2. The Author
E.M. Forster wrote A Passage to India in 1924, the last completed novel that he published during his lifetime. UNIQUENESS : overt political content, opposed to the lighter tone and more subdued political subtext contained in works such as Howards End and A Room With A View. TOPIC: political occupation of India by the British.

3. Background of the Novel
The colonial occupation of India
Britain occupied an important place in political affairs in India since 1760, but did not secure control over India for nearly a century.
Government of India Act 1858: political power transferred from the East India Company to the British Crown.
Victoria added the title Empress of India to her regality.

4. English bureaucracy did not associate with the people they ruled, and finds its expression in characters such as Ronny Heaslop and Mr. McBryde in A Passage to India.
Indian nationalism began to foment around 1885 with the first meeting of the Indian National Congress.
India took part in the First World War, assisting the British with the assumption that this help would lead to political concessions. Relations did not improve though.

5. It is around this time that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became a preeminent force in Indian politics, and it is also around this time that Forster would wrote
A Passage to India.
More than twenty years later, after a long struggle, Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act in 1947, ordering the separation of India and Pakistan and granting both nations their sovereignty.

7. The novel’s protagonist is Aziz, a poor Indian doctor, grown up under British rule.
He is not happy with the treatment received nor with the treatment given to Indians.
Aziz criticizes British have become mean and cold.
British officials at the civil station in Chandrapore run a club that forbids Indians from attending and try to avoid any intimate friendships or relations with the natives.

8. Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested come over from England to visit Ronny Heaslop, Mrs. Moore's son and Adela's fiancé. He’s also the city Magistrate.
One night, Mrs. Moore walks out of the club and encounters Dr. Aziz in a Mosque in the moonlight. They become friends.
Mrs. Moore and Adela are more liberal than Ronny and wish to see the "real India" and have Indian friends.
Aziz feels so good, that he invites the women on an excursion to the caves at Marabar.

9. They arrange to meet at the train station
They arrange to meet at the train station. All of them arrive on time except for Fielding, a friend of the women and Godbole, a friend of Aziz. This may cause problems.
Ronny sends over a servant to follow the women to make sure they are not left alone with Dr. Aziz.
At the caves, the weather is hot. The three go in and out of the caves, which all look similar. Within the caves is the haunting sound of an echo.
While Mrs. Moore is in the cave, which is completely dark, she feels something touch her. Actually she is haunted by the sound of the echo.
She decides to rest after her experience and let Adela and Aziz continue to explore other caves.

10. Adela and Aziz separate inside of the cave and Aziz can not find Adela.
Aziz hears a car and later assumes that Miss Derek, Adela's friend, picked up Adela.
Fielding , whom they were supposed to meet at the station, joins Aziz and Mrs. Moore and they board the train back to Chandrapore.
When the train pulls into Chandrapore station, Aziz is arrested for charges that are unknown to him. Aziz is charged with making improper advances to Adela in the caves.
Fielding publicly vows to defend Aziz. He says Adela is haunted by the echoes of the caves.

11. As the trial approaches, Mrs. Moore becomes more aloof
As the trial approaches, Mrs. Moore becomes more aloof. Adela seeks her support, but Mrs. Moore wants nothing to do with her or anyone else.
Adela is haunted with the echoes from the caves, and when she realizes Aziz's innocence, the echoes go away.
She tells Ronny about her doubts of Aziz's guilt and Mrs. Moore backs them up.
However, Ronny encourages Adela to go on with the trial and continue to press charges.
Mrs. Moore, with the support and encouragement of her son Ronny leaves for Britain before the trial. She dies before the trial is held.

12. At the trial, Adela continues to hear echoes.
Indians in the courthouse begin to call for Mrs. Moore to clear the name of Aziz.
Adela finally admits that she is not sure if Aziz is really guilty.
The judge drops the charges and all of the Indians in Chandrapore celebrate Aziz's victory.
Adela walks the streets in a daze and is intercepted by Fielding. He invites her to his office for her safety.
Aziz becomes jealous while Adela and Fielding spend time together. Fielding feels sorry for her since her engagement with Ronny Heaslop has been broken.
Rumours begin to spread that he and Adela are having an affair.
Fielding denies the rumor, but in the back of his mind, Aziz believes the rumor to be true and thinks Fielding will marry Adela for her money.
After the trial, Aziz wants nothing to do with the British and begins to write poetry about the motherland and the nation. He decides to move out of the Raj to a free Indian state.
Fielding and Adela return to England.

