A Passage to India

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Recommended: Critical analysis of a passage to India by Edward Morgan Forster

E.M. Forster, born into a middle-class family in London, was a humanist and an English writer famous for his literary works which called attention to the hypocrisy (present in the time in which he lived). In his novel A Passage To India, Forster explores the relationship between and within the Anglo-Indian and Native-Indian communities under British Imperialism and expounds on the sins which its members commit against the humanistic values of sympathy and understanding. Additionally, in A Passage to India Forster reflects the relationship phases which occur between his characters through the use of the three main divisions -- Mosque, Caves, and Temple.

The First division Mosque, a Muslim place of worship, is set in the fictional city of Chandrapore and brings about the first stage of human confrontation --Introduction. One of the first introductions Forster makes to the reader is the division of the Indian and British cultures. He does this by describing Indian Chandrapore to be a place where the “streets are mean, the temples ineffective, and though a few fine houses exist they are hidden away in gardens or down alleys whose filth deters all but the invited guest.” (Forster 3) while describing British Chandrapore “to be a totally different place. It is a city of gardens. It is no city, but a forest sparsely scattered with huts. It is a tropical pleasaunce washed by a noble river” (Forster 4). The idea of ‘introductions’ is further explored in Dr. Aziz’s visit to the mosque which lets “loose his imagination..where his body and thoughts have found their home” (Forster 16), where the “many small sounds [of the] English...amateur orchestra...Hindus drumming...owls” (Forster 17), all diverse in nature, echoed through a similar space...

... middle of paper ...

...d apart; the earth didn’t want it, sending up rocks through which riders must pass single file; the temples, the tanks the jail, the place, the birds, the carrion, the Guest House...didn’t want it, they said...’no, not yet,’ and the sky said, ‘No, not there’”(Forster 362).

Works Cited

Forster, E. M. A Passage To India. New York: Harcourt, Brace and, 1924. Print.

"Mosque, Cave, Temple, and a Few Comments on the Weather." Shmoop. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. .

"The Structure of E. M. Forster's "A Passage to India"" Your Knowledge Has Value. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. .

"A Passage to India." SparkNotes. SparkNotes. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.

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