Mystery in Passage to India

A Passage to India is a novel deeply tied to culture, a culture in which religions, social priorities, and economic relations all contribute to a diversity which separates India from the West. These cultural differences, however, create an atmosphere of mystery by contrasting Indian culture with Western culture within the novel. This results in an emotionally and culturally powerful novel, but it also leads to much confusion on the part of a reader unfamiliar with Indian society. Social etiquette and individual relationships, and more broadly, religious and cultural differences with Western society, induce this sense of mystery in A Passage to India.

One example of this mystery occurs in the scene between Dr. Aziz and Mrs. Moore in the mosque. Not familiar yet with Mrs. Moore, Aziz becomes enraged at her presence in his mosque. He comments, "[Y]ou should have taken off your shoes . . . " (Forster 20). Obviously the shoes are just a religious custom, but Aziz' tremendous anger hints at something else. So far Aziz has been portrayed as fairly nonchalant and religiously lax. This outburst, so unsolicited, heightens a sense of tension and mystery. Aziz' hostile accusation of injustice in speaking of Mrs. and Major Callendar has a similar effect (23). What could cause so volatile a reaction from a seemingly complacent individual?

Later, during the gathering at Mr. Fielding's, Mrs. Moore and Miss Quested inquire about whether they have insulted a Hindu couple. After agreeing to do so, the two Indians never sent their carriage for them that morning. Fielding postulates that it is a misunderstanding, but Aziz maintains that it is because they are "slack Hindus -- they have no idea of society . . ." (69). Aziz continues to comment on the deficiencies of Hindus, but the question doesn't really seem resolved. Neither answer satisfies the two ladies' curiosity. The misunderstanding and the "slack Hindus" are neither very good answers, and so the unfulfilled invitation adds yet again to the mounting mystery in the plot.

When Professor Godbole enters the scene even more strangeness ensues. "He took his tea at a little distance from the outcasts . . ." (73). Obviously there is some cultural impediment to Godbole sharing a table. This is likely due to his social status as a Hindu Brahman, especially since the rest of the party are referred to as "outcasts." It is strange, however, that Aziz does share the table since Muslims generally observe caste, and any caste would be higher than a foreigner.

Forster mystifies India on many occasions through passing narration. Comments such as, " . . . nothing in India is identifiable, the mere asking of a question causes it to disappear or to merge in something else," (86) serve only to obscure any material definition of India. During the ride with the Nawab Bahadur, when Miss Quested comments that the car ran into an animal, "A loud cry broke from [the Nawab]: his terror was disproportionate and ridiculous" (89). This terror most likely derives from the Hindu respect for life, but the accident itself so unnerves the old man as to create a nonessential tension in the story. Again non-Western cultural incidents serve to confuse the Western reader and promote an enigmatic emotive force which centers on the "mystery" of India.

Another such socio-cultural event occurs when Aziz speaks with Fielding at his bungalow. Aziz shows Fielding a photo of his wife and states, "You are the first Englishman she has ever come before" (116). This statement, of course, is tied up with the concept of the purdah. From context the meaning seems to be some sort of sanction that women hide themselves from everyone who is not family. Aziz, however, states that he would have allowed Fielding to see her alive as Hamidullah has, simply by telling her that he is a brother. This lax observance of convention creates a mysterious dichotomy which appears very often in the novel. Aziz "believes" in the purdah, and he observes the custom even though he seems to take it with minimal seriousness. In line with custom is the occasional reference to Indian myth. The first sentence of Chapter XII is riddled with religious myth: "The Ganges, though flowing from the foot of Vishnu and through Siva's hair, is not an ancient stream" (123). These allusions loose all significance to a reader unfamiliar with Indian religious myth.

In Aziz' preparation for the cave expedition, he lights on the problem of Godbole's food: "The Professor was not a very strict Hindu -- he would take tea, fruit, soda-water and sweets, whoever cooked them, and vegetables and rice if cooked by a Brahman; but not meat, not cakes lest they contained eggs, and he would not allow anyone else to eat beef: a slice of beef upon a distant plate would wreck his happiness" (127). This problem derives from Hindu dietary habits. No meat, especially beef, can be consumed, and food cannot be handled by one of a lower caste before consumption. There is also likely a sanction against eggs because they are considered meat. The whole conundrum, however, is worsened by Aziz' aversion to pork because of Muslim religious custom. The emphasis on conflicting religious customs creates a confused ambivalence which contributes to the emotive forces behind the visit to the caves.

