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Culture in passage to india
Culture in passage to india
Theme of friendship in passage to india
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In the novel, A passage to India, Forster tries to bring to light the cultural interactions between the native Indians and their colonialists the British. It considers if there may be a possibility of personal relationships between the natives the British so as to develop a mutual satisfaction. In this novel he, tries to consider if the natives can be able to connect with the British, and vice versa (Forster, 1979: 26). The novel explores the Anglo-Indian friendship, paying attention to describing the two societies that are to be found there; natives and the British. Throughout Forster’s novel, he explores thoroughly in the barriers existing of inter-racial friendship. It shows how different cultures that are forced to intermix, find themselves misunderstanding each other and the consequences that emanate after the misunderstandings. He discusses the human beings failures in communication satisfactorily and the failure they have in eliminating biasness, in the establishment of relationships.
Based on the notion that Englishmen and Indian are equal, Fielding and Aziz build a friendship. Even though this friendship exists between them still it does not help in tying the Anglo-Indian union. This friendship of theirs is discussed on a personal level for we expect that in colonies friendship existing cannot be on an equal basis. At the beginning, it is noted that Aziz is against the British but after some time, after a meeting at the Mosque with Mrs. Moore he changes his opinion. The two nations; India and Britain would have been great friends if they treated each other like Fielding and Aziz. But as long as the British ruled the native Indians as their masters, resentment of each other will be in existence. Fielding and Aziz converse...
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...elding] and the native Indian slave [Aziz] cannot be equal. Fielding goes against his cultures and norms to keep his friendship with his friend Aziz. The cultures of the two societies were at loggerheads with each other. Some of the Indian cultures and British cultures were misunderstood by both. Aziz representing the Indians stands out as an individual who promises something with no intention of fulfilling it while the British kept to their promises to the later. The culture of the British society, symbolizes the Indians as a woman. They are the masculine ones; Fielding flies back to England coming back with a wife. This helps him not to be labeled a woman, because of his closeness and friendship with Aziz. It is evident that the cultures that the two societies have differ from each other.
Works Cited
Forster, E. M. 1979. A Passage to India. London: Penguin.
Cricket in some ways was a unifying force for the various classes in India as well as the relationship between Great Britain and India. As seen in Document 2, an Indian cricketer was invited to “...join the Sussex team,” that was a team from European country. This shows some equality between n...
The Effect of the Spanish, French and British on Indian Culture in North America The life styles of the Indians of the Americas changed greatly over time, almost completely influenced by Western culture. Each of the different Western civilizations affected the Indian tribes very differently. This is partly due to the reasons why they came to the "New World." The British came primarily for land due to their fast population growth and partially for a new economic venture. The French came for furs and luxuries that only Indians and the untamed land could provide. They created trading posts and shipped these commodities back to the mainland.
English Views In the seventeenth century, the English and many other Eastern countries came to the “new land” for a vast amount of reasons. Many of these foreigners came for religious freedom, some to seek fortune, and others were convicts being deported. However, for those who came across the sea, there was one thing they were not planning to have conflict with when they arrived. The natives, or as the English called them “savages”, which were a distinction on how some viewed these natives, had made this land their home long before settlers came exploring.
The European explorers and colonizers and Native Americans had varied relationships during their encounters in the New World. They both feared and misunderstood each other. This fear led to the two groups often mistreating each other. However, there were always times where they depended on each other’s kindness and treated each other with care. There are examples of both in the following narratives: In the letter by Christopher Columbus, he talks about the natives being timid and how he uses them to help him. In “from Richard Frethorne, to His Parents”, Frethorne tells about the Indians destroying crops and killing people. In the Soveraignty and Goodness of God by Mary Rowaldson, the author tells about her eleven weeks in captivity by the Indians. At times, they behaved as lawless savages. At other times, they showed her kindness and care.
Henretta, James A. "The Morphology of New England Society in the Colonial Period." Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2.2 (Autumn 1971): 379-398.
Throughout the course of history, the majority of people have always been shown to eventually and always, die. This was especially shown when the people were colonizing for the English and were trying to colonize the Americas. Many colonists escaped Europe by means of transportation to escape a harsh life, and in hopes of finding a new land where they would not be kept down by something they all called a glass ceiling. The colonists wanted to choose for themselves and wanted a place where they could freely practice their religion and their cultures. In addition, they wanted to establish a stable colony and also wanted a stable trade to the mainland of Europe. Unfortunately, the Americas were not as hospitable as everyone thought it to be.
In many situations, introducing a new party into a land that was formerly inhabited and assimilated by another party with completely different societal, political and cultural values results in a lengthy period of transition and conflict due to misunderstanding. Colonization and the interactions between colonists and Indians during the early stages of settlement in the New World was certainly no exception. Although European societies and political structures were hierarchical and left less to the impoverished members of society, Indian societies and political structures were not as patriarchal and featured communal cooperation. Culturally speaking, Europeans were more fragmented and hierarchical but less ritualistic in religious practices than were Indians. With these innumerable differences and struggles to communicate with not only the European settlers but also with each other, it is no surprise that the Indians fell at the hands of the English in King Philip’s War.
