Passage to India
In E.M. Forster's novel A Passage to India, characters often seem grouped into one of two opposing camps: Anglo-Indian or native Indian. All the traditional stereotypes apply, and the reader is hard pressed to separate the character from his or her racial and ethnic background. Without his "Britishness", for instance, Ronny disappears. However, a few characters are developed to the point that they transcend these categories, and must be viewed as people in their own right. Perhaps the most interesting of these is Mrs. Moore. Not only do ethnic boundaries not usually apply to her, but these divisions often blur in her case. Mrs. Moore straddles the line between conventional East and West in a number of different ways, and in some cases leaves both behind completely. From her very first appearance in the book, Mrs. Moore is an atypical Westerner. The only impressions of Anglos that the reader has yet gathered are the complaints of Hamidullah and his friends at the dinner party, Major Callendar's abrupt summons of Dr. Aziz and the rudeness of Mrs. Callendar and Mrs. Lesley. Mrs. Moore materializes from nothing in the dark mosque, an apparition in a place where no whites ever bother to visit. She has r
This distinction, though, does not diminish the traits that Mrs. Moore journeys between eternity and transience, society and universal humanity, the petty reality of an old lady and the immense reality of a world without end and without meaning, and in the end escapes all of them. Sorley says, "We must exclude someone from our gathering, or we shall be left with nothing" (38). Her perspective has gone beyond race, class, species, and even planet to a place where all are one and the same. He recognizes that she is not "them", and bound by the idea of categories, automatically makes her "us". Moore has arrived at an absolute extreme that no-one else in the book (English or Indian) can attain. Moore feels a spiritual connection with all of humanity that is alien to her English companions. Her initial approach to this seems to suggest a more Eastern view, finding worth in people, places and experiences without trying to quantify their value, and believing in universal love as the highest governing power.
Common topics in this essay:
Modern Christianity,
Moore Christianity,
East West,
Passage India,
Dr Aziz,
Lesley Moore,
Adela God,
Godbole Adela,
Chandrapur Throughout,
Esmiss Esmoor,
passage india,
east west,
esmiss esmoor,
dr aziz,
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Acceptance Essays
