A Passage to India Power

The rigid angles marked out by the colonial roads stand in for the lines that the English draw to organize and manage their colony. Aziz feels the effects of the British Empire at a deep, psychological level, feeling personally trapped by colonial life.

This passage casts an ironic eye toward the Turtons, who may lord their position in society over everyone in their particular province of India as if they were gods. And as Ronny Heaslop says, India likes its gods (see the first quote under "Justice and Judgment"). But when they return to England, their human ordinariness will return, and they will revert to run-of-the-mill retirees.

This quote asks the reader to consider how it would be possible to create a society that respects the needs of even the very neediest of human beings, human beings whose lives are so meager that they don't register on the consciousness of a Turton or McBryde, or even more enlightened characters such as Adela and Fielding.

The passage suggests that Ronny's attitude is representative of the British Empire's as a whole toward its "civilizing mission." By questioning Ronny, Mrs. Moore questions the whole notion of a civilizing mission here. Ronny's callous attitude toward Indians suggests that the civilizing mission is just an excuse to gain power, and no more.

Because they view Indians as essentially passive and unable to act, British administrators such as Major Callendar can't see that Indians are organizing for their independence. Ironically, these different religious groups are finally able to come together because they have a common enemy – the British Empire.

This passage shows how difficult it was to bridge the numerous religious differences among the Indians, despite their having a common enemy in the British. As history bears out, some of these differences were insuperable: 1947 marked the year that India gained its independence at the same time that Pakistan was separated off as an independent Muslim state.

The Indians have a debate as to why they aren't a nation. Ram Chand argues that it's because Indians hate "chucking out" anybody; they are by nature an inclusive people, and a nation necessarily excludes people when it draws its boundaries. Hamidullah believes it's because they can't get their act together.

Turton's dilemma shows how complicated the situation in India was as the military and the civil administration have different approaches to dealing with the colonial situation. The military views force as the necessary – and only – means of negotiating with Indians, while the civilian administration is obligated to maintain British civil institutions such as due process and civil rights.

Aziz's trial is another occasion for Indians to band together, another stitch in the "social fabric" that Callendar refuses to believe exists in Quote #5. This "new spirit" signals a "rearrangement," a potential change in the colonial situation, as Indians grow more and more assertive. And we're not just talking the educated Indian class, such as Aziz and Hamidullah: everybody from the Sweepers who clean the toilets to the purdah women holding hunger strikes are involved.

At Mau, Aziz cynically considers Adela's tourism as just another form of surveillance, that is, of checking in on the "natives."