A Passage to India presents the British-Indian conflict

1. By :
TaghreedMohammed Al-otaibi
ID : 341001606

2. A Passage to India presents theBritish-Indian
conflict

3. Introduction
A Passage to India, published in 1924, was E. M. Forster's first
novel in fourteen years, and the last novel he wrote. Subtle and
rich in symbolism, the novel works on several levels. On the
surface, it is about India−which at the time was a colonial
possession of Britain−and about the relations between British and
Indian people in that country

4. It is also about the
necessity of friendship, and
about the difficulty of
establishing friendship
across cultural boundaries.
On a more symbolic level,
the novel also addresses
questions of faith both
religious faith and faith in
social Conventions

5. The year after its publication, the novel received two prestigious
literary awards−the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the
Prix Femina Vie Heureuse. More than seventy years later, it
remains highly regarded. Not only do many scholars, critics, and
other writers consider it a classic of early twentieth−century
fiction, but in a survey of readers conducted by Waterstone's
Bookstore and Channel 4 television in Britain at the end of 1996,
it was voted as one of the "100 Greatest Books of the Century."

6.  A Passage to India by E. M. Forster is a novel on colonial rule, and crucial
differences between the natives of India and British are revealed.
 The novel is a relationship between colonized and the colonizer, which
discusses the modern problem of clash between cultures, and it is a
discourse on the cultural differences between two nations
 The novel is a relationship between colonized and the colonizer, which
discusses the modern problem of clash between cultures, and it is a
discourse on the cultural differences between two nations

7.  In A PassagetoIndia
the story of Miss Adela’s false
accusation against the Indian
doctor, Dr. Aziz, that he
attempted to rape her on an
expedition to the Marabar
Caves, becomes symbolic of
understanding and
misinterpretation that can
occur between cultures. It is
also symbolic of the injustice
that occurs when one people
holds power over another.

8. A Passage to India is a discourse on the understandable existence
of man, where it reveals the questions about man’s existence,
which is the feature of 20th century literature. Although there
was some sympathy for the Indian cause, most British people,
at the time, would have supported the British presence in India.
On a more symbolic level, the novel also addresses questions
of faith (both religious faith and faith in social conventions). In
the course of the novel, Dr. Aziz is accused of attempting to
rape a young Englishwoman. Aziz’s friend Mr. Fielding, a
British teacher, helps to defend Aziz.

9. Although the charges against Aziz are
dropped during his trial, the gulf
between the British and native Indians
grows wider than ever, and the novel
ends on an ambiguous note.

10. Forster'snovel is setduringa time of
increased tensionbetween theBritishand
their Indiansubjects.
1- The British presence in
India had begun in the 1600s,
when a British trading
company, the East India
Company, gained a strong
foothold in Madras, Bombay,
and Calcutta. At this time,
much of India was nominally
governed by a royal Moslem
dynasty, the Moguls. (It was
the Mogul emperors and their
court that Dr. Aziz in the novel
idealized.

11. However, the Mogul
government was
weakened by infighting
and was unable to control
all of India.
2- The Indian population
consisted of a number of
different ethnic and
religious groups, with little
sense of an overall Indian
identity.
The British were thus able
to increase their power in
India.

12. 3- Although the Irish
rebellion had no direct
effect on British rule of
India, the fact that Ireland
had gained limited
independence helped to
strengthen the idea of
possible Indian
independence in the
minds of many Indians.

13. 4- In 1773, the English
Parliament created the post
of Governor General for
India. Under
Governor−General
Cornwallis , the British
established a sophisticated
colonial administration in
India.

14. 5- Cornwallis instituted a
system of British rule that
was still mostly intact at the
time of A Passage to India.
6- Indians were forbidden to
hold high government office
and were subject to other
laws that kept them in a
subservient position, both
legally and economically.

