A PASSAGE TO INDIA

E . M . FORSTER

Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob
Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob
Roll no. 3

 Topic:
Describe the trial of Aziz?
What makes Adela draw her
accusation against Aziz?
 A Passage to India
• A Passage to India, published in 1924, was E. M. Forster's
novel. Forster achieved his greatest success with A Passage to
India . The novel takes as its subject the relationship between
East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days
of the British Raj. Forster connects personal relationships with
the politics of colonialism through the story of the
Englishwoman Adela Quested, the Indian Dr. Aziz, and the
question of what did or did not happen between them in the
Marabar Caves.
 Doctor Aziz
• Dr. Aziz, A young doctor who is the central Indian character in
the novel. Dr. Aziz is a Muslim Doctor and a widower. His
three children live with his wife's mother. Although he is
generous and loving toward his English friends, including
Mrs. Moore and Cyril Fielding, after Adela Quested accuses
him of assault he becomes bitter, nasty and particularly anti-
British. A primary concern of A Passage to India is the shift in
Dr. Aziz's views of the British from accommodating and even
a bit submissive to an aggressively anti-colonial stance.
• He is described as "an athletic little man, daintily put
together but really very strong." He works at the
government hospital in Chandrapore, under the
supervision of Major Callendar. In addition to his
practical skill as a doctor, he also has a romantic side
and writes poetry. His favourite poetic themes are "the
decay of Islam and the brevity of Love." Although he is
thoroughly Indian, he idealizes the cultures of Persia
and Arabia, where the Islamic faith originated.
 Miss Adela Quested
• Miss Adela Quested is a young Englishwoman who
with Mrs. Moore visits India for the first time. She is to
decide whether to become engaged to Ronny Heaslop.
Adela is intelligent and curious; she wants to discover
the real India and meet Indians. Adela Quested arrives
in India with the intention of marrying Ronny Heaslop,
but changes her mind several times and eventually
realizes that she does not love him and cannot marry
him.
• She is a woman of conflicting character traits: although
an intellectual, she is short-sighted. Although she
foolishly accuses Dr. Aziz of assaulting her in the
Marabar Caves, she finds the courage to withdraw the
charge. She also suffers from hallucinations that are
symptomatic of her somewhat unstable personality.
However, Forster finally reveals her to be a woman of
character and decency who accepts the difficulties she
suffers.
 Marabar Caves
• The Marabar Caves are fictional caves in the novel A
Passage to India and the film of the same name. The
caves are based on the real life Barbara Caves located
in the Jehanabad District of Bihar, India. They serve as
an important plot location and motif in the novel. Key
features of the caves are the glass smooth walls and a
peculiar resonant echo magnifying any sound made
in the caves.
Sara George
Roll no. 38
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 What actually happened in the cave
• The day of the visit to the Marabar Caves arrives and, except for
the absence of Fielding and his assistant, Professor Godbole, who
miss the early morning train, the expedition begins successfully.
An elephant transports the party into the hills and a picnic
breakfast awaits Aziz's guests when they reach their goal near the
caves. However, things begin to change when they visit the first
cave. Mrs. Moore nearly faints when she feels herself crammed in
the dark and loses sight of Adela and Dr. Aziz. She feels something
strike her face and hears a terrifying echo.
• Aziz and Adela are in route to visit more of the caves.
Preoccupied by thoughts of her marriage and by the
disturbing realization that she and Ronny do not love
each other, Adela inadvertently offends her host by
asking an ill-thought question. Aziz is momentarily
annoyed and slips into one of the caves "to recover his
balance." Adela loses sight of him and also enters one of
the caves. When Aziz reappears, he catches a glimpse of
Adela running down the hill towards an approaching car.
• Thinking that she has merely gone off to meet Ronny, Aziz
returns to the camp and learns that Adela has
unexpectedly driven away. The remaining members of the
expedition take the train back to Chandrapore. Upon their
return, Dr. Aziz is arrested and charged with making
insulting advances to Miss Quested in the Marabar Caves.
That evening, there is a meeting at the Club and Fielding
stands alone against his countrymen by stating his belief
that Aziz is innocent. Adela remains ill for several days,
hovering between common sense and hysteria.
Mehak Rasool
Roll no. 43
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 The trial day
• The hot season has begun, and everyone retreats
indoors, away from the sun. The morning of Aziz’s trial,
the Turtons drive Adela to the courthouse with a police
escort. On the way, Mr. Turton thinks to himself that
he does not hate Indians, for to do so would be to
denounce his own career and the energy spent on
them. He concludes that it is Englishwomen who really
make matters worse in India.
• In front of the courthouse, students jeer at the car. Rafi, hiding
behind a friend, yells that the English are cowards. Inside, the
English gather in Ronny’s office and loudly trade rumours
about an Indian rebellion and Fielding’s traitorous behaviour.
Ronny expresses confidence in his subordinate, Das, who is
acting as judge for the case. Major Callendar loudly denounces
all Indians. He relates with satisfaction that the Nawab
Bahadur’s grandson recently suffered severe facial injury from
a car accident; all Indians should be similarly made to suffer.
Everyone ignores Adela, who sits quietly, fearing she will have
a breakdown during her examination.
• When the case is called, the group files into the courtroom to
their special chairs . Adela notices the lowly Indian servant
operating the fan. He has a beautiful, godlike demeanour and
appears aloof from everything taking place in the room.
• McBryde opens the case for the prosecution. He presents as
scientific fact his assertion that darker races lust after fairer
races, but not vice versa. An Indian in the audience protests
that Adela is ugly. Adela becomes flustered. Callendar
requests that Adela be moved to the platform for better air. All
of the English then move to the platform.
Samia Shabbir
Roll no. 24

