Passage to India NOVEL BY FORSTER notes .pdf

Notes by Prof.R.R.Borse, Asst.Prof.,Eng.Dept.,BP Arts, SMA Sci.,KKC Com.College, Chalisgaon
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A Passage to India
Key Facts
Full Title · A Passage to India
Author · E.M. Forster
Type Of Work · Novel
Time And Place Written · 1912–1924; India, England
Date Of First Publication · 1924
Publisher · Edward Arnold
Narrator · Forster uses an unnamed third-person narrator
Point Of View · The third-person narrator is omniscient, attuned both to the physical world and
the inner states of the characters
Tone · Forster’s tone is often poetic and sometimes ironic or philosophical
Setting (Time) · 1910s or 1920s
Setting (Place) · India, specifically the cities of Chandrapore and Mau
Protagonist · Dr. Aziz
Major Conflict · Adela Quested accuses Dr. Aziz of attempting to sexually assault her in one of
the Marabar Caves. Aziz suspects Fielding has plotted against him with the English.
Rising Action · Adela Quested and Mrs. Moore’s arrival in India; the women’s befriending of
Aziz; Adela’s reluctant engagement to Ronny Heaslop; Ronny and the other Englishmen’s
disapproval of the women’s interaction with Indians; Aziz’s organization of an outing to the
Marabar Caves for his English friends; Adela’s and Mrs. Moore’s harrowing experiences in the
caves; Adela’s public insinuation that Aziz assaulted her in the caves; the inflammation of racial
tensions between the Indians and English in Chandrapore
Climax · Aziz’s trial; Adela’s final admission that she is mistaken in her accusations and that
Aziz is innocent; the courtroom’s eruption; Aziz’s release; the English community’s rejection of
Adela
Falling Action · Fielding’s conversations with Adela; Fielding and Aziz’s bickering over Aziz’s
desire for reparations from Adela; Aziz’s assumption that Fielding has betrayed him and will
marry Adela; Aziz’s increasingly anti-British sentiment; Fielding’s visit to Aziz with his new
wife, Stella; Aziz’s befriending of Ralph and forgiveness of Fielding

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Themes · The difficulty of English-Indian friendship; the unity of all living things; the
“muddle” of India; the negligence of British colonial government
Symbols · The Marabar Caves; the green bird; the wasp
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Summary
A Passage to India was divided by E. M. Forster into three parts. The first part, "Mosque,"
begins with what is essentially a description of the city of Chandrapore. The physical separation
of the city into sections, plus the separation of earth and sky, are indicative of a separation of
deeper significance that exists between the Indian and English sectors.
This novel deals with human relationships, and the theme that determines its plot line is
introduced in this section: "Is it possible for the Indian and the Englishman to be friends?" To
show both sides of this question, the reader is first introduced to Dr. Aziz and his friends. Aziz is
a Moslem doctor who practices at the government hospital in Chandrapore under the supervision
of Major Callendar. Among Aziz's friends are Hamidullah, an Indian barrister who has lived in
England; Nawab Bahadur, an influential landowner; and Mahmoud Ali. In the opening chapters
these men are shown discussing the English officials who govern under the British Raj in India.
Among the English faction, who also discuss the Anglo-Indian relationship, are Mr. Turton, the
Collector; Major Callendar, the English doctor; Mr. McBryde, the police magistrate; and Ronny
Heaslop, the city magistrate and the latest official to assume duties in Chandrapore.
Between these groups, or outside them, are Cyril Fielding, the English principal of the
government school, whose allegiance belongs to neither group; Mrs. Moore, mother of Ronny
Heaslop, who has come to India as chaperone to Miss Adela Quested, Ronny's intended fiancee;
Professor Godbole, a Hindu who is separated from the Moslems by his religion and* from the
English by his religion and nationality; and the English missionaries, Mr. Graysford and Mr.
Sorley, who share none of the arrogance of English officialdom as they attempt to convert the
Indians to Christianity.
The story opens with Aziz's arrival at Hamidullah's house, where he is to spend a social evening
with his friends. Their conversation centers upon the indignities that the Indian must suffer at the
hands of the English officials and their wives. Young Ronny Heaslop, whom they dub the "red-
nosed boy," is a particular object of ridicule.

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Aziz is summoned to the house of his superior, Major Callendar. He is late in arriving and when
he arrives, he finds the major gone. Two English women preempt his tonga and on the walk back
to his house he encounters Mrs. Moore at the mosque. The old lady endears herself to Aziz by
her innate understanding of him and of Moslem custom; he calls her an Oriental.
Later, at the English club, Adela Quested expresses her desire to see the "real India" and is
advised by a passerby to "try seeing Indians." To humor her Mr. Turton offers to give a "Bridge
Party," a garden party ostensibly designed to bridge the distance between the English and the
Indian, and to give Adela and Mrs. Moore the opportunity to meet socially some of the upper-
class Indians.
At Mrs. Moore's cottage that night Ronny and his mother discuss her encounter with Aziz at the
mosque. Ronny shows his unmistakable prejudice and Mrs. Moore is appalled at his inhumane
attitude. On her way to bed, she exhibits a sympathetic response to a wasp, one of the least of
India's creatures.
On the outskirts of the town, Mr. Sorley, the younger and more liberal of the two English
missionaries, while willing to accept that there may well be a heaven for mammals, cannot bring
himself to admit the lowly wasp.
The garden party given by the Turtons only serves to show more clearly the division of peoples,
as each group keeps to itself. Cyril Fielding, who mingles freely with the Indians, is impressed
by the friendliness of Mrs. Moore and Adela and invites them to tea at his home. They are also
invited for a Thursday morning visit — which never materializes — to the home of the
Bhattacharya's, a Hindu couple.
That evening, in a discussion with Ronny, Mrs. Moore is again appalled by her son, and quotes
to him from the Bible, reminding him that God is love and expects man to love his neighbor
(though she herself has found Him less satisfying in India than ever before). Ronny humors her,
reminding himself that she is old.
At tea at Fielding's house, Mrs. Moore and Adela visit pleasantly with Aziz and Professor
Godbole, enigmatic Hindu associate of Mr. Fielding. The kindness of Mrs. Moore and Adela
Quested prompts Aziz to invite them on an outing to the Marabar Caves, which they accept.
Ronny Heaslop arrives at Fielding's cottage to take his mother and Adela to a game of polo; his
discourtesy to Aziz and his arrogant demeanor toward all Indians causes Adela and Ronny to
quarrel, and Adela tells Ronny she cannot marry him.
Later the young people go for a ride with Nawab Bahadur, and when the automobile is involved
in an accident with an unidentified animal on a back road, they are drawn together once more
and announce their engagement. Mrs. Moore accepts the news calmly, but when told of the
accident she murmurs, "A ghost!"
Aziz, pleased with the friendship shown him by Cyril Fielding, shows the English professor a
picture of his dead wife, a courtesy equal to inviting Fielding behind the purdah, the highest
honor an Indian can give.

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The next section, "Caves," begins with a detailed description of the Marabar Caves, the peculiar
hollow caverns within the equally curious Marabar Hills that rise from an otherwise flat area
outside the city of Chandrapore.
It is to these caves that Aziz has planned an elaborate trip for Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested. He
has also included Fielding and Godbole in the invitation. Unfortunately, Fielding and Godbole
miss the train and Aziz is left in full charge of the expedition, which begins with a train ride and
ends with an elephant ride to the immediate vicinity of the caves. In the first cave Mrs. Moore is
terrified by an echo and the press of the crowd and declines to go farther.
Aziz, a guide, and Adela go on alone. Adela, pondering her engagement to Ronny, unwisely asks
Aziz if he has more than one wife. The excitable little Indian, upset by her queries, dashes into a
cave to recover his composure. Adela wanders aimlessly into another cave and is supposedly
assaulted by someone there. She rushes down the side of the hill, where she meets Nancy Derek,
an English companion to a maharani, who has brought Fielding to the caves. Nancy returns the
overwrought Adela to Chandrapore.
In the meantime Aziz, knowing nothing of what has happened to Adela, entertains his other
friends and returns with them by train. At the station he is met by Mr. Haq, the police inspector,
who arrests him for assaulting Miss Quested.
Fielding alienates himself from the English by siding with Aziz. The English rally around Adela
and press for a quick conviction. Mrs. Moore, now sunk into a state of apathy, refuses to admit
that Aziz may be guilty but also refuses to testify in his behalf in court; Ronny arranges passage
for her to England. On the way she dies; her name, however, becomes for a time a legend to the
natives of Chandrapore.
At the trial, Adela Quested, who has been in a state of shock since the incident at the caves,
suddenly finds her mind clear again and exonerates Aziz. Her withdrawal of the charge against
Aziz causes her to be ostracized by the English. Fielding reluctantly offers her the use of his
cottage while he is absent on official business, and Ronny eventually breaks their engagement.
Disillusioned by her experience in India, Adela returns to England; and Fielding persuades Aziz
to drop a damage suit against her.
Two years later the setting of the novel shifts to the Hindu state of Mau in a third section entitled
"Temple." Following the trial, Fielding had returned to England, married, and was then sent on
a tour of central India to inspect government schools. Godbole has become the Minister of
Education at Mau, and through his influence, Aziz has become personal physician to the Rajah
of Mau.
The opening chapter of this section describes a Hindu ceremony honoring the birth of the god
Krishna. Professor Godbole directs the temple choir and, in an ecstasy of religious fervor, dances
his joy. While in this almost trancelike state he remembers Mrs. Moore and a wasp, associating
them as he contemplates the love of God. The biblical statement "God is Love," with which Mrs.
Moore had exhorted her son, is repeated in the Hindu ceremony, although through an error in its
printing it becomes "God si Love."

