A Journey In Search Of Nobleness

Published in 1924,A Passage to India is a gift dedicated to Syed Ross Masood,an Indian friend of E.M.Forster.As a work written over a period in which the breakout of WWI left Europeans disillusioned about traditional values and ideals and thus rendered many artists suspicious about the prospect of personal relations,the unremitting occupation of Forster,this novel seeks to explore how to realize connections in a world wrecked and fragmentized by the war.Regretfully,however,for many decades,the ambiguity in this novel has caused critics to misread the novel as an indication of Forster’s loss of faith in connections,leaving unidentified a key theme lying underneath the conflict between the English and the Indians,i.e.the author’s exploration of how muddle,an all-inclusive vision in Hindu philosophy,contributes to universal brotherhood.In this paper,combining Forster’s division of daily life into “the life in time” and “the life by values” and key concepts in Hindu philosophy,I tackle the textual ambiguity with an analysis of the recurring issue of dullness,upon the ground of which the story is re-examined as a clash between the Western nobleness which esteems form,clarity and distinction,and the Indian nobleness which esteems non-differentiation and formlessness.By illustrating how the over-pursuit of clarity,the cornerstone of the Western nobleness,results in the Marabar Cave accident,and how the tragedy is wiped out through muddle,this paper unveils the divinity of muddles in facilitating mutual trust and spiritual development,both of which move the world towards universal brotherhood.This dissertation consists of 5 chapters.Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to the thesis,including a discussion of Forster’s life and works,a literature review of A Passage to India,the research questions,the research significance,and the related terms and theories to be applied.Chapter 2 examines the recurring issue of dullness by adopting Forster’s division of daily life into the monotonous “life in time” and the spiritually-enriching “life by values” proposed in Aspects of the Novel,and thus unveils Forster’s subtle presentation of an underlying theme of this novel,i.e.the search for nobleness in India.With the ambiguity about non-differentiation,the extraordinariness of the Marabar Caves,dispelled in the analytical framework of nobleness searching,Chapter 3 identifies muddle,the very embodiment of the Hindu philosophy of non-differentiation,as the nobleness of India,and reads the cave accident as a tragedy rising from Westerners’ resistance to embrace muddle,the exact opposite of what is considered as noble in the West.Chapter 4 continues to trace the aftermath of the cave accident.By illustrating how muddle as a way of life resolves misunderstanding and removes hatred,thus wiping out the accident,this chapter unveils the divinity of muddles in facilitating mutual trust and spiritual development,both of which move the world towards universal brotherhood.The last chapter draws a conclusion.Westerners desire a poetic nobleness based on distinction,without realizing the pursuit of distinction may aggravate social alienation.On the contrary,despite its lack of aesthetic beauty,the Indian nobleness brings people together.Although the novel’s ending note of separation seems to suggest that even the philosophy of muddle fails to unify the world,it should be argued that unions are delayed rather than denied,and that the parting between friends should instead be read as an emphasis on the significance of the divinity of muddles as a supreme appeal to unite the world.