A passage to India

Subject: To what extent does A passage to India give an accurate and comprehensive picture of the social and political situation of British India in the early 1920s?

A passage to India is a film which was set in 1984, directed by David Lean, a famous film-maker. The film is adapted from the novel written by Edward Morgan Foster in 1924. Throughout the film, we have the possibility to discover India’s social and political situation through the 1920s. This quote, found in a tabloid called Time Out London, is interesting: “A curiously modest affair, abandoning the tub-thumping epic style of Lean’s late years. White adhering to perhaps 80 per cent of the book’s incident, Lean veers very wide of the mark over Edward Morgan Foster’s hatred of the British presence in India, and comes down much more heavily on the side of the British (…)”.

Just like David Lean’s other movies, A passage to India, shows a very high humane aspect. It reveals the history of some of the major characters (Cyril Fielding, Adela Quested and Dr. Aziz) through which we discover India during the period of growing influence of the Indian independence movement.

To try and discover what India was throughout these years, we will focus our attention on the social and political situation in the countries, both aspects we will study successively.

Since the arrival of the English in India, the society has been completely transformed. In fact, the English imposed their political and administrative system without any authorisation because they considered that India was a land populated with savages. Indians had their own rules which corresponded to their culture and to their way of thinking but the English changed all of this only because they wanted to reproduce a system like theirs: in a way, India was an annex of England. 

As we can see in the film, India is under English laws (the trial scene) and it is also possible to see that the Indians are not satisfied with this system (In the trial scene, we can see that the president is asking for silence because the Indians are making too much noise to defend Dr.Aziz who hasn’t done anything). It is throughout this event that we can see that communities do not mutually support each other, even in absurd cases. Besides, the application of justice was an interesting part of the film because we could see that the Indians were manipulated by the English lawyers (the president of the court is Indian and he is completely manipulated which gives a negative aspect of the English presence).

Furthermore, an other phenomenon can be explained: we’ve already seen that the English were imposing their administration but they are also imposing their culture. In other words, they are explaining to the Indians that English culture is a modern one and a “better one”. By controlling the Indian culture, the English could easily impose and teach what they want to the Indians (in the film, at the beginning, we can see a scene where English people are playing polo: that shows us that the English people are practicing their own sports and they don’t want to discover Indian culture). Concerning the English, an example can be given when they impose a prayer for everyone because they consider their religion as the only “valid” one.

Also, it is important to state that the English did not wish to mix with the Indians, but this we will study thoroughly in our second part.

As a result, the Indians are having a pessimistic view of the Anglo-Saxon’s presence (like the character Amritrao, Dr.Aziz’s lawyer, who is known for his strong anti-British statement). And while some get along in good terms (Dr.Aziz and Mrs. Moore), these relations can create tensions between both nationalities. A very important part of the film can illustrate the fact that Indians are totally controlled by the English: the arrival of the Viceroy in India which shows us how influent is England upon India. It is also important to say that the English were using their status of colonizer to exploit the Indians in their mines and factories as cheap labour.  

Thus, after studying India’s political situation, it might be interesting to analyze its social situation because to be able to understand fully India during the 1920s. In the film, the relationships between the characters and the different ways of living will help us to explain this fully.

At first, a very important element can be seen in the film: English and Indian do not mix or perhaps just a little but their relationships are not strong and lasting. For example, English re-create their way of living because they all live in the same place and all the amenities they need are near their houses. So instead of helping Indian economy to evolve and develop, they use it to have good conditions of life (at the very beginning of the film, during the arrival of the Turton’s in Chandrapore, we can see that they are crossing Indian districts to go to the English district without taking into account the local population).

Moreover, English people want they district to function properly and to achieve this goal, they use the Indians to take care of everything and that doesn’t help to create good mutual relations (during the entire film, when the main characters are in the English district, we can see a lot of Indian servants). However, when they go to the caves, they are mixed but it is only because they have to: here again, they mix only because they need each other but it isn’t natural (nevertheless, Miss Derek is an Englishwoman employed by a Hindu royal family so this phenomenon is apparently possible, though very exceptional).

Different ways and conditions of life exist between English and Indians. In fact, the English usually have a European way of life with an access to all the resources they want and a house as big as they desire. By contrast, the Indians didn’t change their ways and conditions of life (except for a very small part: Dr.Aziz in the film for example), as we can see many of them are still living in shanty towns with low sanitary conditions a high risk of contamination from diseases. Even if the English brought new technologies which enables to live a healthier life, most of the Indians couldn’t take advantage of it (in the film, some scenes show us the contrast between the two different population). An other point which is also important is the fact that the English do not really care about the Indian’s poverty and most of them are just remaining passive towards this situation (like Mr. Turton who doesn’t really care about the Indians).

All of these elements can explain why a lot of Indians have a strong anti-British sentiment: they’ve seen them like those who take what they want without asking (in the film, a lot of characters can’t stand the English such as Mahmoud Ali, the Muslim Indian barrister). With these elements, we can now say that what some British feel towards the Indians can be interpretated as a form of racism.

Indeed, racism is really present and the film is showing it very well: many of the British characters are anti-Indians: Maj. Callendar, the British head doctor and Aziz’s superior at the hospital, Mr. McBryde, the British superintendent of police in Chandrapore and Mrs. Turton, Mr. Turton’s wife. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the English considered India like their own land and they didn’t want to admit that this land was possessed by natives. However, in reality, the racism was much more intense than in the film because some testimonies show us that some Indians have been exploited like slaves and were considered like “animals” (as an example, a quote pronounced by Mohandas Gandhi : “ Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding”).

Although English and Indians can get along in bad terms, things can get complicated if we take into account those that we call the Anglo - Indians those are local Indians but who have studied in English schools. In the film, a few characters have this status such as Dr.Aziz and Hamidullah. They are not considered like Indians but they are not really accepted by the English community. Even if they are much closer to the English, those still don’t consider them as equal (Mrs. Turton is the one who doesn’t appreciate them at all).  This can be explained by the fact that it is a kind of jealousy and the “real” English people can’t stand the Indian ones who were successful because they though it was only reserved to the English community (in the film, some characters don’t appreciate Dr.Aziz only because he is one of the Anglo-Indians). For example, in the trial scene, when Dr.Aziz is finally declared innocent, some characters, such as Mrs.Turton, won’t admit it even though it’s the truth.

Having done this portrait of a country where both populations have difficulties along with each other, it is important to state that some people, even though the difficult context, did try to change the existing situation.

Indeed, in the film, it is shown that some characters are respectful towards Indians and do notice the differences between both cultures (Like Cyril Fielding, the unmarried headmaster of the small government –run college for Indians, that shows us he is here to help the Indians by giving them his support, and Adela Quested who came to India with the intention of seeing the real India.).

Studying this film really gave me the possibility to understand what the situation in India in the early 1920s was. This film was a good way to situate all the different Indian events in the time line which was a bit difficult before (in the film, when an important event takes place, the date was written under the scene). The variety of the characters gave an interesting aspect to the film because all the different ways of thinking were represented and analysed.