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Aziz is annoyed when he discovers that Fielding is visiting Mau in line with his official duties.
He has become thoroughly disillusioned with the British and even with Fielding; when he
learned that Fielding had married in England, he concluded that the wife was Adela Quested and
henceforth refused to read any of Fielding's letters. Aziz has married again and has his children
with him. Although he does not embrace Hinduism, he is tolerant of their festivals and is finding
peace and contentment away from British domination. He has, however, let his practice of
medicine degenerate until he is little more than a glorified medicine man.
When Aziz meets Fielding again, he learns that Stella Moore, not Adela Quested, is Fielding's
wife. Stella and her brother Ralph have accompanied Fielding to India. Aziz forms a special
attachment for Ralph, whose bee stings he treats, because Ralph shows many of the traits of his
mother, Mrs. Moore.
The Hindu festival continues after the celebration of the birth of the god. Fielding and Stella go
out in a boat to better observe the ceremony, as do Aziz and Ralph in another boat. In the storm
the boats collide with each other and capsize. In the general confusion that follows, the ceremony
comes to an end and the English return to the guest house. Aziz has confided to Ralph that the
rajah has died, but the announcement of his death is suspended until after the festival.
Hinduism affects both Stella and Ralph, but Fielding cannot understand the effect it has on them,
though he is intrigued by it. Aziz believes that Ralph, at least, has an Oriental mind, as Mrs.
Moore had.
Although Fielding finds that the school that Professor Godbole was to superintend has been
neglected and the building turned into a granary, he does nothing to rectify the situation. The
floods, which have kept Fielding in Mau, abate, and he and his party make plans to leave. Before
they go, Fielding and Aziz take a final horseback ride together. Good-naturedly, they argue about
the Anglo-Indian problem. Aziz excitedly declares that India must be united and the English
driven out. Sensing that this is the end of their association, Aziz and Fielding attempt to pledge
eternal friendship in spite of their differences, but the path narrows and their horses are forced
apart, signifying that such a friendship is not yet possible.
Characters:-
Adela Quested A young woman newly arrived from England, expecting to be the fiancee of
Ronny Heaslop.
Mrs. Moore Adela's chaperone and Ronny Heaslop's mother, by her first marriage.
Ronny Heaslop The City Magistrate of Chandrapore.
Doctor Aziz The Moslem doctor at the Government Hospital.
Major and Mrs. Callendar A Civil Surgeon and Aziz's superior; and his wife.
Cyril Fielding The English Principal at the Government College.

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Professor Godbole The Hindu colleague of Fielding's.
Hamidullah Aziz's uncle and eminent Moslem barrister.
Mahmoud Ali Pleader (attorney) in the court, and friend of Aziz.
Ram Chand, Syed Mohammed, and Mr. Haq Friends of Aziz.
Mr. Das Ronny's assistant and the Hindu judge at the trial.
Nawab Bahadur The wealthy, influential friend of Aziz.
Mr. and Mrs. McBryde The District Superintendent of Police and his wife.
Nancy Derek A guest of the McBryde's and the companion of a maharani in a native state.
Mr. and Mrs. Turton Collector, head of British officialdom and social leader of Chandrapore;
and his wife.
Mr. Armitrao The lawyer from Calcutta who takes Aziz's case.
Nureddin Grandson of Nawab Bahadur.
Ralph Moore Mrs. Moore's son by her second marriage.
Stella Moore Mrs. Moore's daughter, who becomes the wife of Cyril Fielding.
Mr. and Mrs. Lesley A British official and his wife.
Karin, Ahmed, Jamila Children of Aziz.
Doctor Panna Lal Hindu colleague of Aziz.
Mohammed Latif Poor relative who lives in the house of Hamidullah.
Mr. Graysford and Mr. Sorley Missionaries who live on the outskirts of Chandrapore.
Lord and Lady Mellanby The Lieutenant Governor and his wife.
Mrs. Bhattacharya The Indian woman who invites Adela and Mrs. Moore to her house and then
neglects to send a carriage for them.
E. M. Forster Biography
Edward Morgan Forster was born in London in 1879, the son of an architect. He attended
Tonbridge School, which he hated; he caricatured what he termed "public school behavior" in

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several of his novels. A different atmosphere awaited him at King's College, Cambridge, which
he enjoyed thoroughly.
After graduation, he began to write short stories. He lived for a time in Italy, the scene of two of
his early novels: Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), and A Room with a View (1908).
Cambridge is the setting for The Longest Journey (1907). It was in this year that he returned to
England and delivered a series of lectures at Working Men's College. His most mature work to
date was to appear in 1910 with the publication of Howards End.
Forster then turned to literary journalism and wrote a play which was never staged. In 1911 he
went to India with G. Lowes Dickinson, his mentor at King's College. During World War 1,
Forster was engaged in civilian war work in Alexandria. He returned to London after the war as a
journalist.
In 1921 he again went to India, to work as secretary to the Maharajah of Dewas State Senior. He
had begun work on A Passage to India before this time, but on reading his notes in India, he was
discouraged and put them aside. The book was published in 1924, having been written upon his
return to England. This was his last novel. It is considered to be his magnum opus, and it won for
the author the Femina Vie Heureuse and the James Tait Black Memorial prizes in 1925.
In 1927 Forster delivered the William George Clark lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Titled Aspects of the Novel, the lectures were published in book form the same year. Also in
1927 he became a Fellow of Cambridge.
Forster's writing after that time has been varied. A collection of short stories (The Eternal
Moment) was published in 1928. Abinger Harvest (1936) is a collection of reprints of reviews
and articles. During World War II he broadcast many essays over the BBC. He has written a
pageant play (England's Pleasant Land), a film (Diary For Timothy), two biographies
(Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson in 1934 and Marianne Thornton in 1956), a libretto for Benjamin
Britten's opera, Billy Budd (with Eric Crozier), and numerous essays. In 1953 he published The
Hill of Devi, an uneven collection of letters and reminiscences of his experiences in India.
In 1960 A Passage to India was adapted for the stage by Santha Rama Rau. After playing in
London for a year, the play opened on Broadway on January 31, 1962, and ran for 110
performances. Although Forster was "delighted" with the adaptation, most of the American
critics felt the play did not measure up to the novel.
In 1946, Forster moved to King's College in Cambridge to live there as an honorary fellow. Mr.
Forster's numerous awards included membership in the Order of Companions of Honour, a
recognition bestowed in 1953 by Queen Elizabeth II.
Forster died on June 7, 1970.
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Q. Sketch the Character of Dr. Aziz. OR
Any question on Aziz.
a) Introduction :-

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b) As a Protagonist :- it is without doubt, Aziz is the protagonist of the novel A Passage to
India. He fulfills all the necessary qualifications of a hero. Firstly, he is the central character.
Secondly, he is present from the beginning to the end of the novel. Thirdly, all the events and
incidents are directly and indirectly related to Aziz. Fourthly, if we delete the character of Aziz,
the story of the novel would be paralyzed, incomplete. Finally, Aziz is the backbone of the story.
He is the endless force for the plot and story of the novel.
c) Aziz as a Doctor :- Aziz is a skilled surgeon and a well-educated, intelligent doctor. But the
science of medicine is not a matter of interest to him. He is interested to write his poetry
describing the past glories of Islam religion. He also writes about the freedom of women. His
poetry exemplifies his quandary. He is more interested in the study of Islam. He tries to
introduce the principles of Islam with the past glory to each and everyone.
d) Two Sides of Thinking :- Aziz is confused between the two attitudes of his mind – first is
primitive (traditional) and second is progressive (modern). He is a man at the crossroads. One
way leads to Western civilization. He thinks that if we accept the western thinking, there would
be no purdah system for women and establish sanitary practices. The other way would retain
Eastern old customs, traditions, and the primitive practices. Aziz has two faces; one faces back
toward the India of the past, the other turns toward the West, the civilizing force of which can
help conditions in India. He again and again changes his attitude and thinking regarding the
Western (British) and the Eastern (Indian). Whoever deals with Aziz can never be sure which
face he is presenting. Aziz is partly influenced against Western thought by the high-handed ways
of the English, who do not make the Western way of life attractive.
e) Friendship with Cyril Fielding:- Though Aziz hates the British, it does not mean he dislikes
all the British. On the other hand, his best friend is a British – Cyril Fielding. With him, Aziz
forgets all his hatred for the British. They share a good relationship and understanding in the
beginning of the novel. He is impressed with Fielding’s open mindedness and respectful nature.
When there is a planning of a tea party, Aziz participates with full enthusiasm with the British
characters including Fielding. He invites Fielding to his small untidy home with love. He also
shows his dead wife’s photograph to Fielding and shares his feelings. Aziz who has suffered
many humiliations from the British, feels that Fielding is a true friend of Indians. Aziz says, “No
Englishman understands us except Mr.Fielding.” During the trial, Fielding supports Aziz against
the wish of his British community. Later on, there is a misunderstanding between them on the
issue of Adela when the trial is over. Aziz expects that Fielding should ignore Adela as she
almost tried to ruin his life with fake charge of sexual attack. Aziz gets angry and breaks his
friendship with Fielding. But at the end their misunderstanding is cleared.
f) Hatred for the British :- Aziz has a very clear view that the British should not be allowed to
rule India. He has a strong dislike for the British people. He works in a hospital as a doctor under
a British senior Doctor. The senior doctor humiliates Aziz and treats Aziz like a servant. Aziz is
angry of such inferior treatment and calls the British people as rude and cruel. When he meets
Mrs. Moore for the first time in the mosque, he behaves negatively. But when he finds Mrs.
Moore different from other British people, he lovingly behaves with her. They become good
friends. When he learns that Mrs. Moore and Adela want to explore India, he voluntarily guides
them. He arranges a trip to the Malabar Caves, actively participate in the Bridge Party. At the
end of the novel, Aziz strongly opposes the British. He behaves formally with his old best friend

