Mrs. Moore sees that all her Christianity, all her ideas of moral good and bad, in short, all her ideas of life, amount only to what is made of them by the hollow, booming echo of the Marabar Caves. Adela enters one of the caves alone. A few minutes later she rushes out in a terrified state and claims she had been nearly attacked in the gloom. She also claims that Dr. Aziz was the attacker, and the doctor is arrested.
There always had been a clear division between the Indians and the Anglo-Indian community, but as the trial of Dr. Aziz drew nearer, the division sharpens and each group demands strict loyalty from its members. When Mrs. Moore casually intimates to her son that she is perfectly certain Dr. Aziz is not capable of the alleged crime, he immediately ships her off to a coastal port of embarkation. After Fielding expresses the same opinion at the club, he is ostracized.
At the trial opening, a sensational incident occurs when one of Dr. Aziz’s friends pushes into the courtroom and shouts that Heaslop has smuggled his mother out of the country because she would have testified to the doctor’s innocence. Hearing the name of Mrs. Moore, the restless Indian spectators work it into a kind of chant as though Mrs. Moore was a deity. The English colony is not to learn until later that Mrs. Moore died aboard ship.
Adela’s testimony concludes the trial. For her, the tense atmosphere of the courtroom, the reiteration of Mrs. Moore’s name, and the buzzing sound in her own ears that persists since the time she left the caves, combines to produce upon her a trancelike effect. She relives the whole of the crucial day as she recollects its events under the interrogation of the prosecuting attorney. When she reaches the moment of her lingering in the cave, she falters, changes her mind, and withdraws all charges.
For several hours afterward, Chandrapore experiences a great bedlam. The Anglo-Indians sulk while the Indians exult. As far as the British are concerned, Adela had crossed the line. Heaslop carefully explains to her that he can no longer be associated with her. After accepting Fielding’s hospitality for a few weeks, she returns home. Dr. Aziz’s Anglophobia increases, but Fielding persuades him not to press for legal damages from Adela.
Two years later, the Muhammadan Dr. Aziz is court physician to an aged Hindu potentate who dies on the night of the Krishna festival. The feast is a frantic celebration, and the whole town is under its spell when Fielding arrives on an official visit. In the intervening time he had married again, and Dr. Aziz, assuming he had married Adela, tries to avoid his old friend. When he runs into him accidentally, however, he finds that it is Mrs. Moore’s daughter, Stella, whom Fielding married. The doctor’s shame at his mistake only causes him to become more distant.
Before they part for the last time, Dr. Aziz and Fielding go riding through the jungles. The misunderstanding between them has been resolved, but they have no social ground on which to meet. Fielding cast his lot with his countryfolk by marrying an Englishwoman. As the two men ride, rocks suddenly rear up before them, forcing their horses to pass in single file on either side. This event symbolizes the different paths they will travel from then on. The affection of two men, however sincere, is not sufficient to bridge the vast gap between their races.
Bibliography
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