An Analysis Of Humanism In A Passage To India

Edward Morgan Forster(1879-1970)is a prominent English novelist,essayist and literary critic of the 20~thh century.As a novelist,Forster holds an important position in English literature.His novels are full of humanistic ideas and A Passage to India is one of them.The novel centers on the trip to India of the English people.During the visiting time in India,a lot of contradictions and conflicts emerge because of the different cultural backgrounds between the two countries.At last,through the principles of love and the constant efforts of human beings,the contradictions are gradually alleviated.After the trip,both the English people and the Indian people find their sense of existing and belonging.Since its publication in 1924,the novel A Passage to India has attracted the attention of domestic and foreign scholars.Their researches are mainly concentrated on the following perspectives:anti-colonialism,cultural identity,identity construction,Eco-feminism and the writing techniques.Looking back of the past researches,the study of humanism on this novel has not received enough attention.Therefore,this thesis will carry on the humanistic interpretations of the novel from the three aspects of characters,settings and themes.This thesis is divided into three parts,including an introduction,the main body and a conclusion.The first part is the introduction.This part makes a brief introduction to E.M.Forster and his works,especially the novel A Passage to India.It also expounds the research background,research status and research significance of the thesis.The second part is the main body.This part is made up of three chapters,which analyzes the people's value,people's rational thinking and people's harmony from the three aspects of characters,settings and themes of the novel.The first chapter analyzes people's value from the characters of the novel.It mainly introduces three important characters in the novel:Aziz,Adela and Fielding.Aziz is a transmitter for peace and friendship between the English and Indian people.Adela is the performer for freedom and equality between the two countries.Fielding is a guardian for stability and harmony between the two countries.The second chapter analyzes the people's rational thinking from the settings of the novel.There are three settings in the novel:Mosque,Marabar Caves and Temple.Mosque is the initial phase of people's rational thinking.In Mosque,people begin to know each other.Marabar Caves is the development stage of people's rational thinking.In Marabar Caves,because of the differences in cultures and religions,the contradictions and conflicts between the two countries start to emerge.People use their rational thinking to overcome the obstacles and resolve the contradictions.Temple is the climax stage of people's rational thinking.Experienced of acquaintance,misunderstanding and understanding,Indian people realize that the only way to build up friendship with English is the independence of their own country.The third chapter analyzes the people's harmony from the themes of the novel.The novel contains three themes:jointing,balance and mutualism.The precondition for English and Indian people's friendship is jointing.The core content for their harmony is the balance between the religions,cultures and customs.The final goal for harmony is mutualism,which contains three levels:the mutualism between people and themselves;the mutualism between people and others;the mutualism between people and the natural and social environment.The last part is the conclusion,which illustrates the overall reflection of Forster's humanistic ideas in the novel and the deep meanings that it endows for the novel.In a word,through the humanistic interpretations of the novel,the author expects that the readers can have a comprehensive overview of the novel.