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Fielding. He declares that there can not be a friendship between the British and the Indians. He
feels that for better relationship between the British and the Indians is more kindness from the
British. The British should handle the Indians with respect and justice.
g) His Trial :- Aziz arranges a trip to Malabar Caves with Mrs.Moore and Adela. Due to the
echo, Mrs. Moore ends her journey. Aziz continues to show the caves to Adela. There is a
misunderstanding between the two and Adela wrongly accuses Aziz of sexual attack. She runs
away from the caves. Aziz is arrested and put into the jail. But she is not confirm of the crime.
Finally, she withdraws the charge and innocent Aziz is released. During the trial, Mrs. Moore,
Fielding and the Indian group supported him a lot. On the other hand, the whole British group
was ready to punish him. The whole city is divided into two groups – the Anglo-Indians (British)
and the Indians. Both the groups quarrel but this is not for justice for Adela or Aziz, but to take a
revenge on each other. After this bitter experience, Aziz started hating the British with full force.
In short, the character of Aziz is a round character full of spirit and attitude. After reading
of the novel, the character of Aziz lingers in our mind for a long time. It is said that the novelist
shows his soft attitude towards Indians through the character of Aziz.
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Cyril Fielding
Of all the characters in the novel, Fielding is clearly the most associated with the novelist
E.M. Forster himself. Among the Englishmen in Chandrapore, Fielding is far and away most the
successful at developing and sustaining relationships with native Indians. Though he is an
educator, he is less comfortable in teacher-student interaction than he is in one-on-one
conversation with another individual. This latter style serves as Forster’s model of liberal
humanism—Forster and Fielding treat the world as a group of individuals who can connect
through mutual respect, courtesy, and intelligence.
Fielding, in these viewpoints, presents the main threat to the mentality of the English in
India. He educates Indians as individuals, engendering a movement of free thought that has the
potential to destabilize English colonial power. Furthermore, Fielding has little patience for the
racial categorization that is so central to the English grip on India. He honors his friendship with
Aziz over any alliance with members of his own race—a reshuffling of allegiances that threatens
the solidarity of the English. Fielding does not believe in marriage, but favors friendship instead.
Fielding is a man of firmness. He knows that Aziz is innocent, so he supports him with Mrs.
Moore even though his British group is against them. He rejects the pressure of the British Club.
Fielding’s character changes in the aftermath of Aziz’s trial. He becomes jaded about the Indians
as well as the English. His English sensibilities, such as his need for proportion and reason,
become more prominent and begin to grate against Aziz’s Indian sensibilities. When Adela is
along after the Aziz’s trial, Fielding supports her in the name of humanity. He risks his
friendship with Aziz to help her.
Cyril Fielding is a man of the world. He has not only associated with many people, but he has
learned to judge them on the basis of merit alone. He is intellectual, kind, and committed to helping
anyone in need. The injustice manifested toward Aziz in this novel has nothing to do with color or creed

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as far as Fielding is concerned; it is rather a matter of the violation of a man's rights. Fielding does not
defend Aziz because he is an Indian; he defends him because he is innocent. Fielding is Forster's "top
man" to demonstrate the kind of understanding that the world needs. He is dwarfed, as Forster puts it,
only because he is committed to earthbound affairs.At the end of the story he is shown aligning himself
with the English by marrying an English girl. This separates him from Aziz, but at the same time he
establishes a direct relationship with Mrs. Moore by marrying her daughter. Although Stella is a shadowy
figure, Hinduism impresses her, and this awakens an interest in Fielding. He feels that contact with
Hinduism has somehow improved his marriage.
Forster leaves the reader to speculate about what might happen if Fielding should become
interested in the spiritual side of life. Adela is said to get the worst of both worlds; Fielding, endowed as
he is with natural graces, could very well find the best of both worlds. With a combination of human and
spiritual understanding, Fielding would certainly be the man "most likely to succeed" in promoting world
understanding. He has a great faith in the value of personal relationships. He feels that for a good
relationship we need tolerance, good temper and sympathy. Aziz who has suffered many humiliations
from the British, feels that Fielding is a true friend of Indians. Aziz says, “No Englishman understands us
except Mr. Fielding.”
Adela Quested
Adela arrives in India with Mrs. Moore, and, fittingly, her character develops in parallel
to Mrs. Moore’s. Adela, like the elder Englishwoman, is an individualist and an educated free
thinker. These tendencies lead her, just as they lead Mrs. Moore, to question the standard
behaviors of the English toward the Indians. She visits India with Mrs. Moore to see the real
India and to understand the Indian culture. Adela’s tendency to question standard practices with
frankness makes her resistant to being labeled—and therefore resistant to marrying Ronny and
being labeled a typical colonial English wife. Both Mrs. Moore and Adela hope to see the “real
India” rather than an arranged tourist version. However, whereas Mrs. Moore’s desire is
bolstered by a genuine interest in and affection for Indians, Adela appears to want to see the “real
India” simply on intellectual grounds. She puts her mind to the task, but not her heart—and
therefore never connects with Indians.
Right from the start, she is intelligent, eager to understand new things and experiences.
She never adopts the borrowed the opinions of other Englishmen about Indians. She is never
rude and callous towards Indians. She is fair minded. She feels that Ronny has no sense how to
behave with the Indians. When Ronny tries to impose his opinions on her, Adela rejects it as she
is an independent and open minded woman. She easily develops a friendship with Aziz, Fielding,
Godbole and others in a short time. She is excited to visit the Marabar Caves. In the caves, she is
very friendly with Aziz like a child. At that moment she thinks whether to marry Ronny or not
and finally decides to break her engagement. Like a child she asks a question to Aziz about the
number of wives he has. She has no idea that such question can disturb him. Suddenly, she hears
an echo and runs from the caves. She feels that Aziz has tried to rape her. She puts him in jail
and there is a trial. After some days, she feels that Aziz is innocent. She withdraws the charge
even though there is a great pressure from Ronny and the English Club. She admits her guilt.
After the trial the English Club is against her. Ronny breaks the engagement, Mrs. Moore
is dead. She finds support from Fielding and decides to end her exploration of India. She goes
back to England never to return.

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Adela’s experience at the Marabar Caves causes her to undergo a crisis of rationalism
against spiritualism. While Adela’s character changes greatly in the several days after her alleged
assault, her testimony at the trial represents a return of the old Adela, with the sole difference
that she is plagued by doubt in a way she was not originally. Adela begins to sense that her
assault, and the echo that haunts her afterward, are representative of something outside the scope
of her normal rational comprehension. She is pained by her inability to articulate her experience.
She finds she has no purpose in—nor love for—India, and suddenly fears that she is unable to
love anyone. Adela is filled with the realization of the damage she has done to Aziz and others,
yet she feels paralyzed, unable to remedy the wrongs she has done. Nonetheless, Adela selflessly
endures her difficult fate after the trial—a course of action that wins her a friend in Fielding, who
sees her as a brave woman rather than a traitor to her race.
She is presented as a plain young woman whose best qualities are her innate honesty and a kind of
courageous decency. Her approach to life is completely intellectual. She is sensible, but not sensitive. She
serves as an antithesis to Mrs. Moore, who is ruled by emotional intuition. This difference in personality
affects their understanding of each other, and of others.
Her lack of sensitivity is pointed up when Fielding has to suggest that perhaps she should
apologize to Aziz. She is willing to make amends, but she does not have the compassion to do it
without being told. Her remorse is of the head, not the heart; her primary feeling is one of guilt
for having been the cause of so much trouble to everyone.
Mrs. Moore
As a character, Mrs. Moore serves a double function in A Passage to India, operating
on two different planes. She is initially a literal character, but as the novel progresses she
becomes more a symbolic presence. On the literal level, Mrs. Moore is a good-hearted,
religious, elderly woman with mystical leanings. The initial days of her visit to India are
successful, as she connects with India and Indians on an intuitive level. Whereas Adela is
overly cerebral, Mrs. Moore relies successfully on her heart to make connections during her
visit. She comes to India to explore it and want to understand the Indian culture. She also
wants to meet her son Ronny who serves in India.
Furthermore, on the literal level, Mrs. Moore’s character has human limitations: her
experience at Marabar renders her apathetic and even somewhat mean, to the degree that she
simply leaves India without bothering to testify to Aziz’s innocence or to oversee Ronny and
Adela’s wedding.
Mrs. Moore is full of humanism, friendship and respect for each and everyone. She is
smart to know that she can mix with the Indians easily in a place like mosque. So she visits a
mosque with positiveness. She never feels unsecured in the company of the Indians. When she
meets Aziz, she changes his anti-British attitude with her kindness. She becomes a good friend
of not only Aziz but of Fielding, Godbole and many others. She actively arranges a tea party
and the Bridge Party. She positively encourages the Indians to talk. When Aziz arranges a trip
to the Marabar Caves, she is exited. She wanted to have more and more exposure in India.
When she listens an echo in the caves, she is disturbed and stops her journey.

