A Passage of Muddles

Intercultural communication is prone to misunderstandings and confusion, or put simply, muddle-prone. While common cultural miscommunications are often minor offences, some have far more detrimental consequences. In E.M. Forster’s novel A Passage to India, conflict results with the collision of two cultures in the British-Indian city of Chandrapore, which is plagued by racial, class and religious tension amongst Anglo and Native Indians. The novel chronicles the attempted intercultural friendships of Dr. Aziz, a Native Indian, and three English individuals: Cyril Fielding, Mrs. Moore, and Ms. Quested. While A Passage to India features many potential opportunities of friendship and positive relationships between the Anglo-Indians and Natives, each is inhibited by the muddles of communication featured in Laray M. Barna’s “Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural Communication”.

Although American education has stressed the similarity of all humans, failure to acknowledge cultural differences amongst other individuals while communicating produces the first of Barna’s communication muddles. The assumption of similarities amidst intercultural communication readily allows for misinterpretation. As Barna explains, “The stumbling block of assumed similarity is a troublem,…,not only for the foreigner but for the people in the host country…The native inhabitants are likely to be lulled into the expectation that…he or she will also have similar nonverbal codes, thoughts and feelings.” (371). At their first meeting, Aziz exhibits the Assumption of Similarity when he exclaims his distaste for the his Anglo-Indian superior and his Anglo-Indian wife in response to Mrs. Moore’s vague observation of the wife’s lack of charm (Forster 21). In response t...

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...hich continues the racial tension present in Chandrapore. The Anglo-Indians maintain an oppressive show of superiority to ensure the predictability of daily life. However, the reduction of anxiety resulting from rationalizing prejudice is only temporary, as successful use of intercultural communication is the lone method in permanently reducing anxiety. While there is ample opportunity for intercultural friendships in A Passage to India, endless communication muddles continue inhibit the civilization’s successful implementation of intercultural communication.

Works Cited

Barna, Laray M. “Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural Communication.” Intercultural

Communication: A Reader. Ed. L.A. Samovar and R.E. Porter. Belmont:

Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1994. 370-378. Print.

Forster, E.M. A Passage to India. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2009. Print.