Plot-Structure Race and Gender Aziz-Fielding relationship
Critical Analysis Colonialism
A Passage to India
(1924) is E.M.Forster’s most successful as well as the most complex
novel. Its theme is multi-dimensional and can be examined on social, political,
ethical and spiritual levels. In his other novels, written much before the
present work, Forster introduced the theme of personal relationship. In the
essay, The Challenge of our Time he writes,
Temperamentally, I am
individualist; professionally I am a writer and my books emphasize the
importance of personal relationship and the private life, for I believe in
them.
At the surface level
the novel relates the story of two British ladies- Mrs. Moore and Miss Adela
Quested who want to see ‘the real India’. The bridge party at Collector
Turton’s house is not a success. This shows that there can be bridge or
communication between the British and Indians. The novel is also about the
friendship between the impulsive and warm Indian Aziz, and the urbane and sensible
Englishman, Fielding.
What emerges from the
story of optimism and despair is the novelist’s pertinent concern with and
exploration of various barriers between man and man, and between man and the
world he lives in. From this preoccupation, indeed, follows multi-dimensional
themes- race relations, personal relationships, theme of unity and affirmation,
and historical and philosophical theme.
Race Relations
Considering racial
relations, Forster’s novel provides a pitiless exposure of the evils of the
British rule in India, The degrading effects it had on both the rulers and the
ruled. Forster shows vividly how the ruling Anglo-Indians, by being racially arrogant and insensitive think
of their rule as burden nobly borne by them in order to civilize the native
barbarians. This imperialistic prejudice produced a rigid system in which
humanity was harshly divided into the rulers and the ruled, the whites and the
coloured. The Anglo-Indians act as a herd, united in their vicious contempt and
hatred for the native Indians. On the other hand Indians too, are shown to be
unreliable, suspicious and childish. However, Forster has the perspicacity to
realize that the indignified behaviour of the Indians is the result of their
humiliating subjection to imperial rule. On the other hand, when the ruling
class set aside the prejudices, genuine friendship is shown to be possible
between the rulers and the ruled.
Personal
Relations
Forster above all is
the novelist of personal relations and A Passage to India is no
exception to this dictum. He shows in the case of Fielding and Mrs. Moore how
persons of tolerance, good temper and sympathy, by standing apart from the herd
emotions of prejudice and contempt, establish the sanctity and sanity of
personal relationship in the face to the hysteria shown by the British. There
develops between Mrs. Moore and Dr. Aziz, an imperialist, a warm bond of
understanding which survives many strains- racial and otherwise imposed on it.
Again in the case of
fielding and Aziz, Forster shows how goodwill and spontaneity bridge the gulfs
between the people of different races. Aziz’s impulsiveness and Fielding’s
friendliness dissolve the racial barriers between them. When they meet for the
first time in Fielding’s house, one can notice the contrast between them.
Fielding is mature, genial, liberal, tolerant and detached person; on the other
hand Aziz is impulsive, sensitive and easily given to love and hate. Yet all
these differences are dissolved by their mutual trust and affectionate
friendship.
However, Forster also
seems to suggest that even when human relationships are successfully
established, there are problems of separation and unity, affirmation and
negation which deserve to be tackled at a profounder level. What happens in the
Marabar Caves is merely a confrontation by the British visitors. The experience
in the Caves brings ruin and confusion in the relations; though this is
resolved. Thus, Forster shows impressively how much the formula of personal
relationship can achieve in terms of faith, trust and misunderstanding.
Theme of Unity
and Affirmation
While there is deep
underlying sadness at heart of the novel, it is relieved by occasional glimpses
of a harmony that transcends the distinction between the finite and the
infinite, the human and the divine, Suggestions of harmony and union are found
throughout the novel; story from Mosque to Caves itself indicates the
possibility of a resolution of all difficulties in the Divine Love.
This attempt at unity
reaches its climax in the Gokulashtami festival where Godbole, with other
celebrants dances and prays for a unity that shall embrace all the things in
the universe- from a loving woman Mrs. Moore to the lowest of the creature, a
wasp. The ways of connecting are of course various- goodwill, sympathy,
kindness, love and so on. This theme of Divine Love is off course, carried by
Hinduism which is a major factor in the novels thematic structure. The
characters who are submitted to the negating mess of the Caves now pass through
the liberating mess of the Temple ceremony. All the separations and divisions
are dissolved in a larger unity, a synthesis.
Historical and
Philosophical
The novel provides a
chronicle of the changing historical face of India from 1912 (Forster’s
first visit) through 1921-1922 (his second visit) to 1932 (the
year of publication). Forster first came to India intending to use his visit to
write a philosophical rather than a historical novel. Yet, the novel is subject
to historical themes. The first visit offers a period of tranquillity in the
novel as a point of reference. Its details are inaccurate in fact, but accurate
in spirit. The second visit analysis the dynamics of the freedom struggle and
demonstrates Forster’s ambivalence to the national movement. The novel
prophesies the influence of nationalism, communalism and internationalism.
The use of Saraswati (invisible
river) indicates Forster’s desire to somehow capture a metaphysical rather than
a historical theme for his novel. This suggests his wish to extend the
frontiers of the novel as an art form beyond an examination of reality.
According to Forster,
India is full of wonders.
This suggests his means
of exploring and expressing philosophical truths. Then we find, the letter demonstrates
Forster’s desperate need for something that would ease his inability to write
as he says, I’m dried up. He believed that India is what he needs
to help him deal with the problem. All these intentions are ahistorical. Yet
the novel has to use history and has to be altered by historical pressures.
Thus, the novel’s theme represents a movement from history to philosophy.
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