On The Sense Of Anti-Colonialism And Colonialism In A Passage To India

A Passage to India is the most distinguished novel written by E. M. Forster, a prominent English novelist, critic and essayist in the 20th century. It is based on the writer's two trips to India. The story centers upon the friendship between a liberal Englishman and an Indian, recurring vividly the racial conflicts and antagonism between the English overseas colonialists and the Indian natives. The novel concerns itself with so diverse aspects such as politics, culture, religion and mysticism that it arouses critical responses of contemporary commentators upon its publication. Although Forster attempts to diminish the political implications of the novel, claiming it is not about politics, but about the pursuit of a "more lasting home" of the human race, however, the political connotation of the novel is quite evident. Literary studies in the 20th century presents the thriving of diverse literary theories. The flourishing of postcolonialism provides critics with a new perspective for the rereading of the literary texts arising in the era of colonialism.This thesis, in the light of postcolonialism, studies the sense of anti-colonialism and colonialism embedded in the novel. It consists of five parts.Preceding the main body of the thesis is a brief introduction to the life of Forster, the work, major criticism on the novel, the aim and method of the present research.In Chapter One, the author introduces postcolonialism applied to the study of the thesis: its formation, development, representatives, viewpoints and methodology.In Chapter Two, the author searches into the sense of anti-colonialism that Forster bears as an intellectual with the spirit of humanism and liberalism. Forster's family and educational background, intellectual circles and active participation in social activities have shaped his humanitarianism. In A Passage to India, through the techniques of character portrayal and scenery description, Forster exposes the distorted human nature of the colonialists resulted from racial bias which makes them arrogant, pompous, shallow and rough. He praises the positive role English humanists play in building a friendly bridge between the English and the Indians. Meanwhile heshows boundless sympathy for the colonized Indians. In addition, Forster reveals that the root of separation lies in colonization of the British Empire.In Chapter Three, the author discusses that Forster, as a bourgeois intellectual, is unable to abandon the sense of imperialism and falls into colonial discourse unintentionally. He inherits from the previous colonial writers and scholars the description of colonies. In his writing, India is chaotic and filthy;Indians are lazy, ignorant, irrational and servile. Forster attributes the unsuccessful British colonization to the "underdeveloped hearts" of the Anglo-Indians. In the meantime, he constantly laments the prospect of the decline of the British Empire when criticizing the colonialists. When it comes to the plot, the central story — the Marabar caves incident, testifies to the colonialists' remark that intimate associations between the English and the Indians can but lead to disastrous results. Forster's exploration of harmonious associations between man and man ends in failure, which embodies his pessimism and acquiescence in colonization.In the conclusion, the author summarizes that the colonial text A Passage to India reflects Forster's contradictory psychology: on the one hand, he sympathizes with the colonized;on the other hand, he attempts to maintain colonization of the British Empire. As a member of the Empire, Forster can not surpass the limitations of his class. It's unlikely that he analyses the real cause of the conflicts and clashes between the two races from the interest of the Indians. The colonial discourse on India and its people reveals Forster's sense of Eurocentrism. The so-called underdevelopment and filth of India, and servility and queerness of Indians actually have their profoundly historical and political reasons into which Forster is reluctant to probe. As a result, he expresses his contradiction in dual voices: the voice of anti-colonialism and the voice of colonialism.