12
She is surprised when Adela accuses Aziz of sexual attack in the caves. She asks Adela
the truth of the caves. She is not ready to believe that Aziz can do such wrong thing to Adela.
She confidently supports Aziz and actively motivates him. She ignores the objection of her
own son Ronny. Angry Ronny forcefully send her back to England. The poor lady has no
option but to go to England unwillingly. She wanted to give her statement in the court in the
side of Aziz. Mrs. Moore dies on a ship.
Ronny Heaslop
One can call Ronny as an antagonist in the present novel. He is young, energetic and passionate
guy who is full of racist superiority complex. Ronny’s character does not change much over the
course of the novel; instead, Forster’s emphasis is on the change that happened before the novel
begins, when Ronny first arrived in India. Both Mrs. Moore and Adela note the difference
between the Ronny they knew in England and the Ronny of British India. Ronny is completely
changed when he joins his job in India. He adopts the attitude of his seniors to humiliate the
Indians and blindly follows their English Club customs. Forster uses Ronny’s character and the
changes he has undergone as a sort of case study, an exploration of the restrictions that the
English colonials’ herd mentality imposes on individual personalities.
He devalues his intelligence and learning from England in favor of the “wisdom” gained
by years of experience in India. The open-minded attitude with which he has been brought up
has been replaced by a suspicion of Indians. In short, Ronny’s tastes, opinions, and even his
manner of speaking are no longer his own, but those of older, ostensibly wiser British Indian
officials. This kind of group thinking is what ultimately causes Ronny to clash with both Adela
and his mother, Mrs. Moore.
Ronny cares about his job and the Indians with whom he works, if only to the extent that
they, in turn, reflect upon him. Forster presents Ronny’s failing as the fault of the colonial
system, not his own. Ronny Heaslop is pictured as the "rubber-stamp" product of the Public School
crowd from England for whom Forster had so much contempt. He is the typical follower, influenced by
power, prestige, and a set pattern of behavior. These traits make it easy for him to be led into the Turton-
Callendar-McBryde camp, for they represent to Ronny the peak of social and political prestige. As a
disciple of the Public School tradition, Ronny is the symbol of the class-conscious Englishman. He does
not judge on the basis of merit, but rather by position on the social ladder. As a result of his training, he
cannot countenance, or understand, anyone who questions these standards. This is why Adela is
unsuitable for him and why he cannot be reached by his mother's arguments. Ronny is the issue of Mrs.
Moore's first marriage. It is possible that, when he was young, she had not reached the level of maturity
and perception that would have influenced his life as it seems to have affected the lives of her younger
children.
Ronny becomes callous, arrogant and insensitive. He does not like that his mother Mrs.Moore
and Adela to mix up with the Indians. He warns them to be away from the Indians. He feels that only
British can civilize the natives and rule them for the benefit of India. He never treats Indians like humans
but with arrogance. He repeats some words like “the weather’s everything in India”, “he’s one of us”,
“every fellow has to work out his own religion”, etc. For Adela, he has no strong feelings of love and
attachment. For him, marriage is just like a social institution.
During the trial of Aziz, Ronny actively opposes Aziz. He asks his Britishmen to stand against
Aziz without understanding the real situation. When his own mother Mrs. Moore takes the side of Aziz,

13
he becomes angry. When he feels that the statement of Mrs. Moore in the court would have a positive
effect, he forcefully sends back her to England. She dies on the ship and her death is under suspicion.
Ronny feels no sorry on the death of his own mother as he is blinded by anti-Indian feeling. When Adela
withdraws her charges on Aziz, Ronny becomes angry and breaks the engagement. He ruins the tea party
of Fielding and the Bridge Party also. Ronny represents the mentality of the British officers towards
Indians.
Professor Godbole
Professor Godbole, "Ancient Night," represents Hinduism in the novel. Although Hinduism does
not appear to dominate the book until the final section, a backward look will show the effect of it
in the other two sections. It is the professor's haunting song that affects both Adela and Mrs.
Moore; in a sense it haunts them as Hinduism haunts every part of the book.
Forster records, "Ever since Professor Godbole had sung his queer little song, they [Mrs. Moore
and Adele had lived more or less inside cocoons." The idea expressed by the cocoon is that of a
dormant life soon to be awakened to full beauty. Ironically, however, they both awaken to
experiences that are far from beautiful — Mrs. Moore to terror that leads to total apathy, and
Adele to the horror of her experience in the cave, and the trial.
Although Forster seems to hold Godbole, and Hinduism, in esteem, it should be realized that he
is not advocating Hinduism as a panacea for all evils, even though he admires some of its tenets
and practices; Forster is not a "preacher." The thinking reader will realize that Hinduism, too, has
its less appealing aspects — at least to the Western mind, with its respect for the value of the
individual — such as the caste system (outlawed in 1950). He will also realize that Godbole
cannot be effective in promoting universal understanding so long as he holds himself aloof from
the mainstream of life; it will be people like Fielding who will do more to break down racial
prejudice and national barriers. Yet a world composed only of Fieldings would be an unbalanced
one; Forster undoubtedly respects various human qualities on various levels. He is too complex a
writer to suggest one simple answer for the world's ills.
Names seem to have significance in this book. The name Godbole may symbolize something
because it contains the word "God," as the man seems to contain God. At least he is God-
conscious.
The Turtons
Mr. Turton is the government and social leader of the English sector of Chandrapore. Under a
pretext of good fellowship, he brings the newcomers into contact with the Indians. His high-
handed and jocular manner puts the Indian where Mr. Turton wants him — in a class below the
English. His is the lead that Ronny Heaslop imitates, Fielding refuses to tolerate, and Adela
Quested cannot understand.
Mrs. Turton is even haughtier than her husband. She relegates all Indians to the servant class.
She intends to preserve as much of England in Chandrapore as possible and to allow as little
encroachment of India into her society as she can. She is bitterly hostile to Adela after the

14
exoneration of Aziz, not because she necessarily believes him guilty, or really cares what
becomes of Adela, but simply because she thinks the English have been betrayed.
The other English officials fairly well follow the pattern set by the Turtons. McBryde is
somewhat more broad-minded and less conventional than the others, but in the final analysis his
attitude is the same as theirs: the Indians are inferior.
Hamidullah
Hamidullah is a Cambridge-educated Indian whose experience with the English includes the
kindly friends in whose home he stayed when a student in England twenty year's previous to the
time of the story. He tries to reconcile his Indian friends to a more charitable attitude toward the
English officials in Chandrapore. He is fair-minded and willing to work for amiable relations
between nationalities until his nephew Aziz is falsely accused and unfairly treated by the
English.
A closer look at the efforts of Hamidullah shows the student how the English muff a chance to
use this good, clear-thinking, intelligent man to improve the situation in Chandrapore.
Hamidullah's disillusionment is evident when his usual affability turns to bitterness after Aziz's
trial.
_____________________________xxx__________________________________________
Themes in A Passage to India
1) The Difficulty of English-Indian Friendship-
A Passage to India begins and ends by posing the question of whether it is possible for an
Englishman and an Indian to ever be friends, at least within the context of British colonialism.
Forster uses this question as a framework to explore the general issue of Britain’s political
control of India on a more personal level, through the friendship between Aziz and Fielding. At
the beginning of the novel, Aziz is scornful of the English, wishing only to consider them
comically or ignore them completely. Yet the intuitive connection Aziz feels with Mrs. Moore in
the mosque opens him to the possibility of friendship with Fielding. Through the first half of the
novel, Fielding and Aziz represent a positive model of liberal humanism: Forster suggests that
British rule in India could be successful and respectful if only English and Indians treated each
other as Fielding and Aziz treat each other—as worthy individuals who connect through
frankness, intelligence, and good will.
Yet in the aftermath of the novel’s climax—Adela’s accusation that Aziz attempted to
assault her and her subsequent disavowal of this accusation at the trial—Aziz and Fielding’s
friendship falls apart. The strains on their relationship are external in nature, as Aziz and Fielding
both suffer from the tendencies of their cultures. Aziz tends to let his imagination run away with
him and to let suspicion harden into a grudge. Fielding suffers from an English literalism and
rationalism that blind him to Aziz’s true feelings and make Fielding too stilted to reach out to
Aziz through conversations or letters. Furthermore, their respective Indian and English
communities pull them apart through their mutual stereotyping. As we see at the end of the

