A Passage to India

A Passage to India: My Take

E.M. Forster's A Passage to India is a pretty solid book in terms of both being a entertaining, yet almost sad, book on the English occupation of India and as a piece of literature that you can use to study analytically the relationship between the English and India. Forster's use of symbolism and overarching motifs really give the text a great subtlety for readers who look closely at the text. The thing I like most about his book though, was how you can really feel his personal feelings of how unjust the English were being in India figuratively flowing through the pages. At some points I felt like his text was dripping with sarcasm and resentment for the English and their treatment of the native Indians in occupied India. Overall, I would say his book is something that people with any interest in history should give this book a shot. I would also add that English majors might enjoy it for its crafty use of the English language and the way Forster uses words to inconspicuously relay an idea that he might not want to say outright in his writing. His writing gives an almost humorous undertone, and anybody familiar with British imperialism at this time will most certainly see it. Forster almost does it in a way to stick it to the British, while also making it vague enough that he could not be charged with slandering the

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British government at the time. He never comes out and says, "The British are wrong". He does however; most definitely use his characters in his book to portray his personal feelings on British imperialism.

One thing that I found was a very interested aspect of the book was the way that Aziz and Fielding's friendship is shown. It goes through an array of changes in which they go from being quite good friends with each other, to the point where Aziz hates Fielding for the simple fact that he is British. Is this acceptable at the end given the circumstances surrounding Aziz and his trial? I would say yes. While he may not have the exact right to be mad at Fielding, since he did everything in his power to help prove Aziz's innocence throughout the trial, even defying his superiors in the process, by the end of the novel, Aziz cannot even bear the sight of the British, let alone being friends with a Brit. I can see where Aziz is coming from in this particular situation. While I have never been accused of a rape that I had not committed, the feeling of animosity towards him by the occupying British is evident, and can only imagine the panic and desperation that I would feel in that situation. Aziz and Fielding's friendship even starts out on kind of a rocky start. When Aziz first meets Fielding, they immediately start off on rocky grounds for something that Fielding said that Aziz took the wrong way.

"You can talk to Ms. Quested about the Peacock Throne if you like- she's quite artistic, they say. Is she a Post Impressionist? Post Impressionist indeed! Come along to tea. This world is getting too much for me altogether."

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The comment suggested, in Aziz's mind, that fielding thought that since he was an Indian, there was no way he could have heard of Post Impressionism. Although Fielding did not mean that, it still sends Aziz the message from the get go about how he views himself and his fellow Britons as superior to the "inferior" Indians. Just got me thinking about how the Indians felt about the British and the feelings that the British had towards them. Look at that situation. Aziz and Fielding had never met, yet Aziz felt like Fielding thought he was superior simply because of race, not even taking into consideration that Fielding made no such claim, or even hinted at that claim beforehand. Kind of made me consider that maybe it was a perpetual cycle in India. Perhaps there were a few bad British leaders in India who tainted the feelings that the Indians had towards all of the British citizens who came over. Who knows, maybe if they were most just and fair with the Indians, things could have went over a lot smoother than they did, and Britain wouldn't have that scuff mark on their history.

Unfortunately, Forster's depiction of English rule in India is pretty accurate. A small number of elite, white Englishmen ran the country and its armies while having any Indian subservient to them. You can feel it in Forster's writing that he feels that the only way for the British and the Indians to get along is if they interacted with each other in the way Aziz and Fielding do. Forster does make it a point at the end of the novel to show that Indians feel isolated by the British by having Aziz ultimately come to resent everyone of British descent. At one point in the novel Mrs. Moore tells her son something that, to me, might as well be coming from Forster's mouth since it so actively portrays his feelings on the British occupation and feelings towards India.

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"Because India is part of the Earth. And God has put us on Earth in order to be pleasant to each other. God...is...love. God has put us on Earth to love our neighbors and to show it, and He is omnipresent, even in India, to see how we are succeeding."

You can really feel Forster's resentment towards his fellow