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India and Indians in the British Eyes: A Critical Estimation of the Novel A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

2021, Vidyasagar University

British writers, based on their orientalist discourses, portray their own nation and culture as superior, while the Indians as inferior 'Other'. The British representation of India in 20th century literature, which is the main concern of my paper and to present it I would like to display British impact and their mentality during 18th and 19th century India. I am going to evaluate E. M. Forster's A Passage to India (1924) in my way of discussion because of its loaded details about both the races, their views and particularly India during 20th century. The colonizer's ideology, racial tension, clash of culture, Hindu-Muslim conflict and several others are the crucial aspects of this very novel which perfectly fits my purpose of discussion. The final attempt of my argument is based on the Western or British impact upon post-Independent India and their way of viewing India in the 21 st century.

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The aim of this paper is to analyse Edward Morgan Forster's novel A Passage to India briefly. The novel may be considered semi-autobiographical and it is his latest novel after his trip to India. Forster created a modern novel that delicately processes the religious and sociocultural themes, especially human relations surrounded by the British colonialists' presence in India. While the question whether a true friendship between the Muslim Indian Doctor Aziz and the English Character Fielding can be established, the British presence in India is often questioned, although Forster clearly does not criticize imperialism. Forster addressed the events from a modernist perspective. Since he himself had liberal characteristics, he conveyed these to some of the characters in the novel. According to him, art can reach beyond the world of man and object but never can leave that world behind, because it should seek and understand meanings and contexts in it. In A Passage to India, he gives the reader the message that despite all the differences people are united. In the novel, not only the conflict between Britain and India is discussed, but also India's own muddle is entreated because the country is divided separately in itself. The challenge in India is actually the difficulty in the face of the derelict universe.

Sir Syed journal of education & social research, 2020

The study deals with the imperialistic elements of British rule in E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India. This study textually analysis through the post-colonial aspect of the study. British colonizer rule in India or British raj the local people suffer a lot from it. This paper highlights the crucial relation between the colonizer and the colonized. I study English colonized literature, I always seem to sympathies with the locals in English colonized countries. These colonialists regarded the locals as inferior. Through the study of “A Passage to India,” we come to know how Forster depicted the British rule in Indian sub-continent. This study leads us towards the British Imperialistic activities in India.

A Passage to India is a postcolonial novel written by a colonizer about the British rule in India whereby he highlights the racial prejudices and tensions of both the colonizer and the colonized. The novel is a realistic document about the British rule in India. It is the representative postcolonial novel which deals with the racial conflict between the Orient and the Occident. The novel shows how the ruling Anglo-Indians became arrogant and how they destroyed the chance of winning over their Indian subjects. A passage to India is thus a valuable critique of the inhumane treatment of the Indians by their British masters. The racial barrier between the West and the East has been brilliantly and artistically depicted in the novel. Throughout the novel, the barriers of inter-racial friendship in a colonial context are explored thoroughly.

E. M. Forster's A Passage to India is obviously " more than a fictional travelogue, a kind ofInside India " (Karl & Magalaner, 119). It is concerned with matter that may generate confusion, susceptibility and distinct prejudice and set two individuals, even two races face to face in relation to belligerence, intolerance and prejudice. This paper will throw light on thecases that are responsible for encountering the position of East and West. As a text says what it does not say, my probe will dig out the political tension of Indian life and racial relationship in colonial setting from the fictionalized Indian conditions as depicted in A Passage to India. Introduction The novel entitled A Passage to Indiais inspired mainly from E. M. Forster's own experience as a temporary resident in India and his coming in contact with the Indian people and with the British servants, called Anglo-Indians, who were a narrow-minded caste of chauvinistic snobs. A Passage to Indiais a book that has been balanced by Forster for a long time as it was written in 1913 and not published until 1924 and as Boris Ford said: 'Forster, representing the finest and most human in the liberal spirit, began in " APassage to India " the tradition of using Indian life as an image of personal experiences'(1983:319). Although A Passage to Indiais a highly symbolic or even mystical text, it also aims to be a realistic documentation of the attitudes of British colonial officials in India, primarily in Chandapore, a city along the Ganges River, notable only for the nearby Marbar caves. Forster spends large sections of the novel characterizing different typical attitudes the English hold toward the Indians whom they control. Forster's satire is harsh on 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 which they live. A Passage to Indiais an exploration of Anglo-Indian friendship. Forster pays great attention to the description of the two societies that are to be found in India, namely the natives, the Indians, and the new comers, the British, but also to way they interact and to the relationships they establish. Throughout the novel, the barriers of inter-racial friendship in a colonial context are explored thoroughly: A Passage to India is a classic example of how different cultures,when forced to intermix, misunderstand

Having an eye on Edward W. Said (1935-2003) and Frantz Fanon’s (1925-1961) theories, this paper deals with the process of orientalising the Indians represented in E. M. Forster’s (1879-1970) A Passage to India (1924). Forster portrays the Orientalised India, and criticizes stereotypical representation of the Indians. His characters are the victims of British colonial power and colonialism. On the other hand, he criticizes the Indians’ passivity against the process of orientalisation. Moreover, this paper shows how Forster marks on the stereotypes the British colonisers attributed to the natives, as being a primitive, unreliable, genital, and dangerous race that must be kept in the farthest distance possible from the British. Fanon argues such features have great impacts on the psyche of the natives which results in inferiority complex and make the Indians feel an inherent flaw. They accept such a subjugation with no objection; hence, they turn into catalysers in the process of orien...

English Language Institute Journal

This paper sheds light on E. M. Forster’s attack against British imperialism in colonial India. It argues that acquiring an official position in the imperialistic administration makes Anglo-Indians so poignant that they start making racial prejudgments about the Indians. This attitude, of course, leads to damage the possibility of establishing friendship between the Indians and the British. The novelist also argues that the inability of comprehending the echo in the caves is yet another cultural barrier; it prevents crossing the bridge between the East and the West. Due to their frustration of establishing friendship with the British, the Indians start fighting for freedom. This paper concludes by highlighting the possibility of future friendship between the British and the Indians.

SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH, 2023

E.M. Forster's A Passage to India (1924) is a seminal novel that critiques British colonialism in India during the early 20 th century. This article delves into the far-reaching impact of colonialism on the novel's themes, characters, and narrative structure. Through the characters of Dr. Aziz, Fielding, and Adela, the novel highlights the complexities of cultural exchange, the fragility of human relationships, and the distortions of colonial discourse. The analysis reveals how Forster's work continues to resonate with contemporary discussions on imperialism, cultural identity, and post colonialism offering valuable insights into the enduring legacy of colonialism.

In this paper I tackle the delicate issue of the representations of India in E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India. The ideological readings of the novel have often raised debates with literary critics demonstrating either Forster’s complacence to his dominating race or his remarkable progressive faith to level differences when the colonial mission was still on the agenda. The freshness of my analysis lies not in the choice of an unexplored field of study of course, but in avoiding to make an either/or choice between these two ideological affiliations, and rather to evaluate their seemingly ambiguous co-existence and overlapping, as also the presence of two distinct narrating voices in the novel confirms. Focal points to my theory are an examination of all those referents generally associated to India, with a particular care to the Marabar Caves, Aziz and Godbole as well as a scrutiny of how (Indian) animals are generally observed by both Indian and British characters in the novel.

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