The Symbolism of Marabar Caves Scene in E. M. Forster's Novel 'A Passage to India'
In this paper I want you to select a passage or scene from either Henry James's novella Daisy Miller or from E. M. Forster's novel Passage to India. In both stories, the reader discovers a young, white woman from England or America who comes into contact not only with an unfamiliar culture but with a handsome male representative of that culture. Their encounters are charged with a sexual potential that suddenly becomes fraught with the appearance of scandal or even violence in societies for which propriety between the sexes is paramount.
Pick an episode or passage that intrigued, startled or provoked you for what ever reason. I then want you to do a "close reading" of the passage: first giving a quick summary description and then contextualizing it in terms of plot--what precedes and what happens (or fails to happen) afterward. Discuss any surprising or memorable actions, statements, images or symbols that seem important to the scene and to how the scene contributes to the overall work. (For guidance on this paper see the General Instructions for Discussion topics; I've posted them in this week's module).
You have to use at least one credible scholarly source for this paper and you must include it in a Works Cited list at the end of your paper (along with your primary source, the work by James or Forster). must be written in third person.
An Analysis of Marabar Caves Scene in A Passage to India
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An Analysis of Marabar Caves Scene in A Passage to India
E. M. Forster's novel A Passage to India revolves around British imperialism's social, political, and racial tensions in India. The plot places two races in parallel, testifying their potential to embrace one another with their specific social stereotypes in a particular landscape. The novel's major themes include unity and division in a mixed culture society, the impact of colonialism, and different aspects of liberal humanism. Another remarkable subject of the story is the cultural tension; the Marabar Cave scene is one of the most crucial sections of the novel, highlighting this and other themes.
Adela, a white, young British woman, asks the Muslim protagonist, Dr. Aziz, about his wife and children. She impersonally begins to notice his charm, which might have won him more than one charming woman and her children while he happily tells him about his married life. However, her question about more than one wife, which is allowed in Islam, confuses him so much that he hides in a cave to revive his senses. Not understanding the situation, Adela enters another cave where she experiences something strange. Dr. Aziz comes out of his cave to discover the lady but finds her missing and her binoculars broken (Forster, 2020). Afterward, he is arrested for sexually exploiting Adela in the cave.
The incident is very crucial to the progress of the plot, as it magnifies the cultural gap and social stereotypes by two counter representatives of different cultures. Also, it leads to the protagonist's arrest, whose trial covers the last part of the story. Besides, imprisoning Dr. Aziz creates a gulf in the strong tie between him and Mr. Fielding. As the importance of cross-culture friendship is one of the major themes of the novel, at this point, it becomes clear that a relationship of this type is a failure under British rule. Above all, as the plot encircles the loss and exploitations of natives, the arrest of Dr. Aziz by a white, Christian magistrate amplifies the writer's message (Forster, 2020). Also, the suspicions growing in Mrs. Moore and Fielding's hearts about Dr. Aziz lead the plot to its ultimate message that the civilization gap halts the cultivation of pure friendships.
Marabar Caves symbolically hint at the shallowness, emptiness, uncertainty, and darkness Indian society possessed during colonialism. The echoes create chaos making an amalgam of real and false voices. Similar...
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