15
novel, even the landscape of India seems to oppress their friendship. Forster’s final vision of the
possibility of English-Indian friendship is a pessimistic one, yet it is qualified by the possibility
of friendship on English soil, or after the liberation of India. As the landscape itself seems to
imply at the end of the novel, such a friendship may be possible eventually, but “not yet.”
2) The Unity of All Living Things-
Though the main characters of A Passage to India are generally Christian or Muslim,
Hinduism also plays a large thematic role in the novel. The aspect of Hinduism with which
Forster is particularly concerned is the religion’s ideal of all living things, from the lowliest to
the highest, united in love as one. This vision of the universe appears to offer redemption to India
through mysticism, as individual differences disappear into a peaceful collectivity that does not
recognize hierarchies. Individual blame and intrigue is forgone in favor of attention to higher,
spiritual matters. Professor Godbole, the most visible Hindu in the novel, is Forster’s mouthpiece
for this idea of the unity of all living things. Godbole alone remains aloof from the drama of the
plot, refraining from taking sides by recognizing that all are implicated in the evil of Marabar.
Mrs. Moore, also, shows openness to this aspect of Hinduism. Though she is a Christian, her
experience of India has made her dissatisfied with what she perceives as the smallness of
Christianity. Mrs. Moore appears to feel a great sense of connection with all living creatures, as
evidenced by her respect for the wasp in her bedroom.
Yet, through Mrs. Moore, Forster also shows that the vision of the oneness of all living
things can be terrifying. As we see in Mrs. Moore’s experience with the echo that negates
everything into “boum” in Marabar, such oneness provides unity but also makes all elements of
the universe one and the same—a realization that, it is implied, ultimately kills Mrs. Moore.
Godbole is not troubled by the idea that negation is an inevitable result when all things come
together as one. Mrs. Moore, however, loses interest in the world of relationships after
envisioning this lack of distinctions as a horror. Moreover, though Forster generally endorses the
Hindu idea of the oneness of all living things, he also suggests that there may be inherent
problems with it. Even Godbole, for example, seems to recognize that something—if only a
stone—must be left out of the vision of oneness if the vision is to cohere. This problem of
exclusion is, in a sense, merely another manifestation of the individual difference and hierarchy
that Hinduism promises to overcome.
3) The “Muddle” of India-
Forster takes great care to strike a distinction between the ideas of “muddle” and
“mystery” in A Passage to India. “Muddle” has connotations of dangerous and disorienting
disorder, whereas “mystery” suggests a mystical, orderly plan by a spiritual force that is greater
than man. Fielding, who acts as Forster’s primary mouthpiece in the novel, admits that India is a
“muddle,” while figures such as Mrs. Moore and Godbole view India as a mystery. The muddle
that is India in the novel appears to work from the ground up: the very landscape and architecture
of the countryside is formless, and the natural life of plants and animals defies identification.
This muddled quality to the environment is mirrored in the makeup of India’s native population,
which is mixed into a muddle of different religious, ethnic, linguistic, and regional groups.
The muddle of India disorients Adela the most; indeed, the events at the Marabar Caves that
trouble her so much can be seen as a manifestation of this muddle. By the end of the novel, we

16
are still not sure what actually has happened in the caves. Forster suggests that Adela’s feelings
about Ronny become externalized and muddled in the caves, and that she suddenly experiences
these feelings as something outside of her. The muddle of India also affects Aziz and Fielding’s
friendship, as their good intentions are derailed by the chaos of cross-cultural signals.
Though Forster is sympathetic to India and Indians in the novel, his overwhelming
depiction of India as a muddle matches the manner in which many Western writers of his day
treated the East in their works. As the noted critic Edward Said has pointed out, these authors’
“orientalizing” of the East made Western logic and capability appear self-evident, and, by
extension, portrayed the West’s domination of the East as reasonable or even necessary.
4) The Negligence of British Colonial Government-
Though A Passage to India is in many ways a highly symbolic, or even mystical, text, it
also aims to be a realistic documentation of the attitudes of British colonial officials in India.
Forster spends large sections of the novel characterizing different typical attitudes the English
hold toward the Indians whom they control. Forster’s satire is most harsh toward Englishwomen,
whom the author depicts as overwhelmingly racist, self-righteous, and viciously condescending
to the native population. Some of the Englishmen in the novel are as nasty as the women, but
Forster more often identifies Englishmen as men who, though condescending and unable to
relate to Indians on an individual level, are largely well-meaning and invested in their jobs. For
all Forster’s criticism of the British manner of governing India, however, he does not appear to
question the right of the British Empire to rule India. He suggests that the British would be well
served by becoming kinder and more sympathetic to the Indians with whom they live, but he
does not suggest that the British should abandon India outright. Even this lesser critique is never
overtly stated in the novel, but implied through biting satire.
Q. Write a short note on the Symbols in A Passage to India novel.
Ans.
What is a Symbol:- a writer uses different types of tools and devices to beautify his
writing. He uses figures of speech and symbols to attract the attention of the readers.
Symbolism is one of the famous literary tools used by writers. Symbols are objects, characters,
figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Symbols are used to add extra
meaning. It stands for (shows) something else. A symbol may be a person, an animal, an
object, a color or what not. The writers expresses maximum meaning in minimum words with
the help of the symbols. Forster uses ample symbols in the present novel as follows –
1) The Marabar Caves-
The second part of the present novel is “Caves”. The Marabar Caves are older than
anything on this earth. They are full of mysteries. The caves symbolizes something deeper and
more mysterious. They are extraordinary and unexplained. The caves are pre-historic. They have
been existed before the Islam, Christianity and Hinduism. The caves are the voice of the oldest
universe. Caves are the symbol of hot weather and the man’s attempt to be united with the earth.

17
The Marabar Caves represent all that is alien (unknown) about nature. The caves are older than
anything else on the earth and embody nothingness and emptiness—a literal void in the earth.
The caves are the symbol of reality and truth. It gives a turning point to the story. The
Englishwomen Mrs. Moore and Adela have a realization of truth in the caves. The all-reducing
echo of the caves causes Mrs. Moore to see the darker side of her spirituality—a waning
commitment to the world of relationships and a growing ambivalence about God. Adela faces the
shame and embarrassment of her realization that she and Ronny are not actually attracted to each
other, and that she might be attracted to no one. She should not marry Ronny. In this sense, the
caves both destroy meaning, in reducing all utterances to the same sound, and expose or narrate
the unspeakable, the aspects of the universe that the caves’ visitors have not yet considered.
2) The Green Bird-
Just after Adela and Ronny agree for the first time, in Chapter VII, to break off their
engagement, they notice a green bird sitting in the tree above them. Neither of them can
positively identify the bird. For Adela, the bird symbolizes the unidentifiable quality of all of
India: just when she thinks she can understand any aspect of India, that aspect changes or
disappears. In this sense, the green bird symbolizes the muddle of India. In another capacity, the
bird points to a different tension between the English and Indians. The English are obsessed with
knowledge, literalness, and naming, and they use these tools as a means of gaining and
maintaining power. The Indians, in contrast, are more attentive to nuance, undertone, and the
emotions behind words. While the English insist on labeling things, the Indians recognize that
labels can blind one to important details and differences. The unidentifiable green bird suggests
the incompatibility of the English obsession with classification and order with the shifting
quality of India itself—the land is, in fact, a “hundred Indians” that defy labeling and
understanding.
3) The Wasp-
The wasp appears several times in A Passage to India, usually in conjunction with the
Hindu vision of the oneness of all living things. The wasp is usually depicted as the lowest
creature the Hindus incorporate into their vision of universal unity. Mrs. Moore is closely
associated with the wasp, as she finds one in her room and is gently appreciative of it. Her
peaceful regard for the wasp signifies her own openness to the Hindu idea of collectivity, and to
the mysticism and indefinable quality of India in general. However, as the wasp is the lowest
creature that the Hindus visualize, it also represents the limits of the Hindu vision. The vision is
not a panacea, but merely a possibility for unity and understanding in India.
4) Mosque –
The first part of the novel is “Mosque”. It is highly symbolical. It dominates the next
parts of the novel. In this part, the two English women Mrs.Moore and an Indian enter a mosque.
Mrs. Moore want to meet some new Indian friend. She is full of kindness and respect for the
Indians. She wants to have a secret understanding of the heart. This understanding of the heart
shows the most general meaning of the Mosque symbol of the novel. Mosque is full of beauty,
combination of light and shade, it shows a belief in te oneness of India. It symbolizes a
possibility of understanding between people. The Mosque scene indicates the intimate

