My experiences of dealing with a reading log

I did not like working with a reading log very much because it was too time consuming. But definitely, it was very worthwhile to do so because you are able to internalize the plot of the whole story better. The worksheets we have got were very helpful, too. These encouraged me to deal with questions I would never had thought of if they have not been given to me.
But I think without these worksheets it would have been enough to mark the most important things in my book and to make marginal notes.
But in fact, working in this way was very helpful.

“A Passage to India”

The film “A passage to India”, written by E. M. Forster, depicts the racial descrepances and problems between the Indians and the British colonists.

Like in the novel “Heat and Dust” there are two different forms of British colonists, on the one hand the ones who feel themselves superior to the Indians and just accept them as subordinate workers and on the other hand these who are really interested in the Indian culture. The latters want to become acquainted with the Indians.
Olivia represents this side in “Heat and Dust”. She falls in love with an Indian prince and pays respect to the whole Indian culture. In “A passage to India” Mrs. Moore, Adela Quested and Cyril Fielding stand for this tolerante side because they like the Indian Dr. Aziz very much.
The rest of the British society, both in the novel and in the film, devalues the Indian society. In “Heat and Dust” they do not want to have any contact with the Indians and in “A passage to India” the Britons are all members in “The club” which excludes Indians.
The distinction between “Heat and Dust” and “A passage to India” is that in the novel the Indian prince, called the Nawab, is (,as the case may be, pretents to be) rich and Dr. Aziz is rather poor.
In conclusion, both stories want to show the cultural clash between Indians and the Britons, whereupon women are more affected by the Indian culture.
Also it is shown very well that India always changes people.

Alternative ending

Olivia:

When Olivia left the hospital she felt relieved and much better about her situation. Everything was clarified now. Douglas knew about her affair with the Nawab because Dr. Saunders blew her cover about a miscarriage. So she had to tell Douglas. Because of that it was impossible for her to stay with him and as a result of that she could go to the Nawab. She really did not have a guilty conscience because after the abortion everything which could make her think of Douglas had gone. She was free, free for a new love and a new interesting life. After arriving at the Nawabs’s palace, her illusions were destroyed. The Nawab was sure of her now and he could treat her like he wanted to. Olivia occupied the third (and not the first!) rang in his life. The most important person for him was his mother, the old Begum. Also more important than Olivia was Sandy, his wife. Crucial for his decision was the Begum, and for her it was not of any importance how her son looked like or how he earned his money. So after getting Olivia, he got more and more careless with himself. He did not care for Olivia and got very unattractive (not to mention fat). So Oliva felt neglected and envied the Begum and Sandy. There was only one solucion for her problem she thought..

A few years later, Olivia and the Nawab being very attractive after a diet again lived together in the mountains with a lot of children. Everyday was good because of being together. Their life was perfect expect for the fact that the Nawab’s beloved mother served time in prison. He never came to know that Olivia attributes some jewelleries falsely to the Begum to purport that she stole these. And Sandy, she never returned after a journey to Satipur where Olivia stayed accidentally, too. She has been missing until now.

p. 154-158, what do we know about the Nawab’s last years?

In his last years, “the Nawab was quite changed” (p.158, l.3). He loses his special charm by getting more and more unattractive and lazy (”There is a row of tables outside but all they ever stabled was the sedan chair – … – in which the Nawab was carried up and down the mountain. He got too fat and lazy to climb.” p.160, ll.7).)

Because of that change the feelings of Harry towards the Newab changed, too. For him, it is something womanly about the Newab (p.160, l.13).

The Nawab seems softer and milder. But on contrary, he does not care for Olivia very well anymore. The chronology of his personal most important people is: mother, wife, Olivia (p.161, l.3). So you can guess that Olivia does not depict the real love for him but just his beloved living alone in the mountains for the rest of her life. Sometimes the Nawab lives with her, but top priority have his mother and then Sandy, his wife.

Also his financial troubles never disappeared (p.161, l1.) In the end it is all too much trouble for the Nawab and he sustains a fit of apoplexy – he dies. But not in the arms of Olivia but in the arms of his mother, the Begum.

pp. 147-149, The Nawab’s attitude to Olivia’s baby

“Wait till my son is born, then they’ll laugh from the other side of their mouths.”

“When this baby is born, Douglas and all are going to have the shock of their lives.”

These both statements originate from the Nawab. So first of all you can suggest that he is sure about it that the baby is his. It is clear to him that it will be an immense shock for the British society if it get out that Olivia betrayed her husband, the British Administrator Douglas with an Indian prince. So this baby depicts a secret weapon for the Nawab because not until it is born Douglas has to bear the dishonour.

But these statements also express that the Nawab uses Olivia somehow as a means of revenge (p. 155/56). It makes you think about the real intention of him to seduce Olivia. Is it love, revenge or just fun for him?

pp. 143-149; what information does the reader get about the British at independence?

