Good Example Of ‘a Passage To India’: A Critical Review Literature Review

(Tutor’s Name)

Literature is the best way to explore the hazy traces of facts behind the imaginations and speculations about possible happenings. Subjects like history and politics become easy to comprehend when the content covers stories and sub-stories with chronological connectivity with the main theme. Most of the literary works on politics and history of the colonialist British Empire give fundamental insight of the actual incidents with the help of imaginary stories. These works usually highlight the social, economic and cultural issues and their influence on the common public as their core concept. In most cases, the authors succeed in taking the readers to the real-time effect with strong themes and wonderful plots. The effectiveness of the authors makes an impact with which the readers become enthusiastic to judiciously appreciate the characters on the basis of their themes. There are many books written on the political history of the British Raj and its impact on the local population of their colonies which draw the attention of a large number of readers. A Passage to India is such a story that touches the soul of the readers of political criticism.
Edward Morgan Foster is the author of the book A Passage to India published in 1924. Foster was brilliant observer of the social conditions prevailing in the colonial India under the British Rule. Fosters simple and beautiful style of presenting the characters and their specified roles makes the reading easy while it provides for a deep exploration of the social concerns. The book effectively addresses the untold concepts behind the communal and racial mutinies of the past. Foster’s critical focus on the political situations of the historical India makes him connect his personal experiences with the actual happenings in the country’s political administration. By reading the book A Passage to India, one can easily understand how Foster noticed the characteristics of the British Raj and identified the prejudices and biases prevailed soon after the establishment of the British government. While the book places a list of characters of diverse cultures, religions and nationalities, it gives a mirror image of the discriminative policies of the British government.
This book is a remarkable piece of political criticism spoken through the touching story of a Muslim doctor and his perils to cope up with the standards of the English people. Foster presents a few of other characters who have prominent roles in making an English community in the Indian social background. Cyril Fielding, Mrs. Moore, Professor Narayan Godbole, Mr. McBryde and Mr. Turton characterize the cultural tolerance of the wider views of the British people. On the other hand, characters like Mrs. Torton, Major Callendar and Ronny Heaslop represent the racist perception of the Englishmen about the Indians. The story has a theme of prejudiced outlook of the Englishmen which discriminates the Muslims from their social participation. Written many years after the independence and other developments in India, the contemporary relevance of the book may be a concern for some secularist readers. Also, the manner in which Islam was looked down upon in the early history of the British India makes an exaggerating note of the socio-cultural and religious impacts of the English advent on secular regions of the Asian continent. Dr. Aziz is the symbolic representation of an average Indian who has the guts and will to react upon emergencies without clear reasoning of the impacts of the action. The tragic episode of the doctor’s life is an example of the miseries resulted from impulsive responses of normal Indians to the momentary impulses to help the needy ones.
With this long story, the author examines and evaluates the correlation between the innocence of Indians and the social and cultural issues associated with it. The sense of cultural tolerance is very much present among the Indians as one of their greatest legacies. The author makes it easy for the readers to believe that a majority of the Indian population welcomed the British people with the enthusiasm to learn their culture and respected their command in various branches of knowledge. Arguably, this is a tradition that the Indians have always followed; a tradition that hosted the cultures of the guests. The more rewarding side of this culture is the elimination of the anxieties that might derive from the xenophobic perspectives of the inlanders. In the days before the British entry, the royal regimes had taught the values of hospitality to all, and as a result most scholarly persons were courageous with their deeds. In many contexts, the doctor's courageous approach towards the adversities and his firm faith in God despite the prospective death sentence show the dedication and self reliance of the Indian Muslims. However Foster thinks that linking emotions to reactions is the part of the typical Indian behavior. Foster’s clinical approach to exemplify the British style of legitimate handling of issues with the case of Adela.
The controversial trial of Aziz on charges of sexually assaulting Adela involves the participation of regional politics mixed with the traces of racial discrimination experienced by the Indians during the British regime. Foster believes that the humanitarian approach of the Indians often makes them ignorant about the seriousness of circumstances and the resultant effect lands them in deep trouble. Foster’s theme stands as a social mirror of the British India in the early twentieth century, the period that witnessed the events like communal mutinies and violent regional agitations. The need for designing such strong literature was essential in making an impact on the representatives of the British government in India. The development of the story sees a confused Adela failing to confirm the assault in the final trial, as a result of which the doctor walks free. The transformation of an English loving, educated young man to a rather socially challenged and xenophobic individual gives a strong hint of the defects of prejudiced English ways to handle the Indians in those colonial days. Altogether, A Passage to India draws the attention of all kinds of readers with several dramatic moments to reflect its critical approach to the British Raj in the culturally advanced Indian societies.

Works Cited

Forster, Edward M. A Passage to India. Black Cat-Cideb, 1994. Print.