13. Two years after
Aziz and Godbole now live in Mau, an independent Hindu state. Godbole is the Minister of Education and Aziz has a clinic in town.
The town is celebrating the arrival of a new God and is filled with singing and dancing in the streets.
Godbole receives a note that Fielding and his new wife will be paying a visit. He tells Aziz who refuses to see them.
Aziz has ignored all of Fielding's letters and postcards over the years and assumed that he has married Adela in London.
Aziz runs into Fielding and his new brother-in-law (Ralph) by accident, when he goes out to attend to Ralph's bee sting.

14. Finally, Aziz realizes that Fielding did not marry Adela, but Mrs
Finally, Aziz realizes that Fielding did not marry Adela, but Mrs. Moore's daughter, Stella.
Adela introduced them in London. Stella’s brother is Ralph, Fielding’s brother –in-law.
Aziz continues to behave coldly and says he wants nothing to do with the British.
Later on, Aziz checks up on Ralph's bee sting and continues to be cold, but is finally overcome by a spiritual epiphany. He finds out Ralph was Mrs. Moore’s son. Mrs. Moore had always believed in Aziz’s innocence.
Aziz gives Fielding a letter to deliver to Adela forgiving her for her charges against him. He has left the past behind him.
As Fielding and Aziz say their final good-byes, their horses pull them away from each other and they know they will never see each other again.

15. Character Analysis

16. Doctor Aziz: A Muslim doctor in Chandrapore.
Intelligent, outgoing and sensitive, but also suspicious and irrational at times.
Hospitality and kindness to Adela and Mrs Moore.
Shares a friendship with Fielding till the end of the trial.
Becomes more uptight with people after the trial; ceases to bend down to the whims of the whites.
Reflects the fears and disillusionment of educated Indians under the British Raj.

17. Mrs Moore: Reflective, sympathetic, sensitive and pious.
Likes Dr Aziz; doesn't agree with Anglo-Indian treatment of Indians.
After the incident in Marabar, starts seeing everything negatively.
Sent to England during Aziz’s trial due to the pressure of her son Ronny.
She could’ve proved Aziz’s innocence.
Dies on her voyage back to England.
The other face of the colonizer. Doesn’t like the idea of colonialism, and is kind to all people regardless of race or religion.

18. Adela Quested: Serious, curious and ambiguous.
Wishes more interaction with Indians, though her fiancé disproves of it.
Confused by the setting of the caves, falsely accuses Aziz of assaulting her.
Admitting the mistake in court leads to her being abandoned by the Anglo-Indian community.
Though respectful to Indians, she can’t have a good relationship with them. The Marabar incident seemingly changes her rational mind forever.

19. Cyril Fielding: Headmaster at the local college and friend of
Mrs. Moore, Adela and Aziz.
Pleasant in character and revolutionary in thought.
Free from prejudice and generalisation towards Indians.
Maintains a healthy relation with all Indians around him.
Marries Stella, Mrs Moore’s daughter, in the end.
Fielding prefers individual and personal relationships to institutional ones that are patronising. Containing both positive and negative characters, Fielding represents the opinion of Forster in the context of the novel.

20. Professor Godbole: He is a Hindu philosopher.
He is most charming and mysterious character of the novel.
Godbole is deeply thoughtful and wise ; he is aware of the universal mystery.
He believes in love amongst and in respect for nature and life as well.

21. Ronny Heaslop:
Mrs Moore’s first son; district magistrate; engaged to Adela.
Typical British colonizer: racist, prejudiced and unmindful of Indians.
Regards all religions to be vain and silly, except Christianity, which justifies the English monarchy.
Considers his institutional duty to be above respecting Indians.
Breaks off with Adela after she doubts her love for him after the trial.
The typical white colonizer. Has a deep sense of civilisation, but is insensitive to the local people.

