A Passage to India
E.M. Forster (1924)
“The definitive novel of British imperialism: a story about whether two human beings on opposite sides of an empire can ever actually meet.”
Short Summary
In British India, idealistic Dr. Aziz befriends two English visitors — Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested — and arranges an excursion to the Marabar Caves. Inside the caves, something happens — or doesn't. Adela accuses Aziz of assault. The trial splits the colony along racial lines. Adela retracts the accusation at the last moment. Aziz is acquitted but the friendship is destroyed. Years later, Aziz and his English friend Fielding meet again in a Hindu princely state — and the country itself declares that true connection between colonizer and colonized is impossible, not yet.
Detailed Summary
The novel is set in the fictional city of Chandrapore in British India during the 1910s–1920s, a city divided by geography and race: the Indian town below, the British Civil Station above, the Marabar Hills brooding in the distance. Part One: The Mosque. Mrs. Moore, an elderly English widow, has co...