Passage to India (Library Binding)

Passage to India Book Description

A classic account of the clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century.

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•   By Keerti Mathur 08 Sep 2008
  Culture Collision

  A Passage to India by E. M. Foster is set in Chandrapore, India in 1920 India when British rules India. Foster was a liberal in outlook. Foster describes the tensions between the British officers and the Indian population. There are three main characters in the book : an Indian doctor named Aziz, a British university administrator named Cyril Fielding, and a Adela Quested, a young British schoolmistress who visits Chandrapore with her prospective mother in law Mrs. Moore to visit her son Ronny Heslop who is a magistrate in Chandapore. Foster believes that British and Indian can live together with harnoby and this he shows by the friendship of Aziz and Fielding. Foster has introduced “Bridge Party”, a social gathering to bridge the gap between both the cultures. Aziz invites them all for an expedition to see the real India by visiting renowned and mysterious, Marabar Caves. While visiting the last cave, Adela is sexually harassed ans she believes it is Aziz. Fielding is very furious and they file a complaint against Aziz. Aziz is arrested and is sent to jail to await trial on the criminal charges. The remaining novel deals with the trial and the fallout from the alleged crime of an Indian man assaulting a British woman. The last portion of the novel that deal with court proceedings against Aziz are very interesting and breathe holding. In A Passage to India Forster explored various themes like friendship between the Indian and the British, the incompatibility of different cultures, the hollowness of religion and the discriminations made by human himself. This book is the outcome of his own experience when he stayed in India. Foster emphasized the importance of love and understanding at the personal level in this novel. Overall, the novel dealt with the misunderstandings between the British and the Indians in the British Raj in 1910-20. This book needs a careful read without skipping a single line. This is a great historical novel with exceptional writing by Foster.

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