-
Essay / Analysis of British Characters in a Passage to India
India, an incredibly geographically complex and exotic subcontinent, was never unified into a single nation, until the arrival of the British. The British East India Company readily adopted the indigenous culture and exploited the region for profit. However, as Indians became agitated by British exploitation, peaceful protests broke out, but were suppressed by the bloody Amritsar massacre, in which "...the romantic India of the 18th-century Western imagination had died and disappeared…” and the domination of the British Empire. repressed (Parry 1). *EM Forster, a liberal humanist, decided to write a novel based on the conflicts and foreign nationhood of the British in A Passage to India.* An evaluation of the British characters in EM Forster's A Passage to India accurately defines the literary concept of "strangers in a foreign land." “Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe writing and presentation of A Passage to India allows the novel to possess a polyphonic and symphonic design, ultimately enabling the literary concept of “strangers in a strange land” to be developed. EM Forster actually resided and had the opportunity to experience Indian culture, gain a first-hand perspective and enable: "...Forster's portrait of Anglo-Indian rule [to be] a well-observed portrait, of the pen of someone who knew the region perfectly. realities of the Raj”, thus breathing life into the novel (“A Passage to India” 3). Through real-life experiences and the acquisition of knowledge and cultural understanding of India, this allows Forster to give all the characters, regardless of gender or race, a lively and dynamic personality on n' no matter what topic is covered throughout the novel. Forster's understanding of India then allows us to develop another polyphonic idea, the separation of East and West. Through observation in the novel itself, it can be “…[discovered] that Forster's India is an empty space…its principal monuments, the mosque, the caves and the temple, function primarily as cavities for contain Western perceptions of what is missing in the novel. Is…” reveals another layer and depth of the novel (Parry 185). In reality, in every sense of the word, the Western world, being mainly composed of white Anglo-Saxons and Christians, could not understand an Eastern world composed of Indians, Muslims and Hindus. Fortunately, Forster having the chance to interact with the Eastern world, can easily bring out the fundamental issues and present them through the narrative of the novel. This symphonic weaving gives both cultures the opportunity to see each other despite each's lack of understanding and further infuses even more depth into the perspective of both cultures throughout the novel. Finally, Forster masterfully observes: “…the perfect relations, once or future, between Indian and Anglo-Indian men have been damaged,” which truly represents a dynamic polyphonic aspect in the novel (Davidis 2). Realizing that the entire relationship between two cultures has already fallen into a dismal decadence, Forster throughout the novel vividly creates opinions within the characters that reflect this sense of destruction and deterioration, coming from both the British and Indian cultures. The overriding sense of dead relationships and ultimately failure of the two societies to integrate helps Forster add depth and create an incredibly complex and complex novel. These perspectives and opinions, existing atthrough the complexity of the polyphonic and the symphonic, allow the novel to further explain the concept of the British as "foreigners in a foreign land". Throughout the novel, the British seemingly present themselves as aliens, through their actions and concepts, making them truly “strangers in a strange land.” This concept can be first seen through: "Adela's statement that she wants to see the 'real India' implies that she is aware that she sees a British India created by the white powers that be." ; the statement also reveals, of course, his mistake in believing that there can be one India…” revealing the whole misconception of the British (Davidis 8). Never in the history of India have the people been united under their own power or identity, and yet the British simply ignore this historical subject. Although the British had somehow “unified” India, the geography, religions and people did not see themselves as a collective whole, but as individuals living among others. The British misconception that Indians believe they can view themselves as a unified group leads to another major problem: arrogance. Ronny creates a perfect example of British arrogance, as "like the older and equally jaded Callendar, Ronny believes that Indians are, for some inexplicable reason, resistant to the notion of truth", demonstrating an ironic arrogance (Christensen 13 ). The British, believing and acting accordingly that their heritage and culture encompasses the absolute paths of truth and knowledge, strut around India with notions of racial superiority and noble attitudes. Ironically, this whole conception of truth reveals a cynical turn towards the British, who are indeed reluctant to entertain the idea of the truth about their belonging to India. Rather than realizing or understanding that India belongs to the Indians, the British continually imposed their power and rule across India, never understanding that India is not for the British. Unfortunately, this ironic truth paves the way for “…Fielding, [who] had no roots among his own people. Yet he could not become a sort of Mohammed Latif,” revealing another lamentable aspect of British alienation (Forster 289). Fielding, a British man who turns against his own for the sake of the Indians, demonstrates that the two cultures cannot even integrate with each other. Once he leaves his own people, Fielding literally has nowhere to go. Having grown up in English civilization and culture, he cannot simply abandon all these ideals and practices in favor of Indian methods, because he has no roots among Indians. Without being able to rely on or even identify with either culture, Fielding becomes isolated, one of a kind. Fielding shows how the British simply cannot join with the Indians, ultimately demonstrating how the British are alienating themselves. The British all believe in morals and ideals that push them further towards the path of isolation, truly developing and revealing the concept that the British are indeed "strangers in a strange land". The Indian perspective and the views of the British reflect and support this concept. “strangers in a foreign land”. From the beginning of the novel, the sharp division between the British and Indians can be seen through the failure of the bridge party. While the Turtons host the party, the event is seen as "[A] British sense of cultural superiority and the Indian perception of their inferior status in the eyes of the British creates such 1).