Division and conflict in passage to India

Division and conflict in passage to India

Divisions Under their Various Forms 

The geographical lines of division are mostly seen through the eyes of an omniscient narrator. E.M. Forster’s novel A Passage to India opens with a description of Chandrapore, the fictitious name of a city on the Ganges, seen through the eyes of an omniscient narrator. This is the setting of most of the action of parts I and II and this short first chapter introduces some of the themes that will develop as the drama unfolds. One of them is the striking contrast between Europeans and non-Europeans. The reader is shown an unappealing view of the native part of the city: « the streets are mean, the temples ineffective », worse, there are « alleys whose filth deters all but the invited guest ». In the bazaars, « the very wood seems made of mud, the inhabitants of mud moving ». To sum it up, « the general outline of the town [is] swelling here, shrinking there, like some low but indestructible form of life. »1 The adjective low is a key word foreshadowing the description of the other districts of the city; indeed, away from the Ganges, the ground rises, and on the first elevation, stand the houses of the Eurasians, the mixed race, while « on the second rise is laid out the little civil station » and from this perspective, Chandrapore appears as « a city of gardens », « a tropical pleasaunce washed by a noble river ». Unlike the untidy native town, the European district is « sensibly planned », with roads intersecting « at right angles ». 2 So, not only are the three categories of people strictly segregated by the colour of their skin: dark, half and half, and white, but they are also set at different degrees of elevation: low, at mid-height and at the top. Through the symbolic rising ground, the European civilisation is thus represented as supposedly being superior to the others. The division between colonizers and colonized could not be more clearly expressed when the narrator concludes: the civil station « shares nothing with the Indian city except the overarching sky ».3 But the sky, although common to all, is in fact a natural element contributing to the division between Indians and non-Indians: because of the overwhelming power of the sun it is totally alien to « sahibs », who cannot feel at ease under its vault. Sailing back home from Bombay, Lady Mellanby exclaims with relief « we are safely out of the frying-pan » In Burmese Days the geographical lines of division are also sharply defined. Kyauktada, believed to have been inspired by the actual town of Kathar in Upper Burma, is inhabited by seven English people, by native Burmese, by Indians, by about a hundred Chinese, as well as by two Eurasians. The small European community lives on rising ground too, and halfway down the hill, stand the church, the cemetery, and the Club, three places which will play a key-role in the course of the action. Lower down, on the other side of the maidan1 , lies the native town and its bazaar, « hidden in green groves of peepul trees »2 , just as in Forster’s Chandrapore. There is a split between colonizers and colonized; moreover the latter are invisible to the former: natives are non-existent as human beings. As Orwell, commenting on coppersmiths working in a booth and then on a file of old women carrying loads of firewood in a street in Marrakech, remarked in a thought-provoking, deliberately honest essay: All people who work with their hands are partly invisible, and the more important the work they do, the less visible they are. Still, a white skin is always fairly conspicuous. In northern Europe, when you see a labourer ploughing a field, you probably give him a second glance. In a hot country, anywhere south of Gibraltar or east of Suez, the chances are that you don’t even see him. I have noticed this again and again. In a tropical landscape one’s eye takes in everything except the human beings.3 This physical separation between Europeans and non-Europeans reflects distinctions made along racial, social and cultural lines. The characters are thus confronted with racial, social and cultural barriers confronting the characters. In the imperialist world, separateness is built on physical appearance: the « race » of the Indians is set apart from the British because of their darker skin and black hair; this can be illustrated by the character of Aziz whose job as a doctor positions him at the top of the social ladder, and so should connect him to circle from which he however is barred. He bluntly informs Mrs Moore that « Indians are not allowed into the Chandrapore Club even as guests. »4 In both novels the emphasis on the « club » shows the exclusion of the natives from social contacts with Europeans. This makes Adela Quested, Ronny’s intended fiancée, exclaim:  » I want to see the real5 India. » She continues by stating:  » I have scarcely spoken to an Indian since landing. »1 In fact, without being fully aware of it, she thus affirms the separation of races. 

