A Passage to India
by
E.M. Forster
- ISBN:
-
0156711427
- Format:
-
Paperback, 368 pages
- Publish Date:
-
September, 1992
- Publisher:
-
44
- Other Format(s):
-
HC
One of the 20th century’s finest novels, A Passage to India provides a detailed look at what makes East and West different. Written at a time (1924) when India was still under British rule, the novel tells the ill-fated story of an attempt at interracial friendship gone tragically awry. While most of the English at Chandrapore maintain an insular, clubbish existence sheltered as much as possible from interaction with the Indians, a pair of newly arrived Englishwomen desire to see more of the “real India.” A tentative friendship is struck with Dr. Aziz, a local physician who offers to take the women on a tour of the nearby Marabar caves. When one of the women subsequently accuses Dr. Aziz of sexually assaulting her in the caves, the seething tensions between the colonials and the colonized come roiling to the surface. Cyril Fielding, the novel’s protagonist, stands by Dr. Aziz despite the inevitable alienation from his fellow Englishmen. In the end, it is clear that both Indians and Englishmen alike are uncomfortable with the idea of harmonious coexistence (and there is, in fact, friction among the Indians themselves, along Muslim-Hindu lines). Yet among all of these problems, A Passage to India, through some of its more idealistic characters, holds out a ray of hope for understanding between cultures, and for friendship across the boundaries of nationality and ethnicity.
So why read A Passage to India today (aside from the fact that it’s a classic)? Obviously, its message couldn’t be more relevant to an America forward-deployed in a long war in far-flung corners of the globe. Culture clash is inevitable, but rapprochement is possible when good men try. This book’s insights are essential.