18
relationship between an Indian and an Englishwoman. It tries to delete the barriers of prejudices
and misunderstanding between the Indians (Aziz) and the British (Mrs.Moore).
5) Gokulashtami –
The last section of the novel takes place in the town of Mau which is celebrating
Gokulashtami. It a ceremony in which the worshippers, including Godbole, try to share the
feelings of love and better understanding. It is the symbols of celebration of the birth of Lord of
the Universe – Lord Krishna. It is the symbol of perfect harmony and reconciliation (union). It
would destroy the sorrow of Indians as well as foreigners, birds, caves, railways and the stars. It
would change everything in joy, laughter and would kill doubt, misunderstanding, cruelty and
fear.
Broad question
1) The novel “A Passage to India” is about Anglo-Indian Relations. Comment
OR
Is The novel “A Passage to India” a satire on Anglo-Indian life?
OR
The novel “A Passage to India” is about distrust/ separations of relations on race, country and
culture. Comment.
OR
Any broad question on this novel.
Ans.
A) Introduction:- The novel “A Passage to India” is written by E.M. Forster in 1924. He was
born in 1879. He visited India in 1912 and in 1921. He is famous for “Where Angels Fear to
Tread”, “A Room with a View”, “Howards End” and “The Longest Journey”. His favourite
themes are culture, reality, relationship and society. He is a good plot constructer with a skill of
good characterization. The present novel is marked with a good plot with a clash of cultures as a
theme. The present novel deals with two cultures : Oriental (East) and Western. It is also about
separations of relations regarding Anglo-Indian life.
B) What is an Anglo-Indian:- The term Anglo-Indian can refer to at least two groups of people:
those with mixed Indian and British (specifically English) ancestry and people of British/English
descent born or living in India. The present novel has variety of characters from England and
India. Each character represents two different cultures of East and West. The two different
cultures and background certainly affect the relationships among the characters. The two
different countries, two different languages and two different cultures unite as well as divide the
characters in the story. The background of the story is Anglo-Indian relations.
C) British Rule:-The present story has a background of British Raaj in India. The British Raaj
has a strong impact on the mentality and the behavior of the characters in the story. Each
character from Indian and English background behaves typically in response to the British rule.
The characters like Aziz, Mrs. Moore, Adela, Ronny, Fielding and others do not share a good
and healthy relationship because of the British-India clash background. The Indian characters

19
like Aziz are so irritated by the British raj that they hate the British. The British humiliated the
Indians. They insulted Indians by calling them uncultured and backward. The British used to
consider Indians as slaves and inferior. So, the Indians also had no respect for the British. This is
reflected in the story through the characters.
D) The Bridge Party:- this is the best example of the gap of relationship between the Indians
and the British. Mrs. Moore and Adela want to mix up with the Indians so they throw a party –
Bridge Party and invited some of the Indians and the British people for better understanding. The
intention behind this party is to bridge the gap of doubt between the Indians and the British. But
this gap is not bridged because the Anglo-Indians (British) are not interested in taking to the
Indians. The Indians are humiliated. The Indians have the feelings of fear and hatred for the
British. The English women like Mrs. Callendar make no effort to understand Indian customs or
modes of behavior. She says, “the kindest thing you can do to a native (Indian) is to let him die.”
The Indians are also doubtful about the British. Through this incident the novelist tries to show
that how the barriers of rigid conventions (misunderstanding) and attitudes prevent the English
from developing a healthy relationship with the Indians. Due to this attitude of the British, there
will be no friendship with the Indians.
E) The Trial :- Due to the misunderstanding in relationship, Adela wrongly accuses Aziz of
sexual assault in the caves of Malabar. The case is taken into the court for trial. Aziz is sent to
the custody/jail. The whole city is divided into two groups – the Anglo-Indians (British) and the
Indians. Both the groups quarrel but this is not for justice for Adela or Azia, but to take a revenge
on each other. When Adela withdraws the charge, she faces a strong humiliation from her own
group of Anglo-Indians. Because of this humiliation, she has to go back to England. She gives up
the idea of mixing up with the Indians and Indian culture.
F) The Civil Station :- The city of Chandrapore is divided in two different areas – the English
Civil Station (Colony of the British) and the native section. The Civil Station is reserved only for
the British and the native section is reserved for the Indians. Both the areas have no relationship
with each other except the common sky. This indicates the gap (gulf) between the two
communities. The British feel about themselves as the rulers and the Indians as ruled. The
Englishmen are unfeeling, proud and autocratic towards the Indians.
G) The Difficulty of English-Indian Friendship:- A Passage to India begins and ends by posing the
question of whether it is possible for an Englishman and an Indian to ever be friends. Forster uses this
question through the friendship between Aziz and Fielding. At the beginning of the novel, Aziz hates the
English people, wishing only to consider them comically or ignore them completely. But when Aziz
meets an English lady Mrs. Moore in the mosque, it opens him to the possibility of friendship with
Fielding. Through the first half of the novel, Fielding and Aziz represent a positive model of liberal
humanism: Forster suggests that British rule in India could be successful and respectful if only English
and Indians treated each other as Fielding and Aziz treat each other—with respect, frankness, intelligence,
and good will.
In the novel’s climax—Adela’s accusation that Aziz attempted to sex-assault her and her
subsequent withdrawal of this accusation at the trial—Aziz and Fielding’s friendship is broken.
The tension in their relationship are external in nature, as Aziz and Fielding both suffer from the
tendencies of their cultures. Aziz tends to let his imagination run away with him and to let
suspicion harden into a grudge. Fielding suffers from an English literalism and rationalism that

20
blind him to Aziz’s true feelings and make Fielding too stilted to reach out to Aziz through
conversations or letters. Furthermore, their respective Indian and English communities pull them
apart through their mutual stereotyping. As we see at the end of the novel, even the landscape of
India seems to oppress their friendship. Forster’s final vision of the possibility of English-Indian
friendship is a pessimistic one, yet it is qualified by the possibility of friendship on English soil,
or after the liberation of India. As the landscape itself seems to imply at the end of the novel,
such a friendship may be possible eventually, but “not yet.”
In short, the present novel is nothing but a complex study of relationships, individual and
communal, between the English and the Indians. A Critic U.R. Rao comments, “A Passage to
India is about the difficulties men face in trying to understand each other and the universe they
live in.” Forster comments that for a better relationship between the British and Indians, kindness
and more kindness is necessary.
____________________________XXX___________________________________
Quiz
1. In the opening dialogue of the novel, who is most open to the possibility of Indian-English
friendship?
 Hamidullah
 Aziz
 Mahmoud Ali
 Hamidullah’s wife
2. Why is Aziz at the mosque where he meets Mrs. Moore?
 Because it is the traditional time for prayer
 Because Englishwomen have stolen his tonga
 Because he is restless and agitated
 Because he sensed her presence
3. How does Aziz sense Mrs. Moore is sympathetic to him?
 She is knowledgeable about Islam
 She approaches him first

21
 She appears unafraid of him
 She speaks frankly about her dislike for Mrs. Turton
4. Why, at the beginning of the novel, is Adela Quested dissatisfied with her visit to India?
 Because she wants to be engaged to Ronny
 Because she wants to see the real India
 Because she does not get along with Mrs. Moore
 Because she dislikes Ronny’s friends
5. Why does Turton throw the Bridge Party?
 He throws one every year
 Because his superior ordered him to
 To please Adela
 To please the Nawab Bahadur
6. Who runs their horse into the flowers at the Bridge Party?
 Miss Derek
 Aziz
 Panna Lal
 The Bhattacharyas
7. What is the main reason Aziz decides not to attend the Bridge Party?
 It coincides with the anniversary of his wife’s death
 He feels sick to his stomach
 He wants to spend time with his children
 He is angry with Major Callendar

22
8. What disconcerts Ronny about his mother’s story about meeting a young man in the mosque?
 She disobeyed his orders
 She should not be hanging around with younger men
 Her tone of voice does not indicate that the young man is Indian
 She sounds depressed
9. Which of the following does not upset Mrs. Moore on the day of Fielding’s tea party?
 Adela and Ronny’s bickering
 Aziz’s overfriendliness
 Adela’s spontaneous admission that she will return to England
 Godbole’s religious song
10. Which of the following does not cause Adela to change her mind and become engaged to
Ronny?
 The landscape and sky of Chandrapore
 The sexual magnetism between her and Ronny
 Her and Ronny’s mutual distaste for Miss Derek and the Nawab Bahadur
 A brief lecture from Mrs. Moore
11. How does Fielding shock the Indians in Aziz’s sickroom?
 He is bluntly honest
 He sits on the floor
 He hugs Aziz
 He denounces Islam
12. How does Aziz show Fielding that he considers Fielding like a brother to him?
 He lets Fielding sit on his floor

23
 He gossips about the Turtons
 He shows Fielding a picture of his wife
 He tells Fielding the names of his children
13. What event, prior to the visit to the caves, prompts Adela’s and Mrs. Moore’s feelings of
emotional emptiness?
 Their arrival in India
 Adela’s engagement
 The production of Cousin Kate
 Godbole’s song
14. Which of the following does not disturb Mrs. Moore in the Marabar Caves?
 The echo
 The religious singing
 A baby’s hand
 The crowd
15. What makes Fielding suspicious during the trip to the caves?
 Adela’s hasty departure
 Aziz’s overexcited demeanor
 Mrs. Moore’s apathy
 The absence of Adela’s servant
16. Why does McBryde believe that Indians are criminal?
 Because the English treat them poorly
 Because they are inherently evil
 Because of the Indian climate

24
 Because they are greedy and crime pays
17. What does Fielding do that angers the members of the Englishmen’s club?
 He hangs around with Aziz
 He pronounces Aziz innocent
 He fights with a soldier
 He does not stand when Ronny enters
18. What prompts Adela to suddenly proclaim Aziz innocent?
 She feels incredibly guilty
 She finally believes Mrs. Moore’s assertion that Aziz is a good man
 She has a vision of Marabar and sees that Aziz was not in the cave with her
 She becomes intimidated by Aziz’s lawyer
19. Why is Aziz upset during his own victory celebration?
 Because Fielding leaves with Adela
 Because he has been hardened by prison
 Because his friends are threatening the English
 Because he knows the English will regard him as guilty regardless of the verdict
20. Why is Fielding upset with Aziz after the trial?
 Because Aziz makes himself look guilty
 Because Aziz refuses to credit Adela’s bravery at the trial
 Because Aziz tries to loot the hospital
 Because Aziz quits his job
21. In which European country does Fielding stop and admire the architecture on the way back to
England?

