History Literature / APassageToIndia

* PunchClockVillain: McBryde expresses the same racism as his peers, but he generally respects Indians and regrets the furor building up around Aziz's trial. He also remains friendly with Fielding when other British characters turn their back on him.

* AdaptationalVillainy: McBryde. The sympathetic qualities Forster gives him are pretty much excised in the movie, making him a straightforward villain.

* OopNorth: Inspector MacBride.

'''''A Passage to India''''' is a 1924 novel by E.M. Forster about relationships between Britain and India in the last days of the [[TheRaj British Raj]] and the struggle for Indian independence. The novel opens with Adela Quested and Mrs. Moore arriving at India. Adela is to marry Ronny Heaslop, Mrs. Moore's son and the city magistrate. While visiting a mosque one night, Mrs. Moore meets Dr. Aziz, an Indian physician. The two become close friends. At a later visit, Dr. Aziz agrees to take Mrs. Moore, Adela, Cyril Fielding (a pro-Indian teacher at a local school) and Narayan Godbole (a Hindu-Brahmin professor) to a visit to the Marabar Caves.

* TheRaj

"A Passage to India" is a 1924 novel by E.M. Forster about relationships between Britain and India in the last days of the [[TheRaj British Raj]] and the struggle for Indian independence. The novel opens with Adela Quested and Mrs. Moore arriving at India. Adela is to marry Ronny Heaslop, Mrs. Moore's son and the city magistrate. While visiting a mosque one night, Mrs. Moore meets Dr. Aziz, an Indian physician. The two become close friends. At a later visit, Dr. Aziz agrees to take Mrs. Moore, Adela, Cyril Fielding (a pro-Indian teacher at a local school) and Narayan Godbole (a Hindu-Brahmin professor) to a visit to the Marabar Caves.

* TheBritishEmpire

** This IS after all, a [[LawrenceOfArabia David Lean]] [[DoctorZhivago film]].

* SpotOfTea: It's exasperating to Adela how the vast majority British Community in Chandrapore has recreated a microcosm of English life and Culture without making any effort to associate or learn about their Indian subjects. When she's taken to the Club for the first time she's served Tea and cucumber sandwichs.

A film of the book was made in 1984, directed by David Lean.

* ArcWords: "God is love" , or "God si love".

* AmbiguousSituation: No one will ever know what ''really'' happened in the Marabar caves, [[ShrugOfGod Forster refused to say]] insisting that it wasn't as important as the chain of events it set in motion

Something happens when Adela enters a cave by herself--the book is never clear on just what it is. She leaves the cave bloody and disheveled, and accuses Dr. Aziz of raping her. The man is arrested, which leads to the Indian community and Fielding springing to Aziz's defense. Fielding is ostracized from the English community. Mrs. Moore is criticized by Ronnie for her belief that Aziz is innocent and her unwillingness to testify at the trial.

* DirtyForeigner: How the British (except Mrs. Moore, Adela and Fielding) see their Indian brothers, even though they are in ''their'' country!

* PositiveDiscrimination: Subverted. While the native Indian characters are generally presented in a more sympathetic light than the Anglo-Indians, they are not immune to bigotry themselves, particularly on religious grounds. Dr Godbole feels the need to wash his hands after touching a non-Hindu, and several of the Muslim characters express the view that Hindus are barbarians who need to be civilised by their influence - essentially parroting the views of the British.

* PositiveDiscrimination: The Indian characters in comparison to the British get this treatment.

Something happens when Adela enters a cave by herself--the book is never clear on just what it is. She leaves the cave bloody and discheveled, and accuses Dr. Aziz of raping her. The man is arrested, which leads to the Indian community and Fielding springing to Aziz's defense. Fielding is ostracized from the English community. Mrs. Moore is criticized by Ronnie for her belief that Aziz is innocent and her unwillingness to testify at the trial.

* WhiteAndGreyMorality: While the book makes no bones of how utterly bigoted and cruel the British Raj was, the English characters are mostly portrayed with enough redeeming features to make them seem human. Such as Heaslop's genuine love for his mother. Now compare this to the saintly Indian characters of Aziz or Nawab Bahadur.

Something happens when Adela enters a cave by herself--the book is never clear on just what it is. She leaves the cave bloody and discheveled, and accuses Dr. Aziz of raping her. The man is arrested, which leads to the Indian community and Fielding spring to Aziz's defense. Fielding is ostracized from the English community. Mrs. Moore is criticized by Ronnie for her belief that Aziz is innocent and her unwillingness to testify at the trial.

A film of the book was made in 1984, directed by DavidLean.

* InherentInTheSystem: One of the main critiques the book levels against the Raj is that it co-opts even the most well meaning of the English into veiwing the Indians as inferior. It is also the reason that Aziz and Fielding can't be friends while the British remain in India

* [[RealMenLoveJesus Real Men Love Allah]]: After Babur, Aziz's second favourite of the Six Great Mughal Emperors is the mighty, fiercely religious warrior king Aurangzeb. Aziz himself is described as possessing a wiry strength in himself, and is a deeply devout Muslim, as his scene in the Chandrapore Mosque describes well.

* MeanBrit: Ronny Heslop. He insults Aziz behind his back without ever having spoken with the man, initially flatly forbids Adela from accepting Aziz' invitation to the Caves, then later refuses him bail and sends his mother, an important witness to the events at the caves, arbitrarily back to England to prevent her from testifying on Aziz' behalf. Also applies to Inspector Macbride even though he's Scottish.

** This IS after all, a [[LawrenceOfArabia David Lean]] [[DoctorZhivago film]]