Classic Review: A PASSAGE TO INDIA

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster was written in 1924 just as cracks in the British Empire were starting to occur. The story is set in a fictional city on the Ganges River, Chandrapore, and the nearby Marabar Caves, which are also fictional but based on the Barabar Caves in another part of India. The author may have visited these mysterious caves while visiting the country in the early 1920s. In the book, the characters can see from the colonial club the Marabar Hills, "a group of fists and fingers...thrust up through the soil." It is here, in the Marabar Caves, the climax of the story occurs. But I get a head of myself.

The story begins in the courtyard of a mosque when Mrs. Moore, newly arrived in India from Great Britain, meets Dr. Aziz, an Indian doctor who works at a local clinic. His warning that women are not allowed in the mosque offends the lady but causes the two to sit down together and have a conversation. This is the first conversation Mrs. Moore has had with an actual Indian and it sparks an interest for her to discover the real India, not just the colonial idea of India. 

Mrs. Moore journeyed to India as an chaperone for Adela Quested, a possible fiance for her son, Ronny, the city magistrate in Chandrapore. She was appalled by the way the British treated Indians, like they were second class citizens of lower intelligence. In their quests to see and know India a tea party, with actual Indians was arranged for the women. But even in this event the separation between the two cultures was very clear. So a trip to the Marabar Caves was arranged and who better to go with them than Dr. Aziz, now a friend of Mrs. Moore.

"[…] We're out here to do justice and keep the peace. Them's my sentiments. India isn't a drawing-room."

"Your sentiments are those of a god," [Mrs. Moore] said quietly, but it was his manner rather than his sentiments that annoyed her.

Trying to recover his temper, [Ronny] said, "India likes gods."

"And Englishmen like posing as gods." 

The journey to the caves is not easy and it requires a train trip to a nearby station and then a ride upon a elephant caravan to reach the caves. (See book cover, upper right.) Once there they find a series of caves which all look the same from the outside. Once inside the caves there is no light but the echo of any noise is deafening and terrifying. Later Mrs. Moore describes the echo as "boum." After exiting she insists she cannot/will not go into another cave, so Adela, Dr. Aziz, and the guide go on together. The three get separated for a few moments, lost in the maze of caves. When they emerge, Adela accuses Dr. Aziz of rape.

Shmoop summarizes it this way, "so, a girl walks into a cave...and an empire trembles." Indeed the rape trial and its after effects are felt throughout the country. Forster seemed to realize that India was a sitting on a powder keg and was getting ready to blow. By the 1920s the idea of independence was gaining momentum. In 1918 the Rowlatt Act was put in place which took away some key liberties from Indians, and in 1919 peaceful demonstrators were fired upon by the British and 500 people were killed. Forster taps into this tension, by upping the profile. He has a powerful attorney from Calcutta brought in to represent Dr. Aziz, a man unable to pay for such high powered representation. (The country is watching!) When Adela crumpled on the witness stand and recanted her accusation, the whole country erupted.

I have to admit I was pretty shocked by A Passage to India. I had expected a novel about colonization but I didn't expect a novel about the dark side of it. Whenever I read a classic novel which I know is/was often read in high school English classes, I always ask myself "why?" With A Passage to India I have a clear answer. It is an excellent novel to dissect all the horrors of colonization and the right of people to govern themselves as they see fit. There are so many themes which can be explored: justice, racial tension, religion, colonializations, power, individual autonomy, friendships, even weather.

I made the collage of book covers because each one of the covers tell a story worth exploring. I couldn't pick a favorite. The cover to the left, is the cover of the book I read, published in 1952, a reprinting from the original by Harcourt, Brace, and World. I found this antique copy in an old, dusty, used bookshop in Eastern Oregon, where my husband grew up. Inside the front cover was a name plate and Don, being Don, did a little exploration and thinks the original owner of the book was chiropractor from Portland. Inside was a newspaper clipping from The Wall Street Journal dated 2/3/88, about the Barabar Caves that served as the inspiration for the Marabar Caves in A Passage from India. The article was very interesting and led me to watch a documentary about a guy who visited the Barabar caves in India. I'd say based on both the article and documentary, don't make a trip to India to visit these caves. In addition, the book's first owner was a prolific underliner, adding some little notes written in the margins, all in pencil. I always find it fascinating to contemplate what others think is important in a book. And this actual volume was a treasure trove for me.

I rated the book with 4 stars, citing some confusing aspects of the plot as my reasons for not giving it highest marks. But it has aged well in my mind and I certainly understand why this book is considered a classic and why it is still recommended for all of us to read sometime before we die!

-Anne