A Passage to India:

Great political novel focusing on race relationships

Dr. Senarath Tennakoon

E.M. Forster (1879-1970) has written many short stories, critical essays and novels. But his achievement rests on his five novels: Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907). A Room with a View (1908), Howard's End (1910) and A Passage to India (1924).

In these novels he pursues, with wit, intelligence and passion, his themes of the 'undeveloped heart', the struggle towards fullness of living and the supreme importance of 'the inner life' (Boulton, 1976), Forster has travelled in India in 1912 and in 1921.

In the plot Forster takes the reader to the post war (1914-1918) political situation of India during the British rule. Adela Quested, a pretty English young girl comes to India, Chandrapura with Mrs. Moore, a widow, Mrs. Moore's son by her first marriage is Rony Heaslop who is a government official. Adela has two intentions for coming to India. First, she wishes to get engaged to Ronny and subsequently marry him.Second, while in India, she likes to see as much of India, move closely with the local Indians and thus see the 'real India'.

Forster introduces another character; Mr.Fielding who has come to India comparatively late in life (not young) but still living alone as the Principal of the Government College.

These English people often meet together at the residence of Fielding. There Adela meets Dr. Aziz, a western qualified Muslim doctor who is a widower, who has a wide knowledge of history, aesthetics and even show a great interest in poetry. But Forster describes Aziz's life though vivid is largely a dream. Aziz and Fielding appear to be great friends despite their cultural and religious differences.

Aziz first invites Adela, Mrs Moore and Fielding to visit his house. But later he proposes a visit to see the Marabar caves. Mrs Moore has already seen these caves and she has experienced the hollow echoing 'Boum' inside these caves. But she too joins in the trip. But she does not enter the cave and rests outside while the others enter one cave.

The inside of the cave is dull and everything appears blurred and Adela leaves the cave in a distressed manner. She is in a state of hallucination and the English community understands Adela has been sexually assaulted by Aziz in the cave.

Although Mrs. Moore does not believe in this accusation she observes silence. Aziz is arrested and a court case follows while Aziz files a case for compensation.

There are other characters like Professor Godhole, a Brahmin and friend of Aziz and Mrs. Moore, Hamidullah and Mohammed Latif who are worried about this situation. Fielding stands by Aziz convinced of his innocence. But the Indians and the English stand rigidly on their racial positions. In the meantime Ronny arranges Mrs. Moore to leave for England. Aziz is brought to trial. During the court proceedings Adela withdraws her accusation and Aziz is released. Aziz also withdraws his case for compensation. Adela is now living at the Government College. News arrives that Mrs. Moore has died on the Voyage home. Adela's engagement with Ronny is broken and she leaves for England. Fielding too leaves for England.

Although Fielding marries Mrs. Moore's daughter Stella by her second marriage, Aziz hears as Adela being married to Fielding. In the meantime, Aziz leaves to a distant place at Mau to work in a hospital. After some years Fielding returns to India with his wife (Stella) and her brother Ralph. They visit. Aziz comes to know of the truth of Fielding's marriage. He builds a familiar friendly relationship with Ralph as Ralph is the son of Mrs Moore. But Aziz feels that the friendship between him and Fielding has become less intense than before. A feeling of intense pessimism creeps into his mind.

Of the themes in this novel Forster has given considerable emphasis on the degrading British rule in India.

Aziz and Fielding discuss about the political situation of India and the national flavour in Indian politics while on many occasions Hamdullah and Mohamed Ali argue whether an Indian can be friend with an Englishman.

The second theme is about the social and racial relationships of the characters and how these affect in their individual perceptions and human interactions among them. Further their relationships take place in a mean, squalid and ordinary Indian city of Chandrapore.

Chandrapore is on the Ganges, below Benaris. The Marabar Hills are far away from Chandrapura where the key incident for the court trial is said to have occurred,and Aziz retires to a lonely place called Mau which is some hundreds of miles westward from the Marabar Hills. Forster has taken great pain to describe the hollow boom echoes of the Marabar caves which perhaps terrified Adela and makes her emotionally distressed and depressed.

A sense of evil breathes in it. The echo is metaphorical as well as material. Hallucination is yet another theme that Forster finds in the emotional workings of Adela. Hallucination goes together with frustration. Adela as well as Mrs. Moore is frustrated. Even Aziz is a frustrated individual. Finally, the personal relationships of the English community and the racial relationships of the Indian community are described in adequate detail by Forster. The English have been trying to change their fast held attitudes and life ways through their active Indian experiences. This aspect is shown by Aziz and Fielding in their last horse ride together.

During the time of Forster writing this novel there were James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf experimenting on style. But like Jane Austin, Forster continued to write with precise clarity. For instance the sentence The sky settles everything' in the novel is clear and precise. Forster uses metaphor and simile with discretion.

The expressions like: 'The town swells and shrinks like some low but indestructible form of life' and 'The stars hang like lamps from the immense vault of the sky' are rich in metaphor. The vocabulary is rich, powerful, refined and highly civilized.

There are several Indian words (nouns and verbs) used quite effectively and efficiently to give the correct meaning of a situation or a character.

The dialogues between the Indians and the English are calculated and precise. Ideas are expressed with great care so as not to hurt ones religious or ethnic feelings. Forster has devoted great pain in selecting appropriate expressions and idioms for doing this. Symbolism is quite evident in the novel. The Marabar Hills and their booming echoes are quite powerful symbols of mystery. The echoes in particular symbolize frustration, terror, and evil. Fire is another symbol. It is the fire in the mosque that kindles and rekindles the friendship between Aziz and Mrs. Moore.

There is also satire in the novel as Adela finally breaks up her connection with Ronny, and she could not achieve her objectives for visiting India.

'A Passage to India' has been described as a novel without a hero. However there are important characters in it. Aziz is the outstanding character. He is a widower, a Muslim doctor developing very intimate relations with the English community. But he leads a dreamy life engaged in religious and aesthetic activities apart from his professional duties.

He is suffering from an emotionally setback after his wife's passing away. He is unfortunate to face a court case following a false allegation of sexually assaulting an unmarried English virgin that could not be testified and proved. Fielding is a well balanced character who believes in Aziz to be innocent and takes his side.

Unlike Mrs Moore he is a strong character. Mrs. Moore too knew that Aziz is innocent but she is weak to take his side unlike Fielding. Adela is the character who messed the entire novel by her hallucinatory jumble of accusations against Aziz. She loses everything in the novel and has to go back to England in frustration.

Forster at the end of the novel, leaves it quite open for the reader to come to conclusions. He simply depicts; he never passes judgment.