Reflecting on the colonization of North America is an uneasy topic for most Americans. The thought of war between the Indians and the early settlers creates an image of clashing cultures between the well-armed Europeans and the hand-crafted weaponry of the native Indians. We tend to have the perception that the early colonists came and quickly took away the land from the Indians but, in reality, the Europeans did not have this power. Though French explorers and English settlers had a different perception of land ownership than that of the Native Americans, the fate of the Europeans rested in the hands of the Indians. Either from self-preservation, civility or curiosity, various American Indian tribes assisted the early European colonies through the sharing of resources, by befriending them as allies and, ultimately, by accepting them as permanent neighbors.
Native American Relations During the numerous years of colonization, the relationship between the English settlers and the Native Americans of the area was usually the same. Native Americans would initially consider the settlers to be allies, then as time passed, they would be engaged in wars with them in a struggle for control of the land. This process of friendship to enemies seemed to be the basic pattern in the majority of the colonies. When the English landed in Jamestown in 1607, the dominant tribe of the area was the Powhatan (which the English settlers named after the leader of the tribe, Powhatan).
Jhumpa Lahiri, the author of the story, “The Third and Final Continent,” grew up being aware of conflicting expectations from two different countries. As Jhumpa mentioned, “I was expected to be Indian by Indians and Americans by Americans (Lahiri, pg 50).” The Third and Final Continent leaves the reader with a positive notion of the immigrant experience in America. The narrator recalls his school days in London, rooming with other foreign Bengalis, and trying to settle in this new world. He talks about how when he was 36 years old when his own marriage was arranged and he first flew to Calcutta, to attend his wedding. This statement is unique because it depicts the differences between an American culture and an Indian culture. At the time of marriage he is 36 years old and he didn’t pick who he wanted to get married to. Marriage in India is something that most parents set compared to other countries where they can marry someone of choice. Indians settle down by an arranged marriage ma...
The decision to grant independence to India was not the logical culmination of errors in policy, neither was it as a consequence of a mass revolution forcing the British out of India, but rather, the decision was undertaken voluntarily. Patrick French argues that: “The British left India because they lost control over crucial areas of the administration, and lacked the will and the financial or military ability to recover that control”.
Sharpe, Jenny. “A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.” Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. James P Draper, Jennifer Brostrom, and Jennifer Gariepy. Vol. 77. Detroit: Gale, 1993. 253-57. Rpt. of “The Unspeakable Limits of Rape: Colonial Violence and Counter-Insurgency.” Genders 10 (1991): 25-46. Literature Criticism Online. Web. 4 Mar. 2011. .
It is the goal of the author in this book to convey the cultural and historical importance of captivity overseas. Even more so than that, I believe the author goes even further by claiming that; regardless of the various forms and locations around the world that captivity took place it still hold a special place in the history of the British Empire between 1600 and 1850. In order to truly understand the impact the British Empire had on the world and vice versa. One must explore the cultural interactions between the British colonists with the foreign lands they were forcing themselves upon. As the author puts very simply, the cultural interaction of taking captives in this era was not a linear process. Those Britons who came to the colonies slaving out other cultures for their benefit one day, may find themselves calling another culture master the next. This history of the British Empire is a history of social futility. Because, despite its small size this collection of English, Welsh, Scottish, and
In Forster's A Passage to India we recognize certain elements that can be seen as Orientalist. According to Edward Said's definitions of Orientalism I tried to point out some of these Orientalist elements. However, there are many more examples in the novel which would also fit in the Orientalist frames set by Said.
In this short story the protagonist is a newly married Indian woman who is attending a party with her husband’s western friends. Throughout the short story the reader senses her anxiety of being introduced to people who are not as conservative as her. “She longed for the sanctuary of the walled home from which marriage had promised an adventurous escape. Each restricting rule became a guiding stone marking a safe path through unknown dangers” ("The First Party"). In this quote, the narrator explains how the Indian woman did not feel comfortable or at ease with this new world she had been introduced too. She fiend to be back home but because of her tie that she made to this man through marriage she is in her mind, stuck with him. In addition to her anxiety of being with non-conservative woman, who drank, smoked, dressed provocatively, and had painted nails, the protagonist grew angry in her own head. “She had been so sure of herself in her contempt and her anger, confident of the righteousness of her beliefs, deep-based on generations-old foundations” ("The First Party"). Is this the way that the Indian people reacted to British colonialism? The things that western people found normal, was this disrespectful to the Indian people. The protagonist surely thought it was and was certain that her anger was not misplaced. She felt as her anger was a sign of her strong faith. She came to the realization that her husband was someone who would challenge her beliefs but above all she knew that her beliefs state that her life must be one with his (“The First Party”). This realization must be heartbreaking, to realize that one 's comfort is not found in their life partner. The protagonist was raised to believe that her life must be one with her husband, that she is