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E.M.FORSTER: A PASSAGE TO INDIA - Coggle Diagram
E.M.FORSTER: A PASSAGE TO INDIA
Victorian era
ended at the beginning of the 20th century
under Queen Victoria'a reign
Great Britain
becomes the first political and economic power of the world
one of the most expanded empires
extending its power into Africa, Asia
The British Government had been officially ruling India since the mid 19th century
The British
made improvements
constructing roads, railways, telegraph lines
providing educational and economic advancements
some Indians grew wealthy
got the best jobs
held the top government posts
exploited the natural resources
Forster
began writing the novel in 1913
Britain's control over India was complete
English governors
headed each province
were responsible to Parliament
racial oppression
divided the Indian people and the British colonists
prevailing attitude among the British in India
the colonists were assuming the white man's burden of governing the country
1 more item...
the Indians could not handle the responsibility
England promised the Indian people a role in the government in exchange for their aid during WWI
India did not win independence until three decades later
Modernity
life speeded up, flattened out, stripped of something
war
free verse, stream of consciousness prose, fragments shored against the ruins
Style
form
fashion
self-conscious initiation
a new manner of being
new tastes
new amusements
new public roles and identities
became part of the changing style of the arts themselves
search for
vitalism
primitivism
passion
a faith in the unconscious and the libido
a rejection of "Puritan" codes
Publication date
1924
Themes
the difficulty of English-Indian friendship
Fielding and Aziz
pessimistic
the unity of all living things
the natural life of plants and animals defies identification
the muddle of India
dangerous and disorienting disorder
Hinduism
Professor Goodbole
the most visible Hindu
the religion's ideal is that all living things be united in love as one
Mrs Moore
Christian
shows openness to this Hindu aspect
Power
The British Empire as a racist institution that excludes and subjugates others
Motifs
the echo
begins at the Marabar Caves
plagues Mrs Moore and Adela
Eastern and Western architecture
The Mosque
cool weather
The Caves
all that is alien about nature
older than anything
embody nothingness and emptiness
hot weather
The Temple
pouring rains
formless
interior blend into exterior gardens
structures appear unfinished
Godbole's song
Hindu Song
a milkmaid pleads for God to come to her and to her people
refrain
Come, come
recurs throughout the book
mirrors the appeal for the entire country of salvation from something greater than itself
Symbols
the Marabar Caves
nobody seems to think coolly and rationally
the green bird
Adela and Ronny break off their engagement
the bird is sitting above them
the muddle of India
the sky
vast expanse of either British imperial control or the inconceivable vastness of India itself
Literary devices
satire
harsh toward English women
racist
irony
foreshadowing
simile
alliteration
synecdoche
Point of views
third person omniscient
the narrator
weaves seamlessly between different characters' points of view
multi-faceted account of events
explains the characters' psychology and cultural background
god-like
discussing the characters' diverse religious experiences
Genres
Modernist novel
emphasis on the complex interior life of the characters
experimentation with interweaving
complicated plots
recurring images and symbols
literary fiction
Characters
Dr Aziz
embodiment of "muddle" of India
changing opinions and preoccupation
Cyril Fielding
successful at developing and sustaining relationships with native Indians
educates Indians as individuals
Adela Quested
individualist and free thinker
resistant to marrying Ronny and being labeled a typical colonial English wife
experience at the Marabar Caves
undergoes a crisis of rationalism against spiritualism
Mrs Moore
connects with India and Indians on an intuitive level
heroine
the only English person able to closely connect with the Hindu vision of unity
good-hearted
religious elderly woman
Ronny Heaslop
his failing
the fault of the colonial system, not his own
undergoes as a sort of case study
an exploration of the restrictions that the English colonials herd
mentality imposes on individual personalities
his tastes, opinions, manner of speaking are no longer his own, but the British Indian officials'
Setting
1910s or 1920s
Chondrapore, India and Mau