A PASSAGE TO INDIA

THE PICTURE OF
INDIA
 E.M.FORSTER
Edward Morgan Forster ( 1 ST January 1879 – 7 TH June 1970 ) had
gained the titles of ( Order Of Merit ) ,( Order Of The Companions
of Horror ). He was an English novelist , short story writer ,
essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and
well - plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy
and also the attitudes towards gender and homosexuality in
early 20th - century British society .

HIS WORKS -
ØWHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD(1905);
ØTHE LONGEST JOURNEY(1907);
ØA ROOM WITH A VIEW(1908);
ØHOWARDS END(1910);
ØMAURICE(1913);
ØARCTIC SUMMER(1912-13);
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EDWARD MORGAN FORSTER WAS BORN into
a comfortable family in London . He was born in
Marylebone, London, England and died at
Coventry, Warwickshire, England. His father, an
architect, died when Forster was very young,
leaving the boy to be raised by his mother and
great-aunt. Forster proved to be a bright
student, and he went on to attend Cambridge
University. He spent much of the next decade
traveling and living abroad, dividing his time
between working as a journalist and writing
Edward Said :
short
I havestories
always and
feltnovels.
that the most interesting thing
about A Passage to India is Forster’s using India to
represent material that according to the canons of the
novel form cannot in fact be represented – vastness,
incomprehensible creeds, secret motions, histories and
Forster’s first visit to India occurred in 1912. It introduced him to an altogether alien
culture which offered him new dimensions of history, religion and philosophy. He also got
fresh insights into his favorites theme of personal relationships not merely from intimate
friendships with Indians but from observation of the clash between rulers and ruled Muslims
and Hindus which he had already gained a vivid picture of its people and places from a young
Indian Muslim. The Englishman was well prepared for his travels throughout the country.
Forster spent time with both Englishmen and Indians during his visit. English governors
headed each province and were responsible to Parliament. He was troubled by the racial
oppression and deep cultural misunderstandings that divided the Indian people and the British
colonists, or, as they are called in A Passage to India, Anglo-Indians. The prevailing attitude
among the British in India was that the colonists were assuming the “white man’s burden”.
FORSTER ’ S VIEW
 FORSTER’S 1 ST
VISIT
vHills of North India in state of Bihar;

vClimbing on hills in heat on Elephants;

vThe caves of 3rd century B.C.;

vInscriptions of Pali in Buddhist Monks;

vDifferences between Hindus and Muslims;

vHatred between the rulers and the ruled.

MAJOR DIVISIONS OF THE NOVEL
q MOSQUE;
q CAVES;
q TEMPLE .
 CHANDRAPORE
qCity washed by River Ganges;
qSilt deposits on the bank of river;
qMainly forest, sparsely scattered with huts and
bazaars shutout;
qCity of Gardens;
qAncient tanks and Unconsidered Temples;
qTropical pleasance;
qMarabar Hills.
 MOSQUE
§OPEN FIELDS AND LONG SHALLOW HOSPITALS;
§PALMS, NEEMS, AND PEEPAL TREES ALL OVER;
§MUD AND MUDDLE;
§ADELA AND RONNY;
§COMMUNAL DISHARMONY;
§INDIA UNDER THE ENGLISH;
§INDIA NEEDS KINDNESS AND UNITY.
 CAVES
§THEME OF SEPARATENESS, DOMINANCE, FENCESS AND BARRIERS;
§RACIAL AND SEXUAL DIFFERENCES;
§MARABAR CAVES ARE MYSTERIOUS AND DARK;
§SITE FOR ANCIENT HOLY PRIESTS;
§EIGHT FEET LONG AND THREE FEET WIDE;
§HINDU-MUSLIM ENTENTE;
§AGGRESSIVE VICTORY;
§RONNY’S MISFORTUNES;
§PARTING WAYS BETWEEN AZIZ AND FIELDING .
§
§
 TEMPLE
§PROF. GODBOLE’S PRESENCE OF GOD;
§MINSTER OF EDUCATION IN HINDU STATE OF MAU;
§DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRAHMINS AND NON-BRAHMINS;
§AZIZ – “ I AM AN INDIAN AT LAST;
§FESTIVAL OF GOKUL ASHTAMI;
§BIRTH OF GOD;
§SHRI KRISHNA – THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD;
§GOD IS LOVE AND FUN IN HEAVENS.
 THE NOVEL
Aziz, a young Muslim doctor, whose friendliness and
enthusiasm for the British turn to bitterness and
disillusionment when his pride is injured. A sympathy springs
up between him and the elderly Mrs Moore, who has come to
visit her son, the City Magistrate. Accompanying her is Adela
Quested, young, earnest, and charmless, who longs to know the
'real' India and tries to disregard the taboos and snobberies
of the British circle. Aziz organizes an expedition for the
visitors to the famous Caves of Marbar, where an unforeseen
development plunges him into disgrace and rouses deep
antagonism between the two races. Adela accuses him of
insulting her in the Caves, he is committed to prison and
 CONCLUSION

Adela withdraws her charge, but Aziz turns furiously away from the
British, towards a Hindu-Muslim entente.
In the third part of the book he has moved to a post in a native state, and
is bringing up his family in peace, writing poetry and reading Persian. He is
visited by his friend Mr. Fielding, the former Principal of the Government
College, an intelligent, hardbitten man. They discuss the future of India
and Aziz prophesis that only when the British are driven out can he and
Fielding really be friends. Among the many characters is Professor
Godbole, the detached and saintly Brahmin who makes his final appearance
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