A Passage to India By: E. M Forster

Major Outline: full title · A Passage to India author · E.M. Forster type of work  · Novel genre  · Modernist novel; psychological novel language  · English time and place written  ·  1912–1924; India, England date of first publication  ·  1924 publisher · Edward Arnold narrator  · Forster uses an unnamed third-person narrator point of view  · The third-person narrator is omniscient, attuned both to the physical world and the inner states of the characters tone  · Forster’s tone is often poetic and sometimes ironic or philosophical tense  · Immediate past setting (time)  ·  1910s or 1920s setting (place)  · India, specifically the cities of Chandrapore and Mau protagonist  · Dr. Aziz

Introduction: “A Passage to India” (1924) is a novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Time magazine included the novel in its "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005".[1] The novel is based on Forster's experiences in India. E.M.Forster borrowed the book's title from Walt Whitman's poem “Leaves of Grass”

Conflict The story revolves around four characters: Dr. Aziz, his British friend Mr. Cyril Fielding, Mrs. Moore, and Miss Adela Quested. During a trip to the Marabar Caves (modeled on the Barabar Caves of Bihar), Adela accuses Aziz of a crime. Aziz's trial, and its run-up and aftermath, bring out all the racial tensions and prejudices between indigenous Indians and the British colonists who rule India.

Discussion Session + Reading Session

A) Discussion Session on “Colonialism”

Sub-theme: The unity of all living things; the “muddle” of India; the negligence of British colonial government

Symbolism of The Marabar Caves They represent all that is alien about nature. The caves are older than anything else on the earth and embody nothingness and emptiness. For example, the reducing echo of the caves causes Mrs. Moore to see the darker side of her spirituality. Adela confronts the shame of her realization that she and Ronny are not actually attracted to each other. In this sense, the caves both destroy meaning, in reducing all utterances to the same sound, and expose or narrate the unspeakable.

Competition: Find your own inspiring quote about Islam through Forster’s novel, “A Passage to India.” Share your own selected quote and let the world know something about Islam. Deadline: 9 p.m.

End of Class, Thanks for attending