A Passage to India ChXXIV
Q: Comment closely on the way Forster presents the trial in the following passage.
“She paused… [pg 204] … the persecution” [pg 205].”
A Passage to India is a novel written by English author E. M. Forster. In the twenty-fourth chapter, there is a passage where Adela first enters the court room. The passage mainly describes and shows Adela’s opinions of the man who pulled the punkah. The importance of the way the Anglo-Indians entered the courtroom and the man who pulled the punkah will be discussed.
The British were from the beginning, set apart from the rest of the court. There were seats reserved specifically for Adela’s company, giving them an air of superiority over the rest of the people in the courtroom. It was also pointed out that “it was important that they should look dignified”, brining the friction between the two races to the reader’s attention. The way in which the group entered the room is also rather ironic. The group “filed” with a “condescending air” in what was described as a “ramshackly room”. The image of a group of people walking into a poorly maintained courtroom, not only in a formal manner, but also patronizingly to the rest of the court. The theme of ambiguity is also shown in this paragraph. This is when “the Collector made a small official joke as he sat down” at which his company smiled. The natives in the courtroom did not heat what he said, but presumed “that some new cruelty was afoot” by the way the sahibs chuckled. However, Forster does not confirm that the joke Mr. Turton made had anything to do with the Indians. This goes along with the theme in the novel of ambiguity and misunderstandings. After the Anglo-Indians had settled, the narrator mentions the very hot weather. The hot weather in India, being the most uncomfortable, represents misunderstandings, confusion, and the oppressiveness of the British.
The first person Adela notices in the courtroom was the man who pulled the punkah. The man had no bearing officially upon
“She paused… [pg 204] … the persecution” [pg 205].”
A Passage to India is a novel written by English author E. M. Forster. In the twenty-fourth chapter, there is a passage where Adela first enters the court room. The passage mainly describes and shows Adela’s opinions of the man who pulled the punkah. The importance of the way the Anglo-Indians entered the courtroom and the man who pulled the punkah will be discussed.
The British were from the beginning, set apart from the rest of the court. There were seats reserved specifically for Adela’s company, giving them an air of superiority over the rest of the people in the courtroom. It was also pointed out that “it was important that they should look dignified”, brining the friction between the two races to the reader’s attention. The way in which the group entered the room is also rather ironic. The group “filed” with a “condescending air” in what was described as a “ramshackly room”. The image of a group of people walking into a poorly maintained courtroom, not only in a formal manner, but also patronizingly to the rest of the court. The theme of ambiguity is also shown in this paragraph. This is when “the Collector made a small official joke as he sat down” at which his company smiled. The natives in the courtroom did not heat what he said, but presumed “that some new cruelty was afoot” by the way the sahibs chuckled. However, Forster does not confirm that the joke Mr. Turton made had anything to do with the Indians. This goes along with the theme in the novel of ambiguity and misunderstandings. After the Anglo-Indians had settled, the narrator mentions the very hot weather. The hot weather in India, being the most uncomfortable, represents misunderstandings, confusion, and the oppressiveness of the British.
The first person Adela notices in the courtroom was the man who pulled the punkah. The man had no bearing officially upon