25
 France
 Spain
 Italy
 Greece
22. What religion provides the backdrop for Part III of A Passage to India?
 Hinduism
 Islam
 Buddhism
 Sikhism
23. With what character is this religion associated?
 Aziz
 Fielding
 Mahmoud Ali
 Godbole
24. Through which character does Aziz renew his friendship with Fielding?
 Stella Moore
 Ralph Moore
 His oldest son
 Godbole
25. Which of the following is not a title of one of the three parts of A Passage to India?
 “Mosque”
 “Temple”

26
 “Cave”
 “Festival”
In what city was Edward Morgan Forster born, in 1879?
 New Delhi
 Karachi
 London
 Atlanta
What characters in A Passage to India build a friendship that echoes Forster’s own relationship
with a young Indian Muslim?
 Mrs. Moore and Aziz
 Fielding and Aziz
 Godbole and Fielding
 Ronny and Aziz
What aspect of Forster’s identity gave him insight into the prejudice and misunderstanding he
describes in A Passage to India?
 His speech disorder
 His homosexuality
 His racial minority status
 His physical disability
What way of representing the chaos of modern experience aligns Forster with modernist writers
like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce?
 Fragmented narrative
 Focus on domestic drama
 Technically innovative syntax

27
 Patterns of imagery and form
Plot Overview Quiz
What do Adela Quested and Mrs. Moore set out hoping to see on their trip to India?
 The real India
 British institutions
 The Taj Mahal
 The Marabar Caves
What landmark does Aziz organize a visit to for those who attended Fielding’s tea?
 The Taj Mahal
 The Ganges River
 The funeral obelisk
What crime does Adela Quested falsely accuse Aziz of attempting?
 To rape her
 To rob her
 To blackmail her
 To murder her
Who does Fielding offend by joining the Indians in Aziz’s defense?
 Major Calendar
 Queen Victoria
 Mahmoud Ali
 All of British India

28
What does Fielding do that ruins his friendship with Aziz for a number of years?
 Befriends Adela
 Switches sides
 Becomes colonial governor
 All of the above
Character List Quiz
What is Aziz’s occupation?
 Doctor
 Lawyer
 Teacher
 Bureaucrat
What emotional attitude towards Indians sets Cyril Fielding apart from most English in India?
 Love
 Sympathy
 Mistrust
 Hatred
Where does Hamidullah think that friendship between Indians and the English is most possible?
 In big Indian cities
 In the Indian countryside
 In England
 In America
What does Mr. Turton do as “collector”?

29
 Governs Chandrapore
 Governs India
 Collects road tolls
 Collects automobiles
What is Professor Godbole’s religion?
 Islam
 Hinduism
 Christianity
 Jainism
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS QUIZ
What general characterization of India does Fielding personify in Dr. Aziz?
 Its geographic size
 Its internal unity
 Its love of England
 Its muddle of contradictions
What or who does Fielding become jaded about in the aftermath of Aziz’s trial?
 English colonial rule
 The English in general
 The Indians
 The pan-India movement
What seems to motivate Adela’s interest in seeing the “real India”?
 Curiosity about Ronny

30
 A love of architecture
 Affection for Indians
 Intellectual curiosity
How does Mrs. Moore’s presence as a character change in the course of the novel?
 She becomes more realistic
 She becomes more symbolic
 She becomes less likeable
 She becomes more significant
When does Ronny Heaslop change from an open-minded young man to a group-thinking British
colonialist?
 Before the novel begins
 When he meets Aziz
 During Aziz’s trial
 After Aziz’s trial
Themes, Motifs & Symbols Quiz
What kind of relationships does Fielding investigate in the context of Britain’s larger colonial rule
over India?
 Father-child relationships
 Forbidden romances
 Friendships
 Marriages
From what religion does Fielding borrow his thematic exploration of the “unity of all living
things”?
 Confucianism

31
 Buddhism
 Jainism
 Hinduism
How does Fielding view India, unlike Mrs. Moore and Godbole, who see the country as a mystery?
 An open book
 A challenge
 A muddle
 An ordered web
Amidst his satire of British colonial government, what does Forster never suggest that Britain
should do?
 Stay in India
 Leave India
 Sell India
 Buy India
What motif demonstrates the frightening flip side of the seemingly positive Hindu vision of
oneness?
 The echo
 Godbole’s song
 Eastern and Western architecture
 Madnes
Part 1, Chapters 1â
What do Dr. Aziz and his friends agree happens to all English people within two years of arriving
in India?
 The heat overwhelms them

32
 They become insufferable
 They lose their minds
 They become corrupt
Who summons Aziz at dinner hour, then leaves home before he arrives?
 Major Calendar
 Cyril Fielding
 Ronny Heaslop
 Mrs. Moore
Where does Aziz first encounter Mrs. Moore, to his initial anger?
 His backyard
 His front porch
 A swimming pool
 A mosque
Where does Mr. Turton promise that Adela will be able to meet Indians?
 A bridge party
 The market
 The polo match
What insect does Mrs. Moore croon to after noticing it asleep on her coat hook?
 A beetle
 A wasp
 A mosquito

33
 An ant
Part 1, Chapters 4â “
Whose announcement that he will attend the Bridge Party sways other Indians to attend?
 Amritrao
 Dr. Panna Lal
 The Nawab Bahadur
 Dr. Aziz
For the most part, how do the Indians and the English interact at the Bridge Party?
 They don’t interact
 With trepidation
 With exaggerated politeness
 Easily and fluidly
What is Mrs. Turton surprised to learn about the Indian women she introduces Adela and Mrs.
Moore to?
 They are single
 They are highly educated
 They speak English
 Answers B. and C.
While at the Bridge Party, what other social event does Mr. Fielding invite Adela and Mrs. Moore
to?
 A singles mixer
 A polo match
 Tea

34
 An art gallery opening
On what anniversary does the Bridge Party fall, necessitating Aziz’s absence?
 His wife’s death
 His marriage
 Indian independence
 His son’s birthday
How do other Englishmen view Fielding’s efforts to educate Indians as individuals?
 With shock
 With envy
 With admiration
 With suspicion
What does Fielding note about Aziz’s discourse on Indian architecture, despite its factual
inaccuracy?
 Its entertainment value
 Its eloquence
 Its “imaginative quality”
 Its “truth of mood”
Where does Aziz invite Adela so as to prevent her from visiting his shabby house?
 The club
 The hospital

35
 The Ganges docks
What mysterious incident takes place while Ronny and Adela are on the road back to
Chandrapore?
 The car breaks down
 They hear an echo
 They hear a scream
 Their driver faints
What decision does Adela change her mind about after the eventful drive back to Chandrapore?
 Moving to Pakistan
 Not marrying Ronny
 Changing her surname
 Buying a house
After falling slightly ill, what does Aziz contemplate as a way to lift his spirits?
 Baking cupcakes
 Visiting a brothel
 Visiting Fielding
 Going for a run
Whose honesty shocks the other men in Aziz’s sickroom?
 Aziz’s
 The Nawab Bahadur’s
 Fielding’s

36
 Professor Godbole’s
How do Fielding and Aziz agree the English government should have begun its effort to improve
India?
 Gifts
 Trade
 Institutions
 Friendship
What does Aziz show Fielding, in a surprising gesture of intimacy?
 His dead wife’s portrait
 His dead wife’s jewelry
 His pulse
 His first stethoscope
On what grounds does Aziz voice distaste toward Adela as a potential marriage partner for
Fielding?
 Her looks
 Her priggishness
 Her smarts
 Her rudeness
What concept do the Marabar Caves seem to embody?
 Reason
 Beauty
 Order

37
 Nothingness
Who misses the train to Marabar Caves?
 Just Fielding
 Fielding and Godbole
 Adela
 Aziz
What have Adela and Mrs. Moore both felt since hearing Godbole’s Hindu song at Fielding’s tea?
 Indifference towards everything
 Interest in everything
 Love for all Indians
 Hatred of all Indians
What aspect of the first cave induces terror in Mrs. Moore?
 Its unfathomable size
 Its bone-strewn interior
 Its shiny walls
 Its echo
What message does Mrs. Moore take away from the echo in the cave?
 That nothing has value
 That God is love
 That India is doomed
 That she will die
Part 2, Chapters 15â

38
What is Aziz’s reaction to Adela asking him whether he has multiple wives?
 Indifference
 Mild irritation
 Violent anger
 Shock
What does Aziz finally spot Adela doing after he fails to find her around the caves?
 Climbing the hills above
 Looking for him
 Talking to Miss Derek
 Walking into another cave
What cues Fielding into the fact that something is wrong with Adela?
 She is crying
 She is not speaking
 She left suddenly
 She lost her glasses
What does Mr. Haq do with Aziz upon the group’s return from the Marabar Caves?
 Arrests him
 Hits him
 Escorts him home
 Buys him lunch
What does Mr. McBride believe to be the source of the criminal tendencies he attributes to Indians?
 Inherent racial inferiority