Forster again and again makes generalizations of India which intensify the mysterious atmosphere connected to the seemingly divisive country.

How can the mind take hold of such a country? Generations of invaders have tried, but they remain in exile. . . . India knows of their trouble. She knows of the whole world's trouble, to its uttermost depth. She calls "Come" through her hundred mouths, through objects ridiculous and august. But come to what? She has never defined. She is not a promise, only an appeal (136).

It is comments such as these, especially when coupled with religious myth or custom that create such an ambiguous perception of India. The cave expedition is a good example. The expedition itself is costly and inconvenient, but Aziz maintains that "an obscure young man had been allowed to show courtesy to visitors from another country, which is what all Indians long to do . . ." (142). The description of the caves even incorporates some of the cultural imagery. Aside from the dark, flat description of the caves and the unintelligible effect of the echo and reflection, "a Brahminy kite flapped between the rocks with a clumsiness that seemed intentional" (147). The caves themselves, however, are the biggest mystery of all. Godbole regards the caves with something like reverence. The repressive, smothering effect of the caves on those who enter, however, is odd considering the caves' notoriety as natural wonders of India. The caves transform Mrs. Moore from a content, youthful old lady into a pessimistic, disinterested nuisance, and Miss Quested falsely accuses Aziz of molestation because of the cave's effect. Both of these transformations heighten the sense of mystery and ambiguity which surrounds the caves and pervades the novel.

Later in the novel several cultural incidents occur which are ambiguous and intriguing. One example is Professor Godbole's philosophy of good and evil. He considers all actions resulting in good and evil to be universal, and thus indiscriminately applicable: "Because nothing can be performed in isolation. All perform a good action, when one is performed, and when an evil action is performed, all perform it" (177). This philosophy in itself appeals to the curiosity, but the situation in which it is explicated adds a sense of mystery. Godbole speaks of Aziz in nothing but complimentary and respectful terms, yet he shows no passion, indeed, no opinion for the wrongful accusation of Aziz. This seeming lack of concern is condemned by Fielding, but Godbole goes on, at various points explaining that good and evil are both defined in "my Lord" and that suffering, unlike good or evil is strictly a matter of the individual and of no consequence to the world (178). This philosophical inquiry is the epitome of cultural mystery. Godbole's Hindu philosophy is quite alien and seems inhumane and apathetic to a mind shaped by Western philosophies. The ethical and religious stance taken by Professor Godbole on Aziz' accusation thus receives an antipodal emotion from the audience. Godbole's virtue earns nothing but Western condemnation and scorn.

The final cultural conundrum involves the Hindu ceremony at the small town to which Godbole and Aziz have moved. The ceremony is supposed to celebrate the birth of God, but, "God is not born yet -- that will occur at midnight -- but He has also been born centuries ago, nor can he ever be born, because He . . . transcends human processes" (283). This parallels the Christian myth of Jesus, so there is a sense of relation. The understanding of culture ends there, however. Soon "Gods, big and little" mount a ship with a silver dragon's head. Godbole then again interrupts with an example of his foreign philosophy by telling Aziz that he has known that Fielding married Stella Moore, not Miss Quested, for over a year and never relayed the unsolicited information. The scene is soon filled with "The Sweeper's Band," "the moment of the Despised and Rejected," and "the Ark of the Lord" (304-5). Rockets and guns then go off as Kirshna makes an appearance. The ceremony is so foreign and mystical that it creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and unreality. This atmosphere reinforces Aziz' spiritual connection with Ralph through Mrs. Moore's memory as well as reinstating Aziz and Fielding's camaraderie.

The tension which the atmosphere of mystery creates in A Passage to India is a cohesive force which links the novel with India herself and Indians as well as Englishmen in a common sense of mystical disorientation. A Passage to India remains, in its mixture of foreign myth and culture with mystical ambiguity, an unparalleled classic in the art of subtle mystery. The relationship between cultures and Forster's literary technique, however, serve to create a powerful bond in the novel which seems contrary to the confused and at times repulsive force which Western and Indian cultures seem to interact. The underlying harmony which cultural differences create in the story seems to parallel Forster's theme of potential coexistence of India and the West, but only as equals and only with an equilibrium of Western ideas.