Note - This is for the second time I am writing this review - the previous one is already uploaded in another forum
Salute to E M Forster who known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century in British Society.
Also, his master craftsmanship in dwelling into the details of the culture, idiosyncracies is worth mentioning.
I have read the abridged version of this novel as a 12th standard student. Later I read the full volume and frankly this is one book I want to read atleast once in every six months!
Sometimes I wonder whether this is written by a British man himself! That much he identifies with Indians, their thought process, caste system, what they think of Britishmen etc.
Well about the main characters of the novel -
Dr. Aziz
A young Muslim Indian Physicianwho works at the British hospital in Chandrapore. He relies heavily on intuition over logic, and he is more emotional than his best friend, Fielding. He makes friends easily and seems quite garrulous at times. His chief drawback is an inability to view a situation without emotion, which Forster suggests is a typical Indian difficulty.
Cyril Fielding
The 45-year-old, unmarried British headmaster of the small government-run college for Indians. Fielding’s logical Western mind cannot comprehend the muddle (or mystery) of India, but he is highly tolerant and respectful toward Indians. He befriends Dr. Aziz, but cultural and racial differences, and personal misunderstandings, separate them.
Adela Quested
A young British schoolmistress who is visiting India with the vague intention of marrying Ronny Heaslop. Intelligent, brave, honest, but slightly prudish, she is what Fielding calls a "prig." She arrives with the intention of seeing the real India. But after a frightening trip to the Marabar Caves, she falsely accuses Aziz of sexually assaulting her.
Mrs. Moore
The elderly, thoughtful mother of Ronny Heaslop. She is visiting Chandrapore to oversee her son’s engagement to Adela Quested. She respects Indians and their customs, and the Indians in the novel appreciate her more than they do any other Briton. After undergoing an experience similar to Adela’s, she becomes apathetic and bitter.
Ronny Heaslop
The British city magistrate of Chandrapore. Though not a bad man, he shares his Anglo-Indian colleagues’ racist view of Indians. He breaks off his engagement to Adela after she retracts her accusation against Aziz. He considers it a betrayal of their race.
Plot Summary
A young British schoolmistress, Adela Quested, and her elderly friend, Mrs. Moore, visit the city of Chandrapore, British India. Adela Quested is there to marry Mrs. Moore’s son, Ronny Heaslop, the city magistrate.
In that city all the other characters are there. And the major twist of the story happenes when Dr. Aziz, the young Muslim Physician promises to take Mrs. Moore and Adela to see the Marabar Caves, a distant cave complex that everyone talks about but no one seems to actually visit. Fielding and Godbole were supposed to accompany the little expedition, but they miss the train.
Aziz and the women begin to explore the caves. In the first cave, however, Mrs. Moore is overcome with claustrophobia, for the cave is dark and Aziz’s retinue has followed her in.
As Aziz helps Adela up the hill, she innocently asks him whether he has more than one wife. Disconcerted by the bluntness of the remark, he ducks into a cave to compose himself. When he comes out, he finds the guide sitting alone outside the caves. The guide says Adela has gone into one of the caves by herself. Aziz looks for her in vain.
Then the blow falls. At the train station, Dr. Aziz is arrested and charged with sexually assaulting Adela in a cave. She reports the alleged incident to the British authorities.
Well I am not writing rest of the story as new readers should have some suspense. It is having the details of the court trial etc.
I love the concluding lines of the novel where Dr. Aziz explains that he and Fielding cannot be friends, at least not until India is free of the British Raj. Even the earth and the sky seem to say, "Not yet."
This clearly points the cultural difference and the tension arising out of colonial invasion etc.
How beautifully Forster mentions everything through a simple beautiful novel!
A must read to all!