“A Passage to India”
June 19, 2008
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.
