Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) an
intellectual and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge ranked among the most
cosmopolitan men of his day. His novels are only five in number. After the
early Where Angels Fear to Tread, with its well drawn characters,
its comedy and the typical concern with the conflict between two different
cultures comes The Longest Journey – a less attractive work that
shows the same skill of characterization. A Room with a View like
his first novel is set in Italy containing delicately handled excellent comedy.
Next comes, his two masterpieces, Howards End and much later A
Passage to India. Both deal with the misunderstandings that arise in
relationships among individuals in one case and among races in the other.
A
Passage to India was the latest of his novels and is unrivalled in
English fiction in its presentation of the complex problems which were to be
found in the relationships between English and native people in India. Also, in
portrayal of Indian scenes in all its magic and wretchedness. The novel offers
a good example of Forster’s excellent faculty for capturing the very feel and
tone of his background.
The
title ‘A Passage to India’ suggests that there is more than one passage- there
is more than one viewpoint to see India from, and there is more than one way to
interpret the novel. Forster’s attitude to India can be expressed as its
significance to him, which rests on the basis of personnel relationship,
My
connection with India is peculiar and personal…It on the basis of personal
relationship that my connection with this strange country rests. I didn’t go
there to govern it or to make money or to improve people. I went there to see a
friend.
The
novel A Passage to India is subtle and rich in symbolism. It
works on several levels. As the title suggests it is about India, which at that
time was under colonial possession of Britain. It is about the relations
between British and Indian people. 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, both
religious faith and faith in social conventions. Forster’s narrative centres on
Dr. Aziz, a young Indian physician whose attempt to establish friendships with
several British characters has disastrous consequences. In the course of the
novel Dr. Aziz is accused of attempting to rape a young Englishwoman. His
friend Mr. Fielding, a British teacher helps to defend him. Although the
charges against him are dropped during his trial, the gulf between the British
and native Indians grows wider than ever making the end as an ambiguous note.
When
the novel got published in 1924, it was praised by reviewers in a number of
important British and American literary journals. Despite some criticism of the
British in the book, it was popular with readers in both Britain and United
States.
Observing the title, we get an idea
that the novel is about India, something about its historical representation.
However, Forster goes beyond this and deals with the historical problem of his
own time. He explains the metaphysical quest in the following lines:
…the
book is not really about politics, though it is the political aspect that
caught the general public and made it sell. Its about something wider than
politics, about the search of human race for a more lasting home, about the
universe as embodied in the Indian earth and the Indian sky…It is…or rather
desires to be- philosophic and poetic.
Thus,
Forster’s A Passage to India provides a chronicle of the changing
historical face of India from 1912. The novel prophesies the influences of
nationalism, communalism and internationalism. That is, it offers an
opportunity to examine religion, structure and imagery from within an alternative
space. Generally, the word ‘passage’ refers to a long journey by boat.
When this book was written India was considered, ‘The jewel in the crown’
of the British Empire. Thousands of British people booked a passage to India to
take up jobs and opportunities. In other sense, the title implies ‘transition’
of character, an emotional journey.
Whitman’s poem Passage to India
raises several questions which in turn, turned to be the source of the title of
Forster’s novel. Few lines from the poem are:
Lo,
soul, seest thou not God’s purpose from the first?
The
earth to be spanned, connected by network,
The
races, neighbours, to marry and be given in marriage.
We find that Forster has just
imitated the opening lines of the poem with addition to an article before it.
And this, ‘A’ passage suggests- there may be many more passages than the one
taken by the writer or indeed by any one or all the characters. India is seen
in Whitman’s poem as the symbol of mystical fulfilment that has both positive
and negative results. And Forster’s A Passage to India suggests a
greater self-examination and a move from Romanticism to Modernism. It is the
expression of a particular kind of reality- historical, literary and
philosophical. Forster himself wrote:
I
began to write the novel in 1913, but the First World War intervened and it did
not get published until 1924. The India I described has been transformed
politically and greatly changed socially. I also tried to describe human
beings; these may not have altered so much. Furthermore- taking my title from a
poem of Walt Whitman’s-I tried to indicate the human predicament in a universe
which is not so far, comprehensible to our minds.
Therefore, the title A Passage to
India is aptly marked. It has its own significance as the writer talks not of
‘a passage’ but many passages enclosed within it.
Meticulously Complied Notes that justifies the title Significance of the title of novel ‘A Passage to India’ by the author of the blog.
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