The Mosque: The First Meeting Dr. Aziz is walking in the evening. He enters a mosque. He sees a British man taking off his shoes. He is surprised. The British do not respect Indian customs. The man is Cyril Fielding. He is a schoolmaster. He is kind. They talk. They become friends. The mosque scene is the novel’s most hopeful moment. Aziz says, “You understand me, you know what I feel.” Fielding does. The reader hopes that the friendship will survive. It does not.
The Caves: The Ambiguous Event The Marabar Caves are the novel’s center. They are ancient, dark, and echoey. Adela Quested wants to see them. Aziz arranges a trip. They enter a cave. She is alone with him. She panics. She runs. She falls. She is scratched. She accuses Aziz of assault. The reader never knows what happened. Forster does not say. The ambiguity is the point. The caves represent the mystery of India. The British cannot understand it. They impose their own meaning. They are wrong.
The Trial: The Injustice Aziz is arrested. He is tried. The British community believes Adela. They are racist. They want a conviction. Fielding believes Aziz. He supports him. Adela recants. She admits that she was mistaken. Aziz is freed. The British are humiliated. They ostracize Adela. She is punished for telling the truth. The trial scene is a condemnation of British justice. It is also a condemnation of British racism.
The Hinduism: The Festival of Birth The novel ends with the Hindu festival of Gokul Ashtami. The earth is breaking. The sky is breaking. The elephants are breaking. Forster is trying to capture the chaos of India. The British cannot control it. They cannot understand it. They leave. The festival is a symbol of renewal. It is also a symbol of indifference. The gods do not care about British justice. They do not care about Indian suffering. They are.
The Ending: The Refusal of Friendship Aziz and Fielding meet again. Aziz says, “Why can we not be friends now?” He answers himself: “It is impossible. In the present state of things, we cannot be friends.” The earth, the sky, and the animals prevent it. The novel ends with the word “No.” Forster is not optimistic. He does not believe that empire can be undone by friendship. He does not believe that friendship is enough.
Conclusion: “A Passage to India” is a novel about failure. Aziz and Fielding fail to be friends. The British fail to rule. India fails to be understood. The reader fails to know what happened in the cave. Failure is the novel’s subject. It is also its form.
