A Passage to India 449relationship through the depiction of their religious
and ethnic communities and the borders they
transcend. The communities’ desires to maintain
autonomy emphasize the colonial repression suf-
fered by the Indians. To highlight the struggles,
Forster illustrates failed interpersonal relationships
and inter-community relationships, and through
the narrative, readers see that while members of
each community strive to keep others out, seclu-
sion is not only impossible but also may not be
desirable. Three communities make up the core of
the novel: the Anglo-Indians like Ronny Heaslop,
Cyril Fielding, the Turtons and Burtons, and Adela
Quested; Muslims, such as Dr. Aziz, Mahmoud Ali,
and Hamadullah; and the Hindus, Professor God-
bole and his followers at Mau. While the Indian
community is culturally and religiously diverse,
many of the same struggles for freedom from colo-
nialism are fought by the myriad Indian communi-
ties. This camaraderie is vital during the trial scene
when the Hindu sweepers strike, Muslim women
go on hunger strikes, the streets fill with riots, and
little distinction is made between the religious
groups and the desire for judicial fairness.
The novel is fraught with failed interpersonal
relationships between members of disparate com-
munities, and Forster shows the distance between
the diverse Indian community and the Anglo-Indian
rulers at a “bridge party.” At the party, Adela meets
some “real Indians” that she desires to see; it also
facilitates political maneuvering between the Anglo-
Indians and the upper-class Hindu, Muslim, and
Parsee leaders. Though the men talk to one another,
the interactions between Adela and the Indian wives
highlight the differences between the British and
Indian communities and the strain that colonial-
ism places on interpersonal communications. Miss
Quested attempts to talk to the “friendly Indians,”
but they are too polite to cross this social boundary.
Adela sees the bridge party as an opportunity to
close the gap between the Britons and the Indians,
and she wants to befriend the Indian women. Even
though many of these upper-class women have trav-
eled to England, Paris, and Italy, and speak English,
Adela cannot make them speak to her because she
is English. The Indian women’s civility, their colo-
nial oppression, and their regard for colonial rulers
prevent them from seeing Adela as one who under-
stands and relates to their community. The Indian
women see themselves in a much different social
and cultural community than the British women,
and they treat the cultural and social differences as
boundaries to communication and sympathy. They
see Adela as a woman who must be esteemed as a
ruler, even though she does not see herself that way.
Adela’s inability to communicate with the Indian
women as a friend strengthens Forster’s assertion
at the end of the novel that “No, not yet . . No,
not there” could Aziz and Fielding become friends.
The strain that colonialism places on friendships
and the inequality between communities prohibits
friendship between Adela and the Indian women,
between Aziz and Fielding, and ultimately between
the Anglo-Indian and Indian communities.
The community boundaries are rarely crossed
for friendship but often for necessity. Forster dem-
onstrates that colonial communities work against
one another through dichotomies such as ruler/
ruled, outsider/native, and dominant/subordinate.
The court scene in which Aziz is tried and released
for the assault on Adela demonstrates an overlap-
ping of the communities. When Mahmoud Ali
defends Aziz, he wishes to call upon Mrs. Moore;
he tells the court that Mrs. Moore is a friend to the
Indians. Her name is immediately Indianized; she is
deemed “Esmiss Esmoor,” a “Hindu goddess.” The
groups in the street chant her name; Adela draws
strength from her dead friend and the chanting
around her, and she renounces the charges. When
the Indians make Mrs. Moore a deity, they draw
from the colonial culture to challenge it, for they saw
in Mrs. Moore a freedom and stubbornness that few
other Britons displayed. The Indians embrace Mrs.
Moore and Adela as allies. Without these British
women, Aziz may have been found guilty. The Indi-
ans learn that seclusion from other communities is
impossible; within colonialism, the oppressed must
use all of the tools available to them, even if they are
shared with the colonizers.
Danielle NielsenGender in A Passage to India
Gender plays a significant role in A Passage to India,
for it allows us to consider the novel’s purpose and