22. Landscape

23. Landscape has an enormous influence on the characters.
The Marabar Hills and the caves affect Mrs. Moore and Adela’s state of mind. For instance, the echoes of the cave haunt Adela until she reveals the truth about Aziz and clears her conscience
People like Mrs Moore try to emphasize on the fact that they may be in a different country but they’re all on the same planet.
British colonialists reject this idea.

24. Nationalism

25. The British National Anthem inspires feelings of power rather than patriotism. British characters use a "scientific" approach to prove the racial and national superiority of the British over the Indians.
Adela begins to feel guilty about the notion of the British as a civilizing force. She contemplates who gave them the right to control a country.
Mahmoud Ali, one of Aziz’s friends, becomes vocal about the unfair role of the British in India. He stands up for Indian nationalism and storms out of the court.
The otherwise pro-British Nawab Bahadur, the most diplomatic and respected of Indians, is so affected by the cruel treatment of his son and the treatment of Aziz by the British, that he renounces his name and title for his Islamic name.

26. The trial awoke the nationalist spirit in Aziz
The trial awoke the nationalist spirit in Aziz. He now began to think of the motherland in his poetry.
Aziz expresses his wish not to associate with any British people. He even pushes away the friendship of Fielding.
Aziz and Fielding part ways, knowing they can never be friends as long as the British continue to control India.

28. English people are civil, or even friendly, towards natives when they first arrive in India. However, the longer they stay in India, the greater the gap grows between them and the Indians.
Though the English and Indians are both physically in the East, there is a clear separation between Eastern and Western culture in colonized India.
Adela confronts Ronny about his treatment of Indians. Still fresh in India, she feels the bridge between East and West can be crossed with pleasant and equal behavior.
Ronny advises her that her naïve perspective will change the longer she stays in the country.

29. Many Indians are skeptical about the sincerity of Turton's invitation to his Bridge Party. Nawab Bahadur, a person who is respected by British and Indians, convinces his countrymen to attend the party.
Adela and Mrs. Moore are sad that there is no interaction between the British hosts and the Indian guests. The Bridge Party does not create a bridge between the people.

30. Fielding and Aziz forge an instant friendship despite their racial differences.
Aziz tells Nawab Bahadur's grandson that believing in superstition and evil spirits is a defect of the East. The West has advanced, he believes, because they believe in reason and logic.
Fielding tries to tell Aziz that he should not think in terms of East and West, but simply in terms of friendship.

31. Religion

32. Religion
India is divided in terms of religion. Actually three countries emerged after independence of 1949: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Aziz deals with the fact as a Muslim, he feels divided from the other half of India. Aziz is more loyal to Islam than to his country.
Mrs. Moore is a religious woman.
She talks to Ronny about the bad and unchristian treatment of the British towards the Indians.
She says that God loves everyone and since India is part of the earth, God loves the Indians.
In the caves, the 'boom' sound erases all religious thoughts from Mrs. Moore's mind. The echo becomes more powerful than her religion.
In the aftermath of the incident at the caves, Mrs. Moore loses her interest in religion and all other aspects of life.

34. Mrs. Moore impresses Aziz by removing her shoes before she enters the Mosque. This is a sign of respect that he does not expect from British women in his country.
Fielding contends that English women can never be friends with Indian men. Disaster happens whenever the two meet.
Aziz shows Fielding a picture of his wife: an act that is forbidden unless it is between brothers due to the tradition of purdah, the separation and veiling of women. Fielding asks if people in the world were to treat each other as equally as brothers, if there would be no more need for purdah.

35. Aziz's friends now warn him that it is not advisable for him to mix with British women. They predict something bad will happen due to his interaction with these ladies.
At the club, the men talk of protecting the women and children. This incites in them a blinding national pride.
Aziz begins to write poetry about Oriental womanhood. He calls for the end of purdah, which he believes is an essential step to forming Indian statehood.