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Document 1
Document 1
Semester: III
common traits and values in his essay “Notes on The English Character”
correlation between these two works, I will be focusing on the events that
occurred in the novel, the characters’ reactions toward said events, and their
behavior.
analyzing the characters objectively. It also allows Forster to judge his own
characters. The values like solidity, integrity, and efficiency can be clearly
observed in English characters throughout the novel, but also these values seem
limited when dealing with English and not Indians. This goes on to show the
hypocritical nature of English characters and their superiority complex over their
race which Forster has discussed in his essay. But as Forster commented in his
essay, it is not a conscious fault on the part of the English, but they sincerely
consider themselves superior and perfect, which leads them to see all the Indians
The English are self-conceited and genuinely believe they are needed in India to
maintain order and peace among the crude and chaotic Indians. When Ronny
Heaslop says to Adela, “What I say. We’re out here to do justice and keep the
in these sentiments and uses them to justify his cruel and derogatory behavior
toward all Indians. Like him, all English are overly cautious and hypocritical
towards Indians. Almost all of them presume ulterior motives behind every
Indian’s actions and speech. The primary cause for this, in the words of Forster,
is “there is plenty of brain power [in the English], but it is more often used to
confirm prejudices than to dispel them.” This further renders them unable to
question and judge their own assumptions about the superiority of their race and
Empire. They fail to question their hypocrisy and ulterior motives when building
“...up an Empire with a Bible in one hand, a pistol in the other and financial
fails the English by not providing the mental clarity needed to objectively
analyze his own faults. But it surely helps develop the sentiment of esprit de
corps, which can be clearly observed in their solidarity among people of the
same race and nationality. The character of an English undoubtedly undergoes
some changes during his stay in India, as also observed by Miss Quested in
Ronny, “India had developed sides of his character that she had never admired.”
At the same time, some traits of the English character do not get affected by the
least by geographical or cultural change, like their slowness. “It acts promptly
elucidate this trait. The same can be observed in the motor accident in chapter
VIII; Ronny and Miss Quested remain a lot calm and composed compared to
Nawab Bahadur, who was frantic about the whole incident. Being frantic would
not have been helpful in such a situation in any way, so it could be considered a
correct course of action. But this slowness of Miss Adele coming out with the
truth about the cave incident also almost led to a disaster during Aziz’s trial. It
would be wrong to say that the English are unemotional and cold people, but
they are practical. They even judge and rationalize the appropriateness of their
emotions which would never make sense to an Indian who knows to be sincere
with his sentiments like Aziz. Earlier in the same chapter, Ronny and Miss
Quested treated their issue of marriage very rationally and with a sense of
aloofness. On the other hand, Aziz feels every emotion very sincerely and
comprehend this because of his “...an undeveloped heart--not a cold one.” This
lack of understanding and the coldness towards the Indians could be attributed to
Like any other, an English character also has several layers that are difficult to
gauze from, with a superficial understanding of it. “It has depths that do not
reveal themselves at the first gaze.” E. M. Forster, in both his novel, “A Passage
to India,” and the essay “Notes on the English Character,” aim and contribute
underlying complexities.