15. 7- A number of areas of
the country known as
Native States or
Independent States were
not under direct British
rule, but were governed
by local Indian princes or
maharajahs However, the
British authorities kept
close watch on these
states, which had friendly
policies toward the
British.

16. 8- The British suppressed an
Indian rebellion (knownasthe Indian
MutinyorSepoyRebellion) in 1857. By
the time of A Passage to India
9- there was a significant
organized movement for Indian
equality and eventual
independence, in the form of
the Indian National Congress.
In 1919, nearly 400 Indians
were shot to death and another
1,200 wounded when soldiers
under British command opened
fire on a crowd that had
gathered illegally in the
northeast Indian town of
Amritsar.

17. 10- The Amritsar Massacre,
as it became known,
caused a public outcry both
in India and Britain. India
stood poised on the edge of
widespread violence.
11- In this tense
atmosphere Indian lawyer
named Mohandas K.
Gandhi began a long
non−violent campaign of
civil disobedience against
British rule.

18. Gandhi advocated Indian
equality as well as
peaceful cooperation
between the country's
Hindu and Moslem
populations.
 Forsterdoesnotmention Gandhi
orthe AmritsarMassacre, butthe
division between India'sHindusand
Moslems is amajorconcern in the
novel.

19. The next year, Gandhi was
assassinated by a Hindu
fanatic who believed
that Gandhi was making too
many compromises with the
Moslems. Ironically, today
both India and Pakistan
have relatively good
relations with Britain and the
British. So It is likely that Dr.
Aziz and Mr. Fielding would
today be able to have the
sort of uninhibited friendship
that is mentioned at the end
of the book.

20. In anycase,Forster's novelisnotonly
concernedwith itsown timebutalso
look
forwardtothe future.Thenovel hints
thatthe twogroupsmaybeableto put
asidetheirtraditionaldifferencesand
live in harmonyasIndians.

21. However, thisdid notturnoutto be
the case.Asindependencegrew
nearer,Moslems demandedthe
creationofaseparateMoslem nation,
PakistanIndianindependencein
1947wasaccompaniedbyviolent
clashesbetween Hindus and
Moslems, withtens ofthousandsof
deathsonbothsides

22. This presentation deals with the conflict between civilizations. It
takes Forster’s A Passage to India and Conrad’s Heart of
Darkness as examples to illustrate this phenomenon. In A
Passage to India the conflict between the British culture and
the Indian culture is manifested in various forms. To
demonstrate these differences, Forster presents a wide range
of elements particular to each culture. He includes not only
people of the two countries as part of the conflict, but also
other elements relating to the general make-up of the cultural
and environmental context of the two countries.

23. Fielding and Dr. Aziz wish that their friendship might continue, but
“the horses didn’t want it – they swerved apart,” and “the earth didn’t
want it, sending up rocks through which riders must pass single file”
(Forster, p. 289). This refusal to conciliate, however, seems to be the
result of “the whole conflict of civilizations” (Crews, p. 168). Conrad in
his Heart of Darkness highlights the disparity between the Western
culture and the African culture by referring to the cultural and
dogmatic differences that separate the two cultures. In the novel we
stand before a social panorama in which the blame for the failure of
communication rests, as is the case in A Passage to India, not only
on “the whole conflict of civilizations,” but also on the fundamental
differences in social structure, religious outlook and temperament

24. Conclusion
The presentation comes to the conclusion that bridging the gap between
the social and cultural structures of two different nations cannot be brought
about by use of force, “intimidation”, “extermination”, or submission of the
so-called less civilized nations. Similarly, the question of compromise
between cultures can be effected only by creating harmony between
cultures, rather than integration and annihilation of one culture on the
account of the other. Thus, removing the cultural and social barriers
between different cultures inevitably demands obliterating the causes
which bring about such divisions. Hence, it becomes necessary, in Mrs.
Moore’s opinion, that conciliation between two different nations requires
fulfillment of God’s will on earth which recommends that “God has put us
on the earth in order to be pleasant to each other