This last part of the book was a world wind and Adela annoyed me because when she was sexually assaulted she didn’t have a solution, so she impulsively blamed Aziz. Then when she really thought about it, she realized he wasn’t near her. I feel like the friendship between Fielding and Aziz represented the English and Indians, and when they weren’t friends anymore, this symbolized India and Britain not making amends. However, at the very end, Aziz saying “not yet” to Fielding about kindling up their friendship again, gives us hope that maybe Britain and India can coexist and be civil. I think a lot of this book had to do with change, mainly the end of the book. The Fielding gets married when he seems opposed to it, Aziz becomes jaded about the English and more connected to Hinduism, Adela doesn’t get married to Ronny, the one person mediating between the Indians and English is dead, and Britain taking over India and India succumbing to Britain. The change didn’t set into force until after the caves. Godbole ends up seeing a wasp and is reminded of Mrs. Moore which symbolized the good in all things. 

Having finished E.M. Forester’s A Passage to India, I can see that the names of each section play into the entirety of the story—mosque, caves, and temple. In temple, we see the resolution of the novel as Aziz learns to forgive Adela and Fielding. Temple talks a lot about the Hindu religion in Mau, and though Aziz still considers himself a Muslim, it appears that the Hindu values (such as merriment, unity, and love) have found their way into his life—“I want to do kind actions all round and wipe out the wretched business of the Marabar for ever” (pg. 356).

Aziz mentions (toward the end of the novel) the cycle his life has taken, “Mosque, caves, mosque, caves. And here he was starting again,” as he starts to help and befriend the son of Mrs. Moore (pg. 349). I think by the end of the book Aziz comes to the realization that he cannot be friends with Fielding in an India occupied by the British. Only once the British have left, and India is out of their control, can he be friends with Fielding. It is like the restarting of a cycle along with the new realization that life cannot continue this way, and that change must happen. The ending is bitter-sweet, and left me wondering what the future holds for Aziz and Fielding. Will their paths cross again? Or, are they forever to be separated by cultural barriers?  

The “Temple” chapter within A Passage to India, introduces a new beginning to erase the turmoil from the “Cave” chapter. The temple section aims to bring forward the importance of the Hindu principle of unity. The majority of this chapter is an entire reference to the Indian culture. Within the chapter Professor Godbole is at the Gokul Ashtami festival, who is portrayed mostly as a mysterious figure who has more concerns with nature and spirituality than worldly matters. Throughout the section there is a continuous reference to imitating God and the presence of the wasp throughout the novel. This links to the worship of Nature and Earth within Hinduism, which has a viewpoint of living in harmony with nature and to not exploit it. However, chaos returns later on throughout the chapter when Aziz and Ralph are in unfamiliar territory with the storm that takes place and the Hindu ceremony. Ralph shows control over his unfamiliarity by showing his connection to Hinduism. The boat crash that takes place and all of what was left behind from the storm creates another climax of chaos; everything within the novel begins to take an apparent turn. Within the event of the boat collision, Stella reaches out to Aziz rather than turning to her husband and the questionable reconciliation of Aziz and Fielding creates a disorder within the narrative of the novel. 

Theme

One of the main underlying themes of A Passage to India is the idea of the unity between all things. While the majority of the characters in the novel are Christian or Muslim, there are a lot of underlying themes of Hinduism as well. In Hinduism there is an idea that all living things are united in love as one. The characters throughout the novel are attracted to nature and all other living creatures. Then the idea that these characters are forging friendships with each other despite their differences could also lend to the thoughts that they all want to be united as one in the world. Forester uses Professor Godbole as his way of expressing these ideas of Hinduism in the novel, even though he stays away from most of the drama of the plot.

In the beginning, Chandrapore is pictured as beautiful. The mosque is title for part I and is where Aziz meets the two characters that will eventually start his, and the Indian’s, downfall. He meets Mrs. Moore in the mosque and Aziz is happy she treats him as an individual, an equal. Then comes Adela, and although she is interested in the Indian culture for more of an educational purpose, Aziz is happy that she is nice to him as well. The end of part I alludes to a confrontational situation arriving because of the extremely hot weather and everyone seeing comfort inside. Part II is called the caves where the climax happens. Aziz takes Mrs. Moore and Adela to the caves due to a game of telephone and Aziz being misinformed that they actually want to go. The whole arrival to the caves is a disaster and Aziz ends up taking the ladies alone to the caves. Where Mrs. Moore gets “attacked” in the face by a baby and gets an eerie feeling due to the echoes, and Adela gets sexually assaulted by Aziz who was nowhere near her. We end chapter 20 with an arrest of Aziz and Fielding separating himself from the British. Through out the chapters, there is definitely a presence of an outside force, the carriage being tipped over by a “ghost”, the echoes in the cave, the sexual assault of Adela… it begs one to question if this outside force was created by the tension between the British and the Indians. I think Godbole alludes to it when he says everyone is to blame for the situation with Adela.