39
 The climate
 Their meaty diet
 Systemic structures of oppression
Where do the English gather to discuss what happened to Adela?
 The hospital
 The college
 The club
What does Fielding promise Turton he will do if Aziz is found guilty?
 Appeal to another court
 Escape with Aziz
 Resign from the club
 Resign from service
What is significant about the lawyer that Aziz’s friends hire to defend him?
 He charges extravagant frees
 He is British
 He is anti-British
What sound does Adela recall having preceded her attack in the cave?
 A shout
 An echo

40
 A bell ringing
 A motor sputtering
In what state does Adela find Mrs. Moore when she returns from her stay with the McBrydes?
 Withdrawn
 Perpetually drunk
 Warm and talkative
 Angry
Which of the following important facts do we know about Das, the acting judge in Aziz’s trial?
 He is Muslim
 He is Hindu
 He is Ronny’s subordinate
 He is Aziz’s cousin
What phrase do the Indians in the courtroom begin chanting as if it were a charm?
 “Free Aziz”
 “Mrs. Moore”
 “Cyril Fielding”
 “Democracy now”
What does Adela say on the witness stand before withdrawing her charges?
 She feels crazy
 She was not attacked

41
 She finds Aziz attractive
 Aziz never followed her
Where does Adela go with Fielding after the trial lets out?
 The hospital
 The college
 The cricket field
 The English club
Where does Aziz’s victory procession go when the trial lets out?
 The hospital
 The college
 The cricket field
 The English club

What news does Fielding learn when Ronny comes to pick Adela up from the college?
 Major Calendar has resigned
 Britain is leaving India
 Mrs. Moore has died
 Aziz is still imprisoned
What request does Adela make when Ronny comes to pick her up from the college?
 To not get married
 To get married

42
 To stay put
 To see Mrs. Moore
At Aziz’s victory party, what does he correctly anticipate that Fielding will urge him not to do?
 Talk to Professor Godbole
 Stay in Chandrapore
 Visit England
 Demand reparations
In the wake of the trial, how does Fielding see Adela’s behavior?
 As well-mannered
 As conniving
 As cowardly
 As brave
Why does Adela’s apology to Aziz seem unsatisfactory?
 It accuses him again
 It mentions no crime
 It lacks clarity
 It lacks feeling
In the wake of the trial, where does Aziz resolve to take a job?
 New Delhi
 London

43
 A Muslim state
 A Hindu state
What rumored behavior by Fielding makes Aziz furious with him?
 His endorsement of colonialism
 His affair with Adela
 His visit to brothels
 His visit to mosques
At dinner, where does Fielding tell Aziz that he’s planning to travel?
 To Mau
 To England
 To Tibet
 To Germany
What attraction does Aziz imagine Adela has as a potential marriage partner for Fielding?
 Her money
 Her beauty
 Her morality
 Her intelligence
Where does Fielding rediscover the form and harmony that he found lacking in the “muddle” of
the Indian landscape?
 Dutch landscape painting
 Classical music
 The Swiss Alps
 Venetian architecture

44
Who, besides Aziz, has moved to the Indian-ruled Hindu city of Mau?
 Professor Godbole
 Fielding
 Adela
 Hamidullah
For whom does Aziz serve as personal physician in Mau?
 The English governor
 The Rajah
 The Nawab Bahadur
What does Aziz do in his spare time in his new life in Mau?
 Makes paintings
 Writes letters
 Writes poetry
 Makes pottery
Who did Fielding actually marry in England, instead of Adela, as Aziz believed?
 Miss Derek
 Ralph Moore
 Stella Moore
 Mrs. Moore
How does Aziz characterize Fielding’s marriage to Stella Moore instead of Adela?
 A much better choice

45
 A nearly equivalent betrayal
 A worse betrayal
 A sham either way
 What does Aziz resent about the letters he finds in the guesthouse?
 Their intimate tone
 Their failure to mention him
 Their descriptions of India
 Their un-poetic style
What does Ralph sense intuitively about Aziz, prompting Aziz to call him an “Oriental”?
 His friendliness
 His hostility
 His fear
 His spiritual emptiness
What does Aziz and Ralph’s boat collide with in the water?
 The Rajah’s body
 The Rajah’s boat
 Fielding’s boat
 A buoy
On what political question do Aziz and Fielding disagree during their last ride together?
 The Partition of India
 The value of democracy

46
 Women’s suffrage
 The Empire’s necessity
In the novel’s final scene, who or what seems to declare that Aziz and Fielding cannot yet be
friends?
 Professor Godbole
 God
 The land and sky
Study Questions
What do Adela and Mrs. Moore hope to get out of their visit to India? Do they succeed?
From the outset, both Mrs. Moore and Adela assert that their desire is to see the “real
India” while they are in the country. Both women are frustrated with the lack of interaction
between the English and the Indians, and they hope to get an authentic view of India rather than
the standard tour for visiting colonials. Of the two, Mrs. Moore is less vocal than Adela in her
impatience to discover the spirit of India, and she seems to be provisionally more successful in
her goal. While Adela mopes in the Chandrapore Club, Mrs. Moore is already out on her own
meeting Aziz in the mosque. Mrs. Moore, it seems, gets closer to a real sense of India because
she seeks it out within Indians themselves, approaching them with sincere sympathy and interest.
She does not desire to learn facts about Indian culture, but to forge a personal, individual
connection. Adela, on the other hand, does not look to Indians for a glimpse of the “real India.”
Instead, she operates in a somewhat academic vein, going around and trying to gather
information and impressions of the country. Adela wishes to get in contact with the “spirit”
behind the “frieze” of India, but she skips the step in between. Rather than regard Indians as
people like herself, she seems to view them as subjects for intellectual study.
Ultimately, both women largely fail in their quest to see the “real India.” Adela is thwarted
before she even begins: her engagement to Ronny forces her to give up her quest for communion
with India and to take her place among the ranks of the rest of the Englishwomen in
Chandrapore. Mrs. Moore, at least, realizes her mistaken quest before leaving India. On her train
ride back to the coast to catch a return ship to England, Mrs. Moore begins to understand that she
and Adela have both been misguided in their search for a single India. Mrs. Moore realizes that
India exists in hundreds of ways and that it cannot be fathomed by a single mind or in a single
visit.
What causes Adela’s breakdown? Why does she accuse Aziz? What qualities enable her to admit
the truth at the trial?

47
Adela is an intelligent and inquisitive girl, but she has a limited worldview, and is, as
Fielding puts it, a “prig.” Adela has come to India to experience an adventure and to gauge her
desire to marry Ronny. During the early stages of the visit, she weighs both her emotions and her
experiences with an almost clinical precision. Adela wants to see the “real India,” which
apparently means an India unfiltered through the lens of English people and colonial institutions.
But in her desire to have a single authentic experience and a single authentic understanding of
India, Adela is unable to take in the complexity of her surroundings, which have been muddled
even further by the presence of the English. There is no real India; there are a hundred real
Indias. But Adela’s attempt to make her Indian experience match her comfortable preconceptions
cannot prepare her for this fact. As the muddle of India slowly works its way into her mind, it
undermines her preconceptions without giving her anything with which to replace them.
On the way to the Marabar Caves, Adela realizes for the first time that she does not love Ronny.
The sheer incomprehensibility of experience—as represented by the echo in the
caves—overwhelms her for the first time. Traumatized, Adela feels not only as though her world
is breaking down, but as though India itself is responsible for the breakdown. This idea solidifies
in her mind as the idea that Aziz, an Indian, has attacked and attempted to rape her. Still, Adela
is committed to the truth and has a strong mind. When she sees Aziz at the trial, she reenters the
scene in her mind in a sort of disembodied vision. She realizes that her actions are ruining a real
person’s life, and she is therefore able to pull back and withdraw her charge before a verdict can
be handed down.
What purpose does Part III, “Temple,” play in A Passage to India?
The first issue that Forster addresses in A Passage to India is whether or not an
Englishman and an Indian can be friends. Parts I and II of the novel depict the friendship of Aziz
and Fielding, first on the ascendant, and then as it breaks apart. Part II leaves us with a
pessimistic sense that cross-cultural communication is futile, and that such friendships cause
more hurt than good. Part III, however, gives us a measured resolution to this issue. In this final
section of the novel, Fielding and Aziz meet again after two years and resolve their
misunderstandings—though not their differences. Forster shows that while outside forces can
make cross-cultural friendships nearly impossible, the friendships themselves, whether
successful or not, are still a valuable experience. The pessimistic ending of Part II is thus
tempered by Forster’s depiction of Aziz and Fielding in Part III.
Additionally, Forster uses Part III to address the issue of how a foreigner can best understand and
make peace with the “muddle” of India. Throughout Parts I and II, Forster shows several main
characters—Mrs. Moore, Adela, Fielding—experiencing spiritual crises in the face of the chaos
of Indian experience. Part III, which is set in the Hindu state of Mau during a Hindu religious
festival, offers the Hindu vision of the oneness of all living things as a possible answer to the
problem of comprehending India. The most mystical characters of the novel take the spotlight in
Part III. Godbole serves in Mau as an educator and religious figure, and Mrs. Moore reappears
through her two children, Ralph and Stella. If Forster is pessimistic about Fielding and Aziz’s
friendship, in Part III he at least offers the collectivity of Hindu love as a potential source of hope
and redeeming possibility.

48

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