A Passage to India is set in the 1920s--during the beginnings of the Indian independence movement. India was finally independent in 1947. The racial, ethnic and religious tensions are evident in Forster's characters and plot. Explain specifically the attitudes of the British and the Indians toward each other. Do any of the characters serve as the spokesperson for any specific attitudes? Be specific in your explanation.
FYI, I found one of the original reviews of the novel in 1924--gotta love the internet! http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/1924/jun/20/classics
A Passage to India which is set in during the British colonial period in India captures the tensions between the British colonialist and the Indians. Forester’s depiction of the strained relationships during the era is very evocative. The British colonist found themselves in a foreign country surrounded by foreign people so they took the most logical human action-- avoiding the unknown. As humans it is our nature to refrain from what we are uncertain of. We do not strive to place ourselves in situations that make us feel uncomfortable or awkward. This is why in the novel we find that the British colonist have created Britain within India. Inside the walls of their country club the British feel completely at ease. The British have a very ethnocentric perspective of India and Indians. They view themselves as superior in every aspect. Forester captures this sentiment in various occasions throughout the book. The sentiment is portrayed when the two British ladies completely ignore Aziz and take his tonga viewing him simply as another Indian.
ReplyDeleteThe Indians as portrayed by Forester seem to acknowledge the inferiority that defines them in the eyes of the British. For the most part the Indians in the novel seem to think that a legitimate amiable relationship between a British colonist and an Indian can not exist. When Aziz’s friends are discussing this topic early on in the novel they make it very obvious that they find it almost impossible for Indians and the British to live on friendly terms with each other.
A character that can serve as a spokesperson for the British colonial attitude would be Ronny. Ronny as discussed in class serves as a character type. Ronny full evokes the condescending arrogant nature of the English. Ronny like many of his patriots in India does not mingle with Indians and finds them very tiresome. He refrains from being involved with any part of the Indian culture. He is also very ethnocentrically judgmental of anything and everyone Indian.
Of the Indian characters I think Aziz’s character as a whole serves as a type of spokesperson for the Indian attitude. Aziz is completely aware of the impact the British have on his life. He understands that simply because he is Indian he is considered inferior to the British and in turn a subject of the British mistreatment. Although he is able to form a bond between Mrs. Moore and Mr. Fielding he seems to think that they are only exceptions. That the relationship he is able to form with them is not achievable with all British colonists. The conditions imposed by the British make it hard for him to escape the mind set that the British are foreigners that do not wish to acknowledge the Indians as people. Throughout the early part of the novel Aziz avoids situations in which he will find himself mistreated by the British. He avoids going to the ’bridge’ party knowing what he will have to face.
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DeleteI agree completely. However, I do think that the British have a very limited view of Aziz's India as well. I would not argue that Aziz represents the typical Indian experience. I would argue that the British see him as the "typical" Indian because they interact with him for the most part. He has an established role in the city; he is a doctor. With that being said, the British encounter Aziz often and ignorantly assume that his life is the life of a typical Indian; nonetheless, as we mentioned in class, the British have a colonial view of India. Mr. Fielding, I agree, is most definitely an exception from beginning to end. [I am sorry guys, but I just had to fix my spelling errors. I hope I got them all. :(]
DeleteForester with his A Passage to India is absolutely remarkable. He captures the India of the 1920s through the eyes of both the British visitors as well as the Indians. The two groups of people hold very different views as to what India is like. The British characters view what they know as India through their British customs. The Indians, like Aziz and his friends, know the real India; they are aware that the British think that they are superior in comparison to the Indians, and the British treatment is cruel towards such individuals.From the beginning of the novel, Forester makes these differences very real. Throughout much of the first volume of the novel, Aziz avoids interacting with the British. He avoids their parties because the British socialize on one side of the lawn together, and the Indians socialize on the other side of the lawn among their own kind as well; the division is all too evident to Aziz who views friendship and kindness to be the only means of rebuliding India. To explain the attitudes, or rather introduce the attitudes of his charcters, Forester, much like Hardy, introduces his novel by describing the Marabar caves. With that being said, the first character we are introduced to is Aziz, an Indian Muslim and a doctor. Aziz is a hardworking man that is seeking acceptance from the British. His longing for their approval causes Aziz to behave in certain ways such as inviting the English to his home which he is ashamed of and inviting them for a tour of the Marabar caves which he has never visited himself. We are then intorduced to Mrs.Moore who is in India visiting her son Ronny, the city's magestrate. Adela Quested is another female character that is intorduced, and she is visiting India because she wants to meet Ronny and see if they would be compatable for marriage.She is also trying to learn about the "real" India as if she were taking it as a class. This is why Mr.Fielding calls her a prig. Ronny Heaslop is the city's magistrate, son of Mrs. Moore, and Adela's potential husband if she likes him enough. Mr. Cyril Fielding is the most important English male character. He is very down to earth and accepting of the Indians. He belives that Indians should be treated with respect and deserve a good education. As we mentioned in class, Forester introduced the round and flat character types. The round or the dynamic character is the one that changes from beggining to end, and both Aziz and Mr. Fielding are round characters. Adela,also,proves to be a round character, standing for what is right at the trial. The flat or static character is the one that does not change, and Ronny would be an example of such a character. From the novel's beginning, Mrs. Moore and Aziz seem to embark on a friendship, but when Aziz is accused of assulting Adela, Mrs. Moore says nothing. She does not defend him. In fact, Mr. Fielding is the only main character (the only character) who believes that Aziz is innocent. As a result, he sacarfices his so called friendships with his fellow Englishmen and stands alone for what is right. Aziz, throughout the first volume of the novel, is very suspecting of the English. He does not trust them; regardless, he and Mr.Fielding develop a friendship that is simply extraordianry. Two man of different cultures and nationalities have more in common than they fathomed. Mr. Fielding is not the typical English character; he believes in humanity and friendship. Ronny is one our main characters (if I should even call him that) who represents the typical, rude, English attidude toward the Indians. His friends that he sees at parties share the same view and are very rude in their talks about the Indians. Mr. Fielding, I would say, serves as the hero type, abandoing his English friends and believing in Aziz.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that Ronny is a static character. He doesn’t change throughout the entire novel. He stays the same, racist and not very kind at all to the Indians. Adela is definitely a dynamic character because she has so much going on. At first she wants to know the “real India,” wanting to meat “real Indians” and see what India has to offer. Then she has the chance to do just that and she accuses an Indian of rape. Even though she is wrong, she is a very entertaining character to watch because she seems to be all over the place, breaking up with Ronny and getting back together with him.
DeleteThe views that the English have toward the Indians differ somewhat, but for the most part the English do not trust the Indians. Ronny is a great example of a stereotypical Englishman who does not want to trust the Indians simply because of their skin color. He feels that they cannot be trusted and will not allow his mother and fiancé to be around Indians if they are not properly supervised by a white person. He also gets upset when he discovers his mother was speaking to an Indian at a mosque, instead of a white person. On the other hand, we have Fielding who is completely accepting of the Indians and tries extremely hard to befriend them. He is a rare find, as many of the English don’t completely trust him because he is so nice to the Indians.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I am very fond of Mr. Fielding. He is one of a kind.He is the defenitely the hero of the novel. He stands up for what is right. His friendship with Aziz is very important to him, and Fielding fights to show Aziz that all English are not the same. In a way, that seems to be one of the underlyning themes of the book. The English cannot judge India based on Aziz's experiences of life, and the Indians cannot assume that every single English persons is the same. Out of the large number that are there, Mr. Fielding proves trustworty, and in the end, Adela proves worthy of the Indians trust.
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