The Clash of Cultures and Races in "A Passage to India"
The clash of cultures and races in "A Passage to India"
A Passage to India, published in 1924, was E. M. Forster's first novel in fourteen years, and the last novel he wrote. Forster began writing A Passage to India in 1913, just after his first visit to India. The novel was not revised and completed, until the end of his second stay in India, in 1921, when he served as secretary to the Maharajah of Dewas State Senior.
Novel examines the racial misunderstandings and cultural hypocrisies that characterized the complex interactions between Indians and the English toward the end of the British occupation of India. It is also about the necessity of friendship, and about the difficulty of establishing friendship across cultural boundaries. On a more symbolic level, the novel also addresses questions of faith, in a social and religious conventions. The story begins when Two englishwomen, the young Miss Adela Quested and the elderly Mrs. Moore, travel to India. Adela expects to become engaged to Mrs. Moore’s son, Ronny, a British magistrate in the Indian city of Chandrapore. Adela and Mrs. Moore each hope to see the real India during their visit, rather than cultural institutions imported by the British.
At the same time, Aziz, a young Muslim doctor in India, is increasingly frustrated by the poor treatment he receives at the hands of the English.
In the opening scene, Dr. Aziz is involved in a discussion about whether or not it is possible for an Indian to be friends with an Englishman. The conversation is interrupted by a message from the Civil Surgeon, Major Callendar, who requests Dr. Aziz's immediate assistance.
When he arrived at place he was told that the Civil Surgeon is out. On his way back home, Aziz stops in a mosque to rest and meets Mrs. Moore. He is delighted by her kind behavior and accompanies her back to the Chandrapore Club. Aziz is moved and surprised that an English person would treat him like a friend. The Collector, Mr. Turton, makes plans to
A Passage to India, published in 1924, was E. M. Forster's first novel in fourteen years, and the last novel he wrote. Forster began writing A Passage to India in 1913, just after his first visit to India. The novel was not revised and completed, until the end of his second stay in India, in 1921, when he served as secretary to the Maharajah of Dewas State Senior.
Novel examines the racial misunderstandings and cultural hypocrisies that characterized the complex interactions between Indians and the English toward the end of the British occupation of India. It is also about the necessity of friendship, and about the difficulty of establishing friendship across cultural boundaries. On a more symbolic level, the novel also addresses questions of faith, in a social and religious conventions. The story begins when Two englishwomen, the young Miss Adela Quested and the elderly Mrs. Moore, travel to India. Adela expects to become engaged to Mrs. Moore’s son, Ronny, a British magistrate in the Indian city of Chandrapore. Adela and Mrs. Moore each hope to see the real India during their visit, rather than cultural institutions imported by the British.
At the same time, Aziz, a young Muslim doctor in India, is increasingly frustrated by the poor treatment he receives at the hands of the English.
In the opening scene, Dr. Aziz is involved in a discussion about whether or not it is possible for an Indian to be friends with an Englishman. The conversation is interrupted by a message from the Civil Surgeon, Major Callendar, who requests Dr. Aziz's immediate assistance.
When he arrived at place he was told that the Civil Surgeon is out. On his way back home, Aziz stops in a mosque to rest and meets Mrs. Moore. He is delighted by her kind behavior and accompanies her back to the Chandrapore Club. Aziz is moved and surprised that an English person would treat him like a friend. The Collector, Mr. Turton, makes plans to
Bibliography: 1. Forster Edward M. -A Passage to India ( Warszawa,Penguin,2005) 2. Malcolm Bradbury -Two Passages to India: Forster as Victorian and Modern, in Aspects of E. M. Forster (London, Oliver Stallybrass 1969) pp. 124-25. 3. Land Stephen K.- "A Passage to India," in Challenge and Conventionality in the Fiction of E. M. Forster,(AMS Press, 1990) pp. 189-217. 4. Wilfred Stone- The Cave and the Mountain: A Study of E. M. Forster (Stanford University Press, 1966) 5. Dennis Walder – Literature In The Modern World, Critical Essays and Documents ( Oxford University Press inc., New York, 1993) 6. Herz, Judith Scherer- A Passage to India: Nation and Narration.(New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993) 7. Said, Edward W- Orientalism ( New York: Random House, 1979) 8. Ganguly, Adwaita P. -India, Mystic, Complex, and Real: A Detailed Study of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India. (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1990)