return. He learns that Fielding married Mrs. Moore’s daughter Stella, and Dr.

Aziz and Fielding make amends. The novel ends with both Dr. Aziz and Fielding
realizing that they cannot be true friends again as long as India is ruled by
England.
ithout Mrs. Moore. Unfamiliar with the Indian customs, Adela asks Dr. Aziz if
he has more than one wife. Dr. Aziz is embarrassed by the question and
slips into a nearby cave to regain his composure. When he returns, the Twe Ronny, asks Aziz whether he has more than one wife—a question he
guide tells him that Adela is exploring the caves alone. Dr. Aziz angrily considers offensive. Aziz storms off into a cave, and when he returns, Adela is
chases the guide away and starts searching for her. He discovers her gone. Aziz scolds the guide for losing Adela, and the guide runs away. Aziz finds
broken field glasses and becomes concerned for her safety. Dr. Aziz looks Adela’s broken field-glasses and heads down the hill. Back at the picnic site,
down at the base of the hill and sees Adela taking with another British Aziz finds Fielding waiting for him. Aziz is unconcerned to learn that Adela
woman who has arrived in a car with Fielding; he goes down to meet them, has hastily taken a in the cave. Aziz is set free, and Fielding escorts Adela
but Adela and the other woman drive away before he gets there. to the Government College, where she spends the next several weeks.
Fielding begins to respect Adela, recognizing her bravery in standing
Dr. Aziz, Fielding, and Mrs. Moore return to the train station where Dr. Aziz is against her peers to pronounce Aziz innocent. Ronny breaks off his
arrested for sexually assaulting Adela in one of the caves. Dr. Aziz is jailed engagement to Adela, and she returns to England.
and denied bail because of his assault on an English woman. Fielding
openly supports Dr. Aziz’s innocence and is ostracized by the British
community. Mrs. Moore abefriend a white person again.

Several years later, Fielding returns to India with his wife. Dr. Aziz hears of
his return and thinks he is married to Adela, causing his bitterness and
anger to
 Aziz, however, is angry that Fielding would befriend Adela after she Even thoughmewhat, after marrying an English girl. He is
nearly ruined Aziz’s life, and the friendship between the two men suffers as a actually surprised to recall how much he tried to do for Aziz in
consequence. Then Fielding sails for a visit to England. Aziz declares that he is
done with the English and that he intends to move to a place where he will not
have to encounter them. Fielding, then, has become more conservative, more narrow
in outlook by the end of the novel.
Two years later, Aziz has become the chief doctor to the Rajah of Mau, a Hindu
region several hundred miles from Chandrapore. He has heard that Fielding
married Adela shortly after returning to England. Aziz now virulently hates all
Aziz also tries to reach out to Adela, the young Englishwoman
English people. One day, walking through an old temple with his three children, who shows rs Moore is the one who seems to connect most
he encountetroduced to an argument, between Mahmoud Ali, naturally and simply with other people; she does not care
Hamidullah, and, Aziz raising this English-Indian-friendship about social and cultural distinctions, she does not try to
question. The argument is quite significant because it sets the intellectualise and rationalise friendship, as do other
tone of the novel and introduces the different Indian attitudes characters (most notably Adela).
towards the issue.
Forster shows that not only do cultural differences and absence
For instance, Mahmoud Ali, who has known the English only in of mutual respect hamper English-Indian friendship but also do
India, claims that such friendship is impossible. Educated at the British colonial rule and racism. For instance, Anglo-Indian
Cambridge, Hamidela, and Fielding. In each case, even if the women, including Mrs. Callendar who thinks that “the kindest
friendship begins promisingly, it is soon beset by difficulties which thing one can do to a native is to let him die,” are shocked
are never wholly surmounted. at Adela’s desire to meet Indians. , for instance her own son
Ronny. The novel suggests that inter-racial friendship can
To look first at Aziz and Fielding, they seem to get on very well flourish only when far from society, as exemplified by Mrs
indeed for a time, but sadly their mutual friendship and respect Moore’s and Aziz’s first meeting alone in the mosque at night; a
is damaged by Aziz’s trial. Aziz comes to harbour a general hatred romantic place, far removed from the usual social routines and
of the English as a result, or at least he tries to, and to this end conventions. In society, though, there are simply too many
readily believes the worst of even Fielding. barriers to overcome. Mrs Moore ends up becoming deeply
depressed, and like Adela, she too leaves India, to die at sea.

A Passage to India ends with the same question it begins with;

i.e. is it possible to have an English-Indian friendship? The answer
cigarette. Meanwhile Adela is attacked by hallucination that Aziz
is trying to rape her. So she rushes out the caves and files up a
case in the nearby thane accusing Aziz breast less woman
and moreover Adela is sensible, not sensitive. Besides Aziz’s
free, frank character shows that he can never practice this
heinous crime. Most probably Adela laces the mental balance
in the caves. Her field glasses are lost in the narrow caves
and she is knocked at by the wall of the narrow darkness. For
this reason she, out of hallucination, fears that Aziz is making an
attempt to rape her.

Symbolically interpreted, the caves show the primitive nature is

The main aim of the book is to show what a damaging effect

colonisation has on both coloniser and colonised. The English
appear generally cold and unbending towards the Indians, and
behave with haughty superiority towards them. Of course there
are notable exceptions like Fielding, and the two newly-arrived
ladies, Adela and Mrs Moore, but even their relations with the
Indity kicks in and they generally become insufferable. Some
of the English display racist prejudice of the worst kind, for
instance Mrs Callendar with her notorious comment that:
“Why, the kindest thing one can do to a native is to let him
die” (chapter 3).

On the other side, the Indians are also seen to be adversely

affected by colonialism. They often present a rather ingratiating