At the time of Indian Independence, the “Indianisation” of India started (p. 143, ll. 30). So the British we get to know in the novel -most of all the Crawfords and the Minnies- have to decide wheather they want to stay in India or return in their native country to spend their retirement. Douglas and his second wife Tessie leave India. Although it is mentioned in the novel at p. 143 ll. 25 that they had spent the best part of their lives there and loved the place above every other I can not believe that at all. I guess so because the son of Douglas and Tessie never returned to India although he had lived there for roughly 12 years. So for me it seems like Douglas and his wife never recommended India warmly to their son like someone loving it so much. But on the other hand Tessie and Beth feel at ease in a typical Indian atmosphere. So you could through these both points suggest that the Crawfords in a special manner really loved India but that this land brought so much bad luck to Douglas (he lost Olivia!) that he was not able to live there anymore and so he transferred this feeling to his family, too.

Apparently, the Minnies like the “Indianisation”. They stay in India right up to their last days. So for some British the abode in India was not just a work-related stage of life (that is not to say that it is like that in the case of the Crawfords!) but a wonderful time.

With regard to that, India really changes people. On the one hand to learn to love this land but on the other it could be that it puts the fear of God into you.

It is also remarkable that the British in India got useless for the first for for India. Because of that you realise how powerful India is actually towards the British. Douglas and his wife have to “run away” because the British lost control about India.

pp. 129; What attitude of abortion does the Indian society have?

In this section the Indian midwife Maji offers the narrator who is pregnant an abortion. That for her an abortion is a very normal thing in India is suggestived of the formal way she is speaking about that. At first she just says that she would help her. Then she is telling her about the fact that there are several ways of procure an abortion and that she has performed all of them. She does not really care about the feelings of the narrator I think. She just offers this abortion like a insurance agent would sell his products.

Also Maji says that abortions are a necessary of an Indian midwife’s qualifications because in many cases it is the only way to save people from dishonour and suffering (ll.7). Consequently, the Indian society declines children born to an unmarried mother and the appropriate mothers. Because of their religion and culture the Indians can not accept women who just consorts with anyone whose family did not yet accredit the togetherness of the woman and their son. In the case of the narrator, Inder Lal (who is the father)’s mother does not know about this special relationship between the narrator and her son. Accessory, Inder Lal is married so he would bring even more shame about his family if other people recognised that HE is the father of that unborn child.

So for me the Indian society (of course do not want to speak about all Indians!) is very old-fashioned in this case. Though I decline the behaviour of cheating on one’s partner, I do not think that the narrator has to marry before getting pregnant.

pp. 109-116; Examine the changes in Olivia’s perceptions of Douglas

Olivia was to much blinded by her love for Douglas that she did never see what she is able to see now: For her the face of Douglas had become heavier, even somewhat puffy, making him look more like other Englishmen in India. It is unbearable for Olivia (p. 109, ll. 25). Also she always has loved him for his imperturbability, his English solidness and his strength. But now she thinks that he even can not get her pregnant which means for her that there is no manliness.
Because of these points you can say that Olivia is not fascinated by Douglas anymore. Although he was never perfect Olivia was able to overlook that fact because of their love. But not more characteristics of Douglas come to light because the love disappears.
Another reason for this changing perception could be that it is much easier for her to give herself to the Nawab by thinking in bad way about Douglas. As a result, she maybe persuades herself that Douglas is changing himself.

pp. 103-116; Evaluate the difference between the response of the Westerner (the narrator) and the Indians to the dying beggar woman.

I think it is only natural that fewer Indians would care for a dying beggar woman than people from the western world. To be honestly, if you are everyday confronted with poor cripples and dying people you become insensible. It is impossible to care for every human being who is in need for help. So it is a natural defensive reaction to avoid depressions arising from such sad and terrible situations.
So if there is a person from the western world, like the narrator, who never have experienced something like that before he/she acts by instinct and just wants to help.
This scene also shows that many Westerners are ignorant regarding the problems in developing countries like India. As long as they are not directly confronted with the bad plight of India they do not care about her.

pp. 90-102; Why does the narrator come to India?

I think that the narrator comes to India to experience a completely other way of life. Before she has lived alone in London. As she has no family or something like that she comes to India to find her roots (Douglas and Tessie are her grandparents). In addition to that, she wants to find herself by escaping from the restrictive western world.
In India the narrator can find a higher sense of communication than in her very lonely room in London with only her own walls to look at and her own books to read (p. 53, ll. 19). Consequently, for her the crowds of guy people are very interesting. The Indians never seems to rest or even to sleep, always you can find some persons to communicate with in India. You never have to be bored after achieving to get in contact with Indians.