The Representation of the Resulting Conflicts

Hatred, Revolts, Riots, Seen from Various Perspectives 19 Both novels stage the relations between the colonizers and the colonized in a general atmosphere of distrust and hatred. In A Passage to India the first scene in the action, involving Aziz, displays the usual contempt and antipathy of the colonizers towards their subjects. Events are seen from Aziz’s point of view: disturbed during his dinner, Aziz must respond to Major Callendar’s summons, fearing however to be snubbed, therefore humiliated, by servants when stepping into the sahib’s bungalow. His feelings are indeed to be hurt when he learns that the Civil Surgeon has left without leaving any message for him, while on the other hand his kind gesture is disregarded by the two ladies « Mesdames Callendar and Lesley » who are just coming out of the house: they are only too pleased to jump into the tonga (a small light two-wheeled carriage) he has ridden in without acknowledging him. So « the inevitable snub – his bow ignored, his carriage taken »1 has come. He then expresses his rightful resentment at Imperial India: « But to shake the dust of Anglo-India off his feet! To escape from the net and be back among manners and gestures he knew! »2 Later when Aziz meets Mrs Moore in the mosque he feels trust enough in her to voice his anger at Major Callendar’s attitude, an extraordinary dialogue between an Indian and a white woman. And indeed when Ronny, the City Magistrate, learns about this encounter he is very much surprised, and even vexed that his mother should not have suggested at once, by the tone of her voice, that she had been talking to a native. He then sees Aziz not as an individual, but as a native subordinate in the Imperial system, and therefore as one who can only have two types of behaviour: « the native either swaggers or cringes »3 . His racial prejudices are further illustrated during the tea party at Fielding’s house. His mother, Adela, Aziz and Professor Godbole are present, but Mrs Moore alone is taken round the school by her host. When Ronny comes upon this scene he is deeply annoyed and reproaches Fielding for his carelessness « I don’t like to see an English girl left smoking with two Indians »4 . Reciprocal hatred between the two communities prevails during the Bridge Party and Mrs Turton may wonder « Why they come at all, I don’t know. They hate it as much as we do. »5 She shows her contempt of Indians when reminding Mrs Moore « You’re superior to them, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Ibidem,!p.14 2 Ibidem,!p.15 3 Ibidem,!p.29 4 Ibidem,!p.71 5 Ibidem,!p.38 20 anyway. Don’t forget that. »1 She unashamedly goes further when approaching one of the ladies who happens to speak English « Why, fancy, she understands! »2 . However, Mrs Turton’s patronizing manner is somewhat subdued when she realizes that this group of guests are Westernized and « might apply her own standards to her. »3 Generally the women are shown as the ones who insist most crudely on their superiority, being the rudest in their manners. At the time of the troubles, a young woman declares she is afraid of going home, in case « the niggers attacked. »4 Such characters, by E.M.Forster’s own distinction in Aspects of the Novel, are flat characters, best when they are comic. Here the author’s aim is obviously satirical and causes the reader’s anger rather than his laughter. Similarly Indians generally dislike the British and struggle to drive them out of their minds. For instance Aziz, very early in the story, while talking with his companions Mahmoud Ali and Hamidullah, expresses his doubts about the possibility of befriending the British. As he states « Why talk about the English? […] Why be either friends or not friends with the fellows? Let us shut them out and be jolly. »5 Later, after deluding himself about the possibility of interrelating with Adela, and the subsequent disaster of the Marabar Caves, he regrets his great mistake, which « has been taking [their] rulers as a joke ».6 Aziz’s former, and misjudged indifference now turns to bitter loathing: his « genuine hatred of the English »7 is exemplified by his refusal to answer Fielding’s letters and his resentful attitude when Fielding, as Education Inspector, and his family come to Mau. He is determined to avoid him if he can. In Burmese Days the strongest negative feelings are to be found in Ellis. He keeps yelling at the insolence of « niggers ». He keeps using this insulting word, both in speech, and in writing. When he uses it in front of MacGregor, the latter stiffens and tries to make it clear that the natives are « nothing of the kind. The Burmese are Mongolians, the Indians are Aryans or Dravidians, and all of them are quite distinct— »8 , explanations which are rudely interrupted by Ellis who calls them « rot ».