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The English Character in A Passage to India

In his novel A Passage to India, E.M Forster offers the reader a critique of English colonists, or Anglo-Indians as he refers to them, in colonized India. Forster illustrates in detail the cultural misunderstandings that result when the Anglo-Indian culture, marred by a bigoted and restrictive ethos entrenched in customs that discourage opposition to the masses, clashes with the wholly different culture of the native people of India, “a world whose richness and subtlety they [the English] have no conception” (“Notes on the English Character” 5). In the Bridge Party that takes place at the start of the novel, the reader is introduced to some of these prejudices and cultural misunderstandings that are formed with the fusion of these two divergent cultures. Using the characters of Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested, Forster demonstrates the differences between the attitudes of the English who have lived in India for an extended period of time and those who are newly arrived in India and tend to have a more sympathetic, unbiased view of the native Indians.

Forster believes that one of the greatest flaws in the typical English character and a primary reason the English frequently encounter cultural misunderstandings abroad is


Even Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested, however, display some of the destructive traits that are a result of English culture. While both are new to India and therefore more sympathetic, they both still have been impacted by their society back in England. Adela, who is described by Mr. Fielding as “one of the more pathetic products of Western education” (119), has a genuine interest understanding India. Her interest, however, seems overtly academic; her curiosity about India is not primarily a curiosity about Indians themselves, but rather an intellectual concern with their culture. Forster suggests that the now decent and accommodating Adela may eventually assume the imperialist attitudes that mark the other Englishwomen. Mrs. Moore is also supportive of the Indians, but holds an idealized, somewhat close-minded Christian view on the world, thus adding to cultural misunderstandings seen later in the text.

With the introduction of the British imperialists at the Chandrapore Club, as the guests prepare for the Bridge Party, we immediately witness many of these racist, callous sentiments towards the Indians. Chapter Two is riddled with bigoted language and hateful remarks, most notably in Mrs. Callendar’s remark that “the kindest thing one can do to a native is to let him die” (27). Ronny Heaslop exemplifies the colonial bureaucratic mindset that dominates the English elite. He suspects all Indians of wrongdoing and consistently

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Approximate Word count = 975
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)


  

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