• Amrit Rao, the lawyer from Calcutta, protests that
having all the English up on the platform will
intimidate the witnesses. Das agrees that everyone but
Adela must return to the floor. Outside the courtroom,
word of this humiliation spreads, and the crowd jeers .
McBryde argues that Aziz lives a double life,
simultaneously “respectable” and depraved. McBryde
dwells on Aziz’s attempt to crush Mrs. Moore in the
first cave.
• Mahmoud Ali objects to this accusation, as Mrs. Moore
will not be testifying at the trial. Mahmoud Ali
bemoans the fact that Ronny has sent Mrs. Moore
away, as she knew Aziz was innocent. Despite Das’s
attempts to restore calm, Mahmoud Ali shouts that the
trial is a farce and all of them slaves. He leaves the
courtroom in protest. The Indians begin chanting “Mrs.
Moore” as if it were a charm, until the chant sounds
like “Esmiss Esmoor.”
• Adela goes up to the witness stand. She suddenly feels like
she is back at Marabar, and that it seems more lovely this
time. As McBryde questions her, she visualizes each step of
that day. When he asks if Aziz followed her into the cave, she
requests a minute to answer. Visualizing the caves, she cannot
picture him following her. She states quietly that she has
made a mistake, that Aziz never followed her. The courtroom
erupts. Callendar tries to halt the trial on medical grounds, but
Adela confirms that she withdraws all the charges. The
enraged Mrs. Turton screams insults at Adela. Das officially
releases Aziz.
Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob
Roll no. 3

 Result after assulation
• Adela's blunder is typically British and patronizing; it
illuminates once more the cause of the gulf of
prejudice which separates the English and the Indians:
ignorance, no more and no less. The embittered Aziz
moves to another province, away from British India.
After the trial, Adela leaves the courtroom alone as a
riot foments. Fielding finds her and escorts her to the
college where she will be safe.
• Although Adela drops the charges during the trial and
Aziz is freed, his reputation is ruined. He meets his
friend Fielding again, but their friendship, which has
been ruptured by the turn of events, never recovers its
former intimacy. Later, at the trial, she withdraws her
accusation. Shunned by the English, and with her
engagement to Ronny broken off, Mrs. Moore died at
the sea. Adela returns to England.
 
Thank You
for your patience.
