A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster

A Passage to India
E.M. Forster

A Passage to India, though about British imperialism in India, has much to say about current relations between the United States and the Middle East. Unfortunately, Forster paints a dim picture, and it appears hopeless that two cultures can ever truly understand one another. And, if mere comprehension is impossible, one cannot hope for improved relations.

A Passage to India follows a few individuals -- Miss Quested, who has recently arrived in India with her would-be mother-in-law, Mrs. Moore. Quested's "quest" is (at its most basic) to decide if she would marry Ronny, Mrs. Moore's son. Doing so would mean a life in India, and all that it means.

What does it mean? It means doing as the other British do: namely, strictly treating the Indians as base inferiors and not interacting with them unless absolutely necessary. In fact, it is the British women who display the most appalling racism when discussing Indians. As in Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, the women are worse than their male counterparts, portrayed as highly vindictive and unsympathetic to the plight of others.

But Miss Quested disagrees: why must she treat the Indians badly? She sees no reason not to make friends. She will be different. And so, a train of consequences is set into motion, and, like dominoes falling, cannot be stopped.

Illumination Factor: High. Forster illustrates that every single individual is affected by the culture clash. It is facile to believe that only groups of people of affected, leaving the individual at peace. A Passage to India is not an uplifting book: despite speaking the same language, British and Indian can rarely understand one another. Communication is difficult and often misconstrued. The two cultures think in entirely different ways; when one group hears one thing, the other hears something different. Likewise, gestures are misread. And how does one mend this problem, when neither culture cares enough to really learn about the other and go beyond stereotypes?

In a nutshell: At times gripping (and at times tedious), A Passage to India is a timeless piece that unfortunately has much to say about our